On the outside, Scott from Orlando, Florida, looks like he's living the dream. He's got an MBA, a career as a professional golfer and the kind of life most guys would trade for in a heartbeat.

But when Scott called The Ramsey Show, he pulled back the curtain on a very different reality: he's drowning in roughly $300,000 of debt. Years of chasing the pro golf circuit left him with $220,000 in student loans, an $80,000 IRS bill and a whole lot of regret.

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The bad decisions didn't stop there. As Scott globetrotted in pursuit of his golf dream, his loans accumulated interest. Then the IRS came calling - and to top it all off, his agent stole about $250,000 of his earnings.

“I was traveling the country playing (and) obviously I wasn't paying back my student loans,” said Scott.“That stuff was just racking up.”

Now, Scott's tired of being in the bunker. He's ready to stop playing around with his money and finally take a swing at paying off his debt.

As his debt accumulated, Scott felt like he was making all of the right choices. He pushed himself academically - though it meant taking on significant debt - and when the chance came to compete globally, it felt like an amazing opportunity.

But after years of playing golf professionally and incurring substantial travel expenses, he was audited by the IRS. The audit revealed a discrepancy between his reported golf expenses and the deductions he claimed, ultimately leading to a back-tax bill of $80,000.

Only about 1% of tax returns were audited between 2013 and 2021, (1) but certain red flags can increase your chances. Math mistakes, excessive deductions and mismatched records are common triggers. (2) In Scott's case, the auditor said the difference between his golf costs and his write-offs pushed his tax liabilities higher.

After sharing his story, Scott said he wanted to talk with someone who had climbed out of a similar debt hole. Ramsey Show co-host Jade Warshaw could relate - she paid off more than $460,000 in debt herself. (3)

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If Scott keeps competing, even locally, it's important that he chooses who to trust carefully. It's not uncommon for agents to steal money from their clients. Stories of athletes getting fleeced by their agent or financial advisor are all too familiar.

Just recently, Shohei Ohtani's interpreter and agent, Ippei Mizuhara, allegedly stole $16 million from the baseball star. (4)

Scott's losses are significant, but he's not alone. A 2019 EY survey found that fraudsters allegedly stole nearly $600 million from professional athletes between 2004 and 2019. (5)

In addition to choosing an agent he can trust, if he needs one, it's also critical that he find a trustworthy accountant to help him file his taxes each year. With multiple streams of income, it's easy for a tax return to get complicated and even easier to make a mistake that could haunt your finances later. That's why working with a competent tax professional can come in handy.

Beyond finding the right people to work with, Warshaw urged Scott to focus on his“why.”

“Why are you doing this? Because that's going to be the thing that you need to connect to every time you want to spend money on something else,” she said.

Warshaw and co-host George Kamel both encouraged Scott to envision where he wants to be in a few years - and how paying off the debt will help him get there.

When it comes to practical next steps, Kamel suggested Scott use his golfing talent to bring in a new income stream by coaching.

Rates vary, but in Orlando, private golf lessons range from $50 to $200 per hour. (6) If Scott charges $100 per hour and teaches eight lessons a week, that's an extra $800 he could put toward debt every week. Consistently boosting his income this way could significantly speed up his debt-free journey.

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The Ramsey Show (1 ); CNN (2 ); Empower (3 ); ESPN (4 ); EY (5 ); Find Golf Lessons (6 ).

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

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