- Took a trip to Japan.
And I ended up buying a samurai sword while I was there.
You, know there is definitely
a whole story behind the sword.
There is a, there is a whole story.
[upbeat music]
This is Ronnie Stanley.
And this is how I spent and saved my first million dollars.
[upbeat music]
I was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was very unique.
I feel like I was exposed to a lot of different cultures,
a lot of things that a lot of people
wouldn't normally see growing up.
We always wanted to, you know,
go out and experience, you know,
the strip and the clubs and stuff.
I may or may not have tried to sneak in
a bar or two and
may or may not have been kicked out.
I don't recommend doing that.
It's worth waiting.
In high school,
my parents were very big on sports and athletics.
Literally, I really didn't have time to work a job,
all my time was spent on football and basketball.
It is funny, I really didn't have money,
like, spending money growing up,
because I didn't have a job.
I was spending all my time in sports.
But yeah, I did, you know, chores around the house,
you know, just the classic, you know,
let me ask my dad for 20 bucks or something,
but I didn't really grow up having, you know,
a lot of material things
like, I didn't have a lot of shoes.
I didn't have a lot of, you know, new clothes,
like new brand clothes or whatever.
When I was drafted at Sixth Overall,
it was kind of realization of, like,
my whole life into one moment.
You know, you grow up wanting to be a pro athlete.
You grow up with all the dreams and then it becomes
real reality in a matter of seconds.
Kind of surreal in the moment,
you know, I didn't really,
it's kind of hard to take in, you know, looking back.
It was one of those moments, like it was just,
you know, talk with your grandkids about,
and the day that, you know,
the lineage of the family change, you know,
change, you know, for generations.
You can see the details in my rookie contract right here.
[upbeat music]
Before I ever got drafted,
I kind of set, like, my whole team up before,
you know, everything,
I had an advisor, a lawyer,
um, accountant, agent,
by the time I got drafted, I had, you know,
all the people ready and just kind of,
the money had to be put in the places
that we were already discussing.
All right, we talked about how I made and saved my money.
Now let's talk about how I spent my money.
First thing I bought with my first million dollars,
a BMW x6m sports car.
That car was my dream car,
and that was, you know,
that was a car I always wanted to drive.
That was just, like, the look.
BMW, 120k.
I got it wrapped.
You know, I had some rims put on there.
You know, some 22's. It was nice.
You know, matte gray, tinted windows.
Yeah. It was a beast.
I think I spent a little bit extra to modify it,
probably like another 2,500.
And then the rims were probably another 5k.
So, you know, probably around 7,500
plus another 10,000 for modifications.
[relaxed beat music]
Took a trip to Japan,
went with my girl and a couple of friends.
You know, I think it ended up being around $20,000.
Visited a couple of different cities,
stayed there for about two weeks.
You know, it was a great experience.
Trip to Japan, 20k.
I thought Japan was beautiful.
It's a really beautiful place,
the way they preserve the tradition.
You look at the stuff that's been there
for hundreds of years
and the craftsmanship and the details that
have been put into those things.
It's really impressive.
And I ended up buying a samurai sword while I was there.
And that samurai sword was about 12,000.
- You know, there is definitely a whole story
behind the sword.
There is a, there is a whole story,
but it's like a 4,500 year-old sword.
They don't know whose sword it was,
but it was custom made for someone in the city.
But you needed protection because, I guess at that time,
like, it was just gangland out there in Japan,
you know, old Japan,
they, they just, it was ruthless.
So, you gotta be prepared at all times.
So this was just one of those swords that, you know,
a working class citizen would have been walking around in.
We have no idea who that guy was, his life, his story,
but, you know,
it's cool that we have something left behind
from that long ago.
Samurai sword, 12k.
But right now it's in its case, you know,
it hasn't seen light since it's been,
you know, in the states.
So I'm keeping it, you know, preserved.
Prime condition, you know.
I want to keep that thing nice.
But I think eventually when I buy my home
that I'm going to, look, live in long-term,
Um, I will have it, you know,
a special place for it in there.
[upbeat music]
I love the BMW,
but you couldn't drive it like a sports car
like you wanted to, it was,
it couldn't handle turns well at high speeds.
But with the Tesla, you know,
it really drives like it's a sports car.
Like, you can turn super sharp,
going really fast and
you never have to go to a gas station.
It's, it's a really great car.
I really, you know, I really like it.
And I did the same thing. I, I, I modified it,
put some, you know, rims on it,
little wrap, a ten.
And I think it looks better than the Beamer, dude.
Tesla modifications, 150k.
It's faster.
Um, it can handle turns better.
I never have to go to a gas station, ever.
You know, great for the environment.
[upbeat music]
Speaking of Tesla, you know, I bought some Bitcoin.
It's been kind of rough right now,
but I think, you know,
Bitcoin's one of the things I'm just going to leave there
for a while.
Bitcoin, 150k.
I'd invest in Bitcoin
because of the sealing.
It's impossible to place a value on something like this,
because we don't know what situations could happen with,
within society that may grow this value
or may diminish the value.
So, there's a lot of potential growth.
And I think that's why I'm okay with putting, you know,
a good amount of money into it and seeing what happens.
[upbeat music]
I bought some more art pieces.
I have, like, some paintings.
I have some sculptures.
I have, like, a rug.
On all my art and collectibles, 200,000 on that.
One of the paintings that I got were
of two of the dogs that I, that I owned.
I just wanted something to internalize the animals that,
you know, I've, you know,
adopted and brought into my life, that, you know,
I think made a, a positive impact for me.
The rug, um, I bought from,
is actually a company, um,
they make handmade rugs in Nepal,
but the company is based in New York.
Once it all was already made,
they had an artist come out and do, like,
a full tie dyeing of the rug,
like, you know, on this rooftop.
And they made this whole video about it.
I'm sure you can find the video.
This was, like, his art piece.
So it was like his canvas.
The rug is in my, in my living room.
I love looking at it every day.
I see the, you know, the sculptures on the wall above,
you know, the couch,
there are three beautiful face sculptures
made from, handmade from wood.
It pops out and it's like 3D.
It's really cool.
[upbeat music]
I'm like a street wear fashion guy, you know,
I like, I like street wear,
you know, like Off-White, Fear of God,
Palm Angels, you know.
I probably spent, probably around 10k.
I don't know, I think maybe 10k over four years,
I think is a good number.
Money spent on fashion, 10k.
[upbeat music]
One of the last things I did
spending my first million dollars was
buying a house in Baltimore.
My first home in Baltimore, anywhere, 600,000.
Being in Baltimore has been great.
I think the community here, second to none, I think.
The fans, they support the team.
I didn't realize how strong the fan base was in Baltimore,
but you know, they're, they're die hard for,
for the Ravens.
Beautiful scenery here. I kind of live out in the woods.
I got a nice little spot.
You know, let my dogs run around,
do some outdoor things,
you know, ATV, whatnot.
I should've said, I should have told you
about the ATV I bought. [laughing]
I forgot about the ATV, so 10,000.
You know, this is my home in Baltimore.
And, you know, just having a home and a place
to keep your things, um,
is a very, you know, nice, liberating feeling.
But, you know, long-term, I think, you know,
where I'm going to set my roots, you know,
raise a family,
I don't know where that's going to happen yet.
Besides my home,
I also own,
uh, like, a luxury condo in Vegas that, um,
I rent out.
Uh, yeah. It's pretty close to the strip.
It's a great location. Amenities, all that.
Um.
And also, in the current talks of buying a house in Hawaii.
So, I am gonna plan on doing the same thing there.
But also, you know,
definitely plan on spending more time in,
in the off season,
taking a good chunk of time and spending it there.
[upbeat music]
That's how I spent my first million, and,
you know, I feel like looking at it now,
it's a lot of money.
I feel like I just spent, you know, a lot of money.
I kind of want to take it back,
but I'm grateful for, you know,
just being able to have the money to spend.
I also spend money, you know, like, on my family members.
I always try to help out where I can.
Um, I got my dad a Tesla.
He loved it, and,
it was great to surprise him
and he never thought he would own a Tesla.
So, you know, I was able to save my grandma's church
that she and the rest of my family members
been going to for generations and
being able to help them out and to make her happy,
you know, it's, it's, it's all worth it.
I honestly, for my mom, like, she she's always with me,
so it's kind of like a never-ending,
I'm going to always take care of my mom type thing.
We just went to California.
I had to take a private jet there
because I needed to take my dogs
and you can't take your dogs commercial anymore.
So I had to, you know, pay the price to do that.
So, my mom's right there with me.
So she's there helping out,
she's, she's living right there with me
and I'm very grateful for her,
and, you know, I definitely take care of her.
[hip-hop music]
I'm actually starting my own charity, like, right now,
and it's called the Ronnie Stanley foundation.
What we do is, we pretty much take dogs from shelters
and we pick suitable candidates that we believe
that, um, would be trained to be, like,
a serviceable dog.
We work with partner trainers
and we get those dogs trained,
and we let those dogs work with individuals in real life,
from, you know, depression, to anxiety,
to, you know, autism even.
And you know, all these things that people do need dogs for.
And that's pretty much what we do.
We're just showing how, you know,
animals in need can also help humans in need.
Just kind of need the right tools and resources.
I appreciate y'all watching,
keeping up with how I spend my money.
You know, I'll see y'all the football field.
Hopefully I make a little bit more.