Walker Hayes has to learn how to budget, and budget well. The 45-year-old is part of a new series, Lincoln Financial’s The Action Plan by Rich Roll, where he talks about the choices he has to make, in order to make sure he has enough to support his large family.

“I’ve lived through the ups and downs of the music industry for over 20 years, trying to build my career and find financial stability while pursuing music,” Hayes reflects. “That stability has never been more important as I look at my children and start to think about their future … I’m thinking about college, weddings, and what else I can be doing to support the people they’re becoming.

“I realized I need help to create a real plan that we can follow,” he continues. “I was able to find people I trust who have that skill set. My financial team sees numbers from 30,000 ft away, and it gives me that stability – the experts do the heavy lifting so I can spend my time with my family and playing music.”

Hayes and his wife Lela have six children, with their seventh child, daughter Oakleigh, passing away shortly after she was born in 2018. For Hayes, his biggest decisions aren’t what he is going to spend money on now, but how he can prepare his children for their future later.

“Now I have to start thinking about my kids’ futures – what do I have to pay for later?” Hayes says. “I say, ‘Raise your hand if you want a nice wedding,’ or, ‘Can we talk about college now’ – and I’m talking about an eight-year old …  With an artists’ career, you just never know. When you get it [money], and it’s coming, you have to take care of it and be smart with it. Because it’s really uncontrollable.”

Hayes has had plenty of success in recent years, but it almost came with a heavy price. After getting sober in 2015, Hayes came precariously close to drinking when his career began to take off.

“All of a sudden, you take this dad who’s very comfortable at home just writing songs,” the “Fancy Like” singer tells Rolling Stone. “And you put him in a suit, and you do his hair, and he’s walking red carpets with Machine Gun Kelly, and Cardi B’s introducing him? There were times where I was like, ‘I would love to be hammered right now; I’d much rather be drunk at this award show because I am uncomfortable.’”

Fortunately, Hayes managed to maintain his sobriety, thanks in large part to his wife and her belief in her husband.

“I’m not gonna lie, but there were many nights where I called my wife and I said, ‘Look, there’s a bar down at the hotel, there’s nobody there, and nobody would know,’” Hayes remembers. “There were many nights where I counted on my wife and friends to talk me through and say, ‘You will not regret it if you don’t have that drink. You will not regret it if you wake up tomorrow and don’t have that secret to keep.’

Hayes is currently serving as the opening act on Brad Paisley‘s Truck Still Works Tour. Find all of his music and upcoming shows at WalkerHayes.com.