TheStreet.com
Ten Money Lessons From March Madness
Tuesday March 25, 10:11 am ET
ByJeffrey Strain, Special to TheStreet.com


Betting isn't the only money issue surrounding March Madness, the NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Championship.

The traits of the tournament's best teams can make your personal finances worthy of winning a trophy.

Here are lessons about money you can learn from watching the games:

1. Good Coaching Creates Success

The teams that make it to the tournament have talent, but they also have good coaching. The coaches are able to get the most out of the talent and make them better as a team than they are as individual players. They also instill goals and a winning attitude in the players to achieve the most that they can.

You should also have a personal finance coach, whether that be someone actively helping you out or an author that motivates you to do the right things to get your finances in order through books and other media.

There are many to choose from, but having someone to coach you along the way will make the financial journey a lot easier than if you tried to learn everything on your own from scratch.

2. Team Play Is Important

Even teams that have superstars play as teams. If the team doesn't play as a single unit, that team is going to have a lot of trouble succeeding in the tournament. A winning team is much more than the individuals that make up the team. Success is determined much more by how well the individual players work together than the individual talent of each player on the team.

When it comes to your finances, that team is your family. Getting everyone to work toward the family's financial goals creates a much more stable and effective game plan than if a single member tries to do it all. All family members need to contribute to succeed in reaching their financial goals.

3. Having a Star Player Also Helps

While the entire team needs to contribute to the win, it helps if a team has at least one outstanding player. This is the player that you can count on for leadership and to make the big plays when things get tough and the game is on the line.

There also needs to be at least one person in the family who takes the lead to encourage the others in pursuit of the family's financial goals. This person leads the other members and keeps them motivated when times are difficult.

4. Defense Is as Important as Offense

While offense is the exciting part of the game, defense is just as important to winning. A team with great offense but no defense won't last long in the tournament. Great defense can also make huge contributions to winning games by creating more offensive opportunities.

Creating wealth and investing it is the offense of personal finances, while protecting that wealth is the defense. Getting the proper insurance and creating an emergency fund are just as important to your financial health as creating the wealth in the first place.

5. Free Throws Count

Free throws aren't nearly as exciting as breakaway dunks, but at the end of the game, it's free throws that can make or break a team. Teams spend hours on free throws each week at practice, and it is often how players do from the line that determines whether they win or lose.

The free throw of personal finance is setting aside money for retirement. It is something that needs to be practiced month after month. Practicing it consistently will ensure that retirement comes with winning numbers in your bank account.

6. It's Little Mistakes That Kill

More often, small mistakes made over the entirety of a game, rather than a single big mistake, will cause a loss. Teams spend hours working on fundamentals to prevent those little mistakes from happening. While a team with a lack of mistakes won't be noticed in a game, those teams that make a lot will be and will usually be found on the losing side.

It's just as important to work on the fundamentals of personal finance such as earning more than your spend, not wasting money on things you don't need and investing money for the future. Learning to work on those fundamentals day in and day out is essential to building quality finances.

7. Making a Game Plan Is Essential

Teams don't go onto the court and just assume that their natural talent will win games. They spend hours studying the other team and learning their strengths and weaknesses and walk onto the court with a game plan for how they are going to attack their opponent on the court. Those that have studied the opposing team the best often come off the court with a win.

Personal finance needs similar strategy. It's important to study and make a game plan for how you are going to achieve your financial goals. Having a game plan will make reaching those goals much more likely than if you don't have a game plan at all.

8. Set Plays Are Essential

When certain game situations arise, teams have set plays that they go to. It may be a play for when there are only 10 seconds remaining in the game, a play for an inbound pass or a play for a certain type of defense.

The teams have practiced and prepared for these situations even though there is no guarantee that the situation will ever happen during the game. While a given scenario may never arise, the teams that have practiced plays and gotten them down to perfection have a much better chance to win the game than those who haven't prepared.

Taking the time to prepare set plays for your personal finances is also an important part of financial success. It could be setting a sell price for a particular stock when you purchase it or forgoing some splurges if savings don't reach a certain amount each month. Having these set plays ready to put into action when certain financial situations arise will make it much easier to deal with them and come out ahead.

9. Tempo Can't Be Ignored

A big part of winning games is for teams to set the game tempo to their liking and strengths. Games played at their rhythm and not the other team's are much easier to win.

In the same way, you want to play to your strengths when it comes to personal finances. Understanding what motivates you and your family to stick to a budget and to create an atmosphere where those motivations are ever present makes reaching financial goals a lot easier.

10. Staying Calm Wins Games

March Madness games come with a lot of pressure. They are played over national TV with the best teams across the nation. For a team to win, it must learn how to respond to the pressure without panic and keep to its game strategy.

The same is true with personal finances. There will always be times when things go unexpectedly, and you will be under pressure to change from your game plan.

Having the patience and being able to remain calm when others would normally panic and make mistakes will not only help you survive these situations, it may even show you opportunities to improve your finances.