If you’re a cricket buff then here’s how the current IPL season can help you score big when it comes to managing your finances.
Any cricket fan worth his or her salt will firmly attest that IPL 2019 has been an absolute rollercoaster of emotions from the get-go. Regardless of which team you support, you’ve probably got more than your fill of incredible cricketing action over the last month or so. And it isn’t over yet, what with the playoffs currently underway to separate the wheat from the chaff.
We’re sure you’ve already used your Credit Card or Debit Card umpteen times to buy match tickets or subscribe to online portals so you can catch all the action live. And we’re also quite certain you’ve spent a pretty penny organising matchday parties at your home with your friends and family while you cheer on your favourite team.
However, if your bank account is looking a bit worse for wear after all the excitement, we have just the remedy for you. All you have to do is keep watching the IPL. Yes, you heard that right? We’re going to put a spin on things and show you exactly what this IPL season can teach you about financial management.
So head on down to pitchside. It’s time to get cracking!
Additional Reading: 5 Things Test Cricket Can Teach You About Financial Planning
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Consistency
One of the most fascinating features of the IPL, since it began, has been the incredible consistency of the Chennai Super Kings, ably led by captain cool M.S Dhoni. Ever since the IPL’s inception in 2008, CSK has won three titles and finished runner up on four other occasions. And this feat is even more extraordinary considering CSK were suspended from the competition for a period of two years in between.
The key to succeeding at anything in life is doing something well and doing it consistently. When it comes to your finances, saving money can certainly be a tough task for the most prudent of us, but if you put your mind to it and stay focused on putting aside a certain amount every month towards your savings, you will find yourself in a fantastic financial position sooner rather than later.
Sure, there may be some months where saving money may prove to be quite difficult, but by taking a calm and measured approach in the face of adversity, you should be able to sail through choppy financial waters and continue towards your savings goal without too much trouble. In short, just ask yourself what Dhoni would do and you’ll probably have your answer.
Additional Reading: A Ten-Pointer Crash Course On Savings
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Don’t Put All Your Eggs In One Basket
If you’re an RCB fan, you’ve probably been crying into your pillow more times than you can possibly count. Although they showed signs of a mini-revival halfway through the current season, it was ultimately too little too late to make up for their shambolic performances during the first eight games.
But what contributed to their downfall? Was it poor strategy? Poor decision making? Poor captaincy? Well, all these certainly contributed in some form or another, but most RCB fans are of the opinion that the franchise pinned all its hopes squarely on the shoulders of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. While both, or even either of them, are capable of winning matches almost single-handedly like they’ve done in the past, they haven’t quite hit the heights they are capable of and the team suffered for it.
Similarly, when it comes to investing your money, make sure you diversify your investment portfolio and put your money into different investment avenues like Fixed Deposits, Mutual Funds, shares, etc. so that you not only minimise risk in the long run but also stand to earn better returns over a sustained period of time as well.
Putting all your eggs in one basket, like RCB did much to their detriment, is a risky approach. Of course, if it pays off you stand to earn big, but if it doesn’t, then your finances could hit rock bottom, just like RCB’s position in the IPL table.
Additional Reading: Does Your Portfolio Need A Rejig?
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A Different Approach
As bizarre as this sounds, the Delhi Capitals saw their fortunes take a drastic upward swing this season after dropping their previous moniker, the Delhi Daredevils.
While the co-owner and chairman of the Delhi Capitals, Parth Jindal, stated that the team’s name was changed to reflect the status of Delhi as the capital and power center of India, the news that was going around was that they wanted to do away with the term ‘devils’ in the previous name.
Well, whatever the reason, it seems to have worked wonders as Delhi made their way into the playoffs playing some fantastic cricket along the way. Similarly, when it comes to managing your money, if things don’t seem to be going your way, sometimes all it takes is changing your perspective and taking a different approach to how you do things.
If you see your Mutual Fund investment isn’t doing very well over a period of time, move to another one, or if you see that the monthly budget you drew up hasn’t been working well as far as meeting your financial goals are concerned, take a step back and see what you can do to tweak it or revamp it so that it aligns with your financial goals.
As the saying goes, the only constant in life is change, and staying still leads to stagnation, so make it a point from time to time to go over your finances and look at things from a different point of view. You never know. You may identify areas that can improve your fortunes drastically with a simple alteration.
Additional Reading: Golden Rules Of Investing – The IPL Way
So the next time you catch some of the IPL cricketing action on your screen or in person, take a moment to see how you can apply some of the game’s attributes to your own financial management repertoire.