What These 5 Game of Thrones Characters Can Teach You Financially – Part 1

You’ve probably spent many sleepless nights watching episode after episode of the hit T.V series Game of Thrones before making your way all bleary-eyed to work the next day. Needless to say, the show can be quite addictive, especially with all the complex plot lines and numerous characters that seem to pop up every now and then.

But, what exactly does this have to do with anything even remotely related to Credit Cards, Personal Loans, and Investments et al? Quite a lot, actually. If you look at things from a strictly financial standpoint, each character exhibits traits that may resemble the way you handle your money.

Additional Reading: 3 Simple Rules For Managing Your Budget

So, figuratively speaking, let’s get on with the show!

The Queen Mother

Quite possibly one of the most reviled characters in the series, The Queen Mother nails the ‘evil’ queen role down to a T. However, from a financial point of view, she represents the sort of investor who would do just about anything to protect her position, wealth and investments. And, strictly financially speaking, that’s an admirable quality to have in this day and age.

When it comes to your money, you need to pull out all the stops (legally of course) to ensure that your wealth and your investments are adequately protected against any contingency. Just like The Queen Mother, you need to keep your eyes and ears wide open to spot any potential threat to your finances.

King’s Landing could very well resemble a virtual stock market, chock full of volatility and favourable conditions alike, and you need to do all you can to keep your investments from falling by the wayside. And by ‘all you can’, we don’t mean resorting to…ermmm…what was that word? Insects?

Anyway, you get the point. Stay on top of your investments, like Mutual Funds, for example, and keep a close eye on their performance if you want to not only consolidate your financial position, but to see your wealth grow as well.

Additional Reading: Best Investments For The Next 10 Years

The Mother of Dragons

From a financial perspective, The Mother of Dragons is the kind of person who practically grew her wealth from absolutely nothing. If there’s one lesson her rise to power can teach us, it is to always make the most of the position you’re in and work your way to the top by thinking two steps ahead. And, of course, it helps if you have a bunch of dragons to intimidate everyone around you.

Just kidding! But, what we’re trying to say is, she identified her dragon eggs as a veritable financial ‘nest egg’ she could fall back on when the going gets tough. She bided her time, dug deep, and eventually came out of the flames in a position of strength.

Similarly, it is extremely important to have a contingency or emergency fund to tide you over any rough patches you might encounter. Even if you lose everything except the shirt on your back, you still have your savings to keep you afloat while you get yourself out of the mire.

Taking out insurance policies like Life Insurance, Home Insurance and Health Insurance could be the three ‘dragon eggs’ you can bank on. And once they hatch, you and your loved ones can certainly reap the benefits. Remember, a Life Insurance policy can protect your family in the unfortunate event of your demise during the policy term, while a Medical Insurance policy can protect you against unforeseen medical emergencies.

Additional Reading: Are You Prepared For A Financial Emergency?

The Needle Bearer

The youngest and fieriest princess represents the young, daring investor. No challenge is too great and no obstacle can’t be overcome. The kind that is always willing to take risks, although the odds might be stacked against her.

If you see yourself in her, then you could be set to either have a great financial future or probably lose everything in a fit of recklessness. There’s every chance some of your financial gambles in the stock market could pay off big time considering your propensity for high-risk investments like equity funds and ULIPs. However, if you aren’t careful to keep your wilder side in check, you could make some terrible decisions that may lead to your financial downfall.

Taking risks when it comes to investing may pay off faster than you can imagine, but we would certainly advise you to do your research and exercise a fair amount of caution before doing so. And if you eventually grow weary of living life on the edge, you could always park your money in safer, low-risk investments like Fixed Deposits or a Public Provident Fund account.

Additional Reading: Investing In Equities: Risk Or Reward?

The Great Warrior Chieftain

You can probably see this coming from a mile away. The gigantic warlord who had it all, but lost everything due to a bout of overconfidence. In fact, the way the warrior chief’s physical health deteriorated so rapidly due to what seemed like a minor cut at the time, could be synonymous with a leak in your budget that eventually gets way out of hand.

Overconfidence has been the ruin of many a man and woman, especially when it comes to money. If you think you’ve mastered your finances as well as the art of budgeting, then you really need to take a step back and assess your position once again.

You need to make sure that your budget plan is absolutely watertight so as to prevent any potential cracks from appearing. Once you give in to the temptation of spending over and above your budget, there’s every chance you could lose control and fall victim to your own pride.

So, unless you want to become a quivering wreck falling off your financial horse, you will need to exercise caution and discipline at all times when it comes to budgeting and spending your money.

Additional Reading: 4 Possible Leaks In Your Budget

The Simpleton

As lovable as he might be, especially since he dragged a crippled, young prince halfway across the kingdom, you certainly wouldn’t trust him with any sort of financial planning, let alone a Rs. 100 note. If you’re someone who is extremely wet behind the ears when it comes to managing money, you need to get a leg up as soon as possible if you want to accumulate a fair amount of wealth for yourself.

Try applying for an Education Loan to help you pursue courses in financial management or even help you enrol in institutions that can further enhance your financial knowledge. This could certainly hold you in good stead in the long run and help you make informed decisions when it comes to investing as well as managing your finances. After all, you wouldn’t want to go through life constantly echoing your own name every time someone says something to you.

Additional Reading: The Nitty-Gritty Of Education Loans

If any of these characters resonate with you, then you certainly know what to do with your money after reading this. And if you don’t liken yourself to any of them, worry not! Keep your eyes peeled for part 2 where we’ll introduce 5 more figures from this series to teach you all about your finances.

The views expressed here are solely those of the blogger in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of the legal enforcement authority or any other entity. 

Copyright of the characters rests with the copyright holder. BankBazaar does not exert any rights on the characters. The content here is the creative ideation and input of BankBazaar.