Football season is kicking off in just a few days.

Football fans everywhere are starting to shake off the glazed-over feeling of football withdrawal syndrome that they have been suffering with since the SuperBowl. Since the winter football fanatics have been a bit antsy. The season is starting now, so all is right with the world again.

Lewis Grizzard said, The game of life is a lot like football. You have to tackle your problems, block your fears, and score your points when you get the opportunity.

Investing is just like football. Many of the lessons learned on the field can be easily applied to the world of investing.

Below you will discover five things practiced in football that can be applied to your investment portfolio to make your life a little easier

1.) Team Building is Job # 1

Every football team is a collection or portfolio of players. Just like every stock portfolio is a collection of various stocks. In Football, each team has three sub groups – Offense, Defense and Special Teams. Each on of these groups has a particular purpose. Offense’s job is to score. Defense’s job is to keep the opposing team from scoring and Special teams is for special situations like punting and kicking field goals. Your portfolio is just like a football team – Your offensive positions are there to make you money, with investment like stocks. The Defensive squad is their to protect your money with investments like bonds. The Special Teams unit, is there for special situation, like war or natural disasters, which work well for investments like gold and oil.

Every team is special. Some teams are more offensive, others are more defensive, no team is alike. Every investor’s portfolio is special also, it should be unique and built specifically with a purpose in mind, like retirement, or college.

2.) Ignore the Draft

Every year, the NFL holds a Draft to pick the top talent from the college football ranks. Its a media frenzy. This event is very similar to an Initial Public Offering in the world of investing. Just like football everybody wants to know who the new Hot Player is, the IPO signifies what the new hot stock will be. Sadly many of the NFL best players did not come from #1 draft picks., Joe Montana, Dan Marino and Tom Brady, were drafted during the 3rd, 4th and 6th rounds of the draft, respectively. They were along way from that “Top Draft Pick” position, but they are arguably the the best Quarterbacks to ever play the game. The same thing happens in the world of investing, its those non thought of investments that sneak up on you to produce major returns.

Have you ever heard of Lee Enterprises (LEE)? Well Warren Buffett has. His company Berkshire Hathaway owns about $360,000 and it has returned 106% over the last 5 years. Compared to the 94.7% returned by the overall stock market, measured by the S&P 500. That is like winning the Superbowl.

Quiet is always better then loads of attention, for investors.

3.) Football is a Mental Game

Football is football and talent is talent. But the mindset of your team makes all the difference – Robert Griffin III

Football is athletic in nature, but it takes brain power to win the Superbowl. There are many highs and lows in football, just like in investing. The true champions of football and investing are the ones who know how to keep their emotions in check and follow a repeatable logical process.  

4.) Having a Playbook

Some of the greatest football players and coaches are notorious for studying previous game and practice film footage. Masterful investors do something very similar by studying previous stock market movements.  Its not uncommon, for the great investors to review the stock market crash of 1929 or Black Monday in 1987 or the October 2008 crash, during the great recession.

Studying the past helps you see opportunity in the future. Whether its adjusting your defense to stop a team that can run the ball up the middle at will, or how to rearrange your investments to  deal with the threat of war – All of these strategies should be present in your play book.

5.) No Position is Guaranteed

There are no guaranteed positions in football. Every season, all the players must compete for their respective position on the team. If a player is hurt, or just not up to par they will be replaced with another player who is more likely to fulfill the roles and responsibilities of that position.

The same rule holds true in investing. If a company is damaged by lacking profits or there are other investments that fulfill that role in your portfolio better than the current investment they must be cut or traded. There is an old investment saying  “Never fall in love with your positions”. Once you fall in love, you lose your objectivity.

If you follow these 5 footballs lessons, you should be able to make more money with your investments then you have made on you fantasy football pool.

Tell us, who you are expecting to see win the Superbowl this year.