The NFL football season is upon us again. Neighborhoods, workplaces, and sports bars are buzzing with Fantasy Football fever. The Fantasy Trade Sports Association commented that the Fantasy Football market is more than a 70-billion-dollar industry today and growing.
I am terrible at playing Fantasy Football and only have myself to blame for all those mediocre years.
I played for nearly 10 years with the same high school friends and only once did I play in the championship. That year, I followed the advice of Brett Talley @TheRealTAL. Brett is good at Fantasy Sports. In 2016, he was #4 in FantasyPros 2016 NFL Accuracy competition.
While I was doing my draft, I remember I kept thinking this is totally not what I would do. Yet due to lack of preparation on my part and not being sure about participating, I was stuck. I did have the assurance of daughter #2 that I was getting good advice. At that time Brett was “the boyfriend” and has progressed on to being the “fiancé’”.
Brett put a spreadsheet together for me and was based on his flow chart (see the picture above) that I was to follow. It may make sense to you, but I was out of my league.
This is what I learned from my draft and participation that year.
Follow the Process – Emotions and emotional reactions will limit your success. Basing your financial future or the Buddy Dog Paws season (my last fantasy football team) on an emotional response to a headline or a gut feeling is the easiest way to have mediocre results. Have a plan and stick to it.
Do your homework – It’s shocking how many people don’t know what they own whether it is investments or fantasy football. Don’t just make a pick on a hunch or the latest magazine cover, have a plan and stick to the plan.
Don’t Bet on One Player – (Tony Romo Rule) With all the hoopla around the FAANG stocks you need to be very careful about picking just one company for all of your assets. It can be incredibly tempting to tell yourself that some of these technology companies have ‘no way of losing’, but be mindful that the tables can turn quickly if a company gets injured just like a player can on the field. The financial market goes up like an escalator and down like an elevator.
Monitor Your Plan – Just like Fantasy Football, some star players may take a turn for the South or some players will come off the bench and end up being a diamond in the rough. The worst thing you can do is to just sit on the sidelines and assume that your players will perform. We use our weekly Net Worth reporting to support our clients in tracking their financial future. What do you use?
Michael Tannery CPA CDFA® AIF® ● CEO
Registered Principal
Be A Financial Olympian
