Ten Money Lessons From March Madness

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.