Mad Monday for Investors

Come Monday morning, possibly sooner, players of 10 AFL clubs not participating in September will be putting on their costumes and heading to their chosen pub with serious intentions of improving the share prices of Heineken, Treasury Wine etc.

I've asked footballers what they get up to on Mad Mondays and the common response is a sense of rewarding oneself for going through what is an incredibly difficult 10 month season, both physically and mentally, and without going too deep, reflecting on their progress over the season. I suggest in Premiership Portfolio that investors aim to have their own mini mad-Monday, and no, I'm not suggesting missing a day's work for it. If you have outperformed the overall stock market and made some impressive gains, be sure to reward yourself, within reason that is. It might be buying a club membership, or upgrading your existing one, an interstate trip with friends to watch your favourite team play, or a holiday away with the family. Saving up capital to invest isn't easy, it requires hard work and discipline. Sticking to your investment plan can be just has hard. So when you achieve your goals along the way, it's important to remember why we invest, to provide for our future and enjoy life. Celebrate what is a difficult thing to do. Word of Warning: You only register a profit when you sell the shares. Don't go off organizing interstate weekends away with friends months in advance in anticipation of future profits. A week is a long time in footy, and even more so in the stock market. Don't get overconfident or complacent. Remember that your reward is determined by your end-of-year capital gain result, not your portfolio's on-paper performance. Mad Monday is also a period to reflect on your performance. It's a good opportunity to review your personal financial circumstances and your attitude towards investing. You might have changed employers, received a raise or entered retirement. An exercise I like doing it looking back at my investment decisions and reflecting on why I made them and how they have turned out. Doing this every year makes you realize firstly, how many decisions you actually made, the fewer the better, and why you made them. Did they go well, or did they disappoint? and why? At the end of the day, it's about making better investment decisions. A bit of reward (only if things have gone well) and reflection (more important for when things don't go so well).

P.S. Don't worry about dressing up, but you can if you really want to!