Financial lessons can come from anywhere. If you are seeking for answers, you can find inspiration from just about anything – even a movie. And if we are going to pick up lessons from a movie, we should go for the biggest film to be released this year – Avengers Infinity War.
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past ten years, the movie brings together all of Marvel’s most-loved comic superheroes on the big screen. This movie connects to a wide generation from those reading comics in the past to the young ones who recognize these heroes from television cartoons up to big screen adaptations.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has outdone themselves with this movie. Every little thing they did to build the hype prior to the release of the movie worked and the movie itself did not disappoint. From the cast to the storyline, and everything else – all of it was fantastic. And the numbers are supporting this claim to success. The movie has already earned $1 billion and it has only been a little more than two weeks. Without a doubt, that is a really impressive feat that would be hard to live up to.
And what is even better is the fact that you can actually get financial lessons from the movie. It is not like you would need more reason to watch the movie – but the connection might be just what you need to get serious about improving your financial situation.
5 financial lessons to pick up from Avengers Infinity War
There are certainly many things that you can pick up from the movie. But if you are looking for financial lessons, you will not be disappointed. Granted, the lessons are not out in the open. But if you know what to look for, you will find inspiration in just about anything.
To enlighten you, here are five of the money lessons that you can pick up as you enjoy the movie.
Ensure that all areas of your finances are okay
The movie as a whole is spectacular mainly because of the collection of characters. But it should also be noted that each of the characters can hold their own. They are successful on their own in the sense that they have their respective powers and abilities. Even before the latest installment of the Avengers franchise, each member of the main cast had their own box office hits.
With that in mind, you need to understand that your budget will work better if the individual components can perform their function well. Your emergency fund must be able to step in when you encounter unexpected circumstances. The retirement fund must be able to supplement lost income when the time comes that you have to enjoy your golden years. You need to make sure that all of these are taken cared of so they can contribute to your overall financial success.
The best way to do this is by staying on top of your personal finances. This is probably one of the basic financial lessons you need to remember. According to a survey done by the American Psychological Association, 1 out of 4 Americans are feeling stressed about their money and they tend to ignore it when that happens. This is a mistake. When you are feeling stressed about your finances, that is a sign that you need to pay more attention to it. You have to make sure you have full control over all and individual areas of your finances.
Make sure everything works towards your goals
In the movie, you will see the team scattered across the universe. All of them are doing something different but they all have one goal – to defeat Thanos. Iron Man together with Spiderman, Doctor Strange and the Guardians of the Galaxy ended up on Titan fighting Thanos. Thor went to get a new hammer to try and defeat Thanos with Rocket and Groot. The rest of the Avengers cast was left on Earth to try an stop the villain from getting the last infinity stone.
This is one of the financial lessons you can learn from the movie. It might seem that you are working on different angles with your investments, savings, and even 401(k). However, you need to keep in mind that they should all work towards a common goal – your financial security. Identifying your overall goal helps to align all your financial tasks and decisions. No matter what you encounter, you should always consider your overall goal.
Have people you can trust
The Avengers team are good because they work as a team. They trust each other. This is another one of the important financial lessons you need to learn from the movie. If you want your finances to be successful, you have to identify the people in your life that you can trust. If you are married, it should be your spouse. Not trusting your partner with your finances is not entirely wise. You should always be in the same boat about your finances. This will help you make better decisions especially when it concerns your household.
Apart from that, you might want to have a mentor – especially when you know that you need help in managing your finances. Look for someone who you know is good at managing their finances and get their advice. They could help you identify options that you thought you never had.
Things will not work the way you planned them
This is a fact of life – and the Avengers Infinity War movie reminded us of this big time. We all thought that, like all the other Avengers movie, they will win in the end. But no. It does not matter how awesome the plans were. The Avengers, as awesome as their plans were, still failed and it cost half the life in the universe.
You need to expect that this is also the case in your life. You may have a lot of plans in place but not all of them will go as planned. And you may be successful at some of them but the road towards them might not be as you expected it to be. This is why you need to be careful as you go through your financial plans. While you may be excited about financial planning, make sure you go through it smartly. And make sure your plans are all flexible. The reason why plans do not turn out as expected is that life is full of surprises and uncertainties. You need to be able to adapt without stressing too much about it.
Always have a backup plan
If you stayed long enough after the credits, you will see another scene play out (typical Marvel movie style). Before Nick Fury disappeared into thin air, he was getting in touch with someone that he thought could help them. That was his back up plan. You need to do the same.
Since your plans are most likely not going to go as intended, you might as well be prepared for it. You need to come up with a backup plan. Usually, this means having an emergency fund in place. But the plan would have to depend on what you initially want to achieve.
Maybe it is better if you start by educating yourself about your finances first. Once you know what you are up against, then it is easier to determine how to make your finances more secure.
What to do with the financial lessons you just learned
Now that you have learned the financial lessons from the Avengers Infinity War movie, what next?
You need to be disciplined enough to implement them. Whatever you learned will be for nothing unless you apply them in your life. At least, associating the lessons with the movie will make retention easier.
Of course, implementing what you learned is easier said than done – especially when it involves changing habits that you are not used to. You need a lot of self-control, discipline, and determination if you want to change bad habits and replace them with good ones that can improve your financial situation.
If you think it is hard to do – just look at what the Millennials are doing. According to statistics, Millennials have become more financially responsible compared to other generations. Considering what they have gone through, this is an impressive feat. You have to remember that a lot of this generation had weak job prospects after they got their degree. They had to suffer through a weak job market as they were just starting to build their career. It was a tough start especially since they had a lot of student loans to pay for.
But with discipline and determination, they are able to make their financial position stronger and more secure. A lot of them already started saving and that is always a good thing. If they can develop good financial habits considering what they had to go through, then we all know it is possible. We just have to learn the right financial lessons from each other.