I love Halloween. Both the celebration, and the movie. In fact, growing up all over the world, in certain places, Halloween isn’t celebrated at all. To keep the spirit going, my parents allowed us to watch a scary movie, but they also needed to be movies that had been carefully vetted, and inappropriate scenes were promptly fast forwarded. As a result, I have always had a long and lasting love of classic horror movies and have spent many hours rewatching old classics. In their entirety, of course.
In the spirit of the season, indulge me, as I go through my umpteenth rewatch of my old favourites, and explain why and how classic horror movies are important. In fact, you can even learn something from them, as you’ll find in today’s column on what money lessons I gleaned from my multiple reruns.
Settle in, and if possible, dim the lights, light a candle, think of ghosts, and come with me on this dark (yet illuminating) and stormy path.
This movie is about 3 men with completely incompatible personalities (Martin Brody, Quint, and Matt Hopper) who are forced onto a team-building retreat, controlled by a large aquatic stakeholder (Shark), and only two make it to the debrief. Watch the movie to find out which.
But the real portfolio lesson shows up in the first 10 minutes of the movie. Right at the start, a young woman is killed by a shark, and the Sheriff Brody plans to shut the beach down. But Mayor Larry Vaughn knows that summer and beach season is when the town makes its money, so he overrides Sheriff Brody, and keeps the beach open. He chooses, in short, known and measurable cash inflows, while ignoring the very real short-term risks. People die, the beach is abandoned, and everything falls apart.
Portfolio Lesson: Short-term bets, even on a “sure thing,” made while ignoring real risks, and ignoring expert advice, will cost you significantly more in the long run. So make sure you have a plan, know your risk appetite and risk tolerance, and invest accordingly.
2. Alien (1979)
Don’t be fooled by the title, Alien is actually about 7 colleagues who take on an unscheduled assignment without supervisory approval, fail to observe the appropriate quarantine protocols, and experience the worst catering incident in workplace history.
The lesson here is not to put all your “eggs” (a joke with many “lay”ers, all of which you will get when you watch the film) in one basket. Because you never know the real intentions of the basket owner, diversification is your best bet.
Money Lesson: Do your own homework and invest in a way that makes sense for you. That means, take advantage of the only free lunch in investing, and spread your money across asset classes, securities, and time horizons. It also means that your only investment should not be in your employer. Diversify!
Psycho is one of the most easily recognizable classic films there is, but did you know that it is also the reason that we watch the movies from the beginning? Before Psycho, theatregoers could walk into a film whenever they wanted, and the film played in a loop. Of course, that would never work for a movie with a twist. So director Alfred Hitchcock had a firm “no late admission” policy. The movie had signs put outside that read, “We won’t allow you to cheat yourself. You must see PSYCHO from the very beginning. Therefore, do not expect to be admitted into the theatre after the start of each performance of the picture. We say no one — and we mean no one — not even the manager’s brother, the President of the United States, or the Queen of England (God bless her)!”
If you are one of the 7 people on Earth who has not seen Psycho, the movie is about a real estate secretary who makes an unauthorized cash withdrawal, cannot deposit it, drives four hundred miles, and stops at the single worst possible place to reconsider her decision.
Money Lesson: Liquidity is great, but money acquired outside the system carries a permanent holding cost in surveillance and anxiety. This is less a money lesson and more a life lesson – don’t do crimes, it’s expensive.
Rosemary’s Baby requires you to suspend disbelief to an almost hilarious degree. For one thing, you are expected to believe that a down-on-his-luck part-time actor and his unemployed wife can afford a two-bedroom house in New York. I mean, if this was a real horror movie, the terror would come from real estate prices. But because it is a classic, the actual story is about a husband whose career takes off after a secret offsite he can never discuss, while the wife is continually disbelieved by everyone around her.
Money Lesson: Don’t get caught in a multi-level marketing scheme. If anything requires you to make an immediate decision without consulting your own lawyer or accountant, run. The “free lunch” here is an equity infusion (or your first born child) so make sure you read the fine print extremely carefully.
Look, we all know that California is an expensive state. There are literal TV Shows about the most expensive zip code, that is in the state. So when you find an a house in a gated community that you can afford, is it suspicious? I don’t know, but Poltergeist is about a planned housing subdivision whose cost savings are reassessed by the previous occupants, who in turn were never consulted and have retained the right of access, which is not disclosed to the new owners. In short, “They’re ba-aack.”
Money Lesson: Do your homework when you buy a house. We have an entire article dedicated to this topic, which you can read here.
And after you do that, rewatch your favourite horror classic, and tell me what you learnt!
Disclaimer
The views and/or opinions expressed above are of a general nature and are for informational purposes only. The contents should not be considered as advice and/or a recommendation to purchase or sell the mentioned securities or used to engage personal investment strategies. Investors should consult their investment advisor before making any investment decision.
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