August 8th, 2015. The first game in Leicester City's momentous season, one that would rewrite the Premier League history books. Claudio Ranieri's side put four goals past Sunderland in a dominant display that day. But no-one could have predicted what would unfold over the coming months.

The Foxes' enthralling title triumph has been labelled the greatest upset in the history of the Premier League by many pundits. Before the season started, bookies were offering odds of 5,000/1 on Leicester to win the league. That was 10 times less likely than Simon Cowell becoming Prime Minister, and five times less probable than Sir Alex Ferguson winning Strictly Come Dancing.

And yet, after storming to the title before the season had even finished, Leicester City's squad of relative unknowns managed to break the big clubs' stranglehold on the top domestic trophy in world football. In doing so, it is estimated that their squad has more than quadrupled in value.

But what does Leicester's remarkable achievement tell us about financial advice and investing? What can we learn from a team that upset the odds, and challenged conventional wisdom? Here are the three things Leicester City can teach you about financial planning:

1. Big fees don't mean big performance. Leicester City's squad was assembled on the relative-shoestring budget of £45million. In modern football terms, that represents a thrifty investment and it just goes to show that forking out the biggest fees doesn't always guarantee the greatest returns. Just ask Manchester United whether they'd rather have the underwhelming Memphis Depay, reportedly signed for around £25million, or Jamie Vardy, who cost Leicester £930,000, broke Premier League goal-scoring records, and is now thought to be worth in excess of £20million. It's exactly the same with investing. High charges for funds and advice are unlikely to deliver superior performance.

2. The value of a plan. Armchair pundits scoffed at the thought of a man once labelled by the British media as 'the Tinkerman' returning to the Premier League. Could he provide the same level of focus displayed by Leicester towards the end of the previous season when they had narrowly avoided relegation? But Claudio Ranieri's careful planning, appraising his team's strengths and weaknesses, and setting milestones for them to achieve throughout the season, was invaluable and ultimately enabled their success story. When it comes to managing your money, just as in football, deciding what you want to achieve and plotting your objectives is invaluable (and makes it more likely you'll achieve them).

3. Keep it simple. In an age when the diverse range of investment platforms available is matched only in breadth and complexity by the number of team formations fielded each weekend, it's tempting to buy into the hype. But just like Leicester City's approach on the pitch, it pays to keep things simple and focus on the end result. That means concentrating less on short-term trends, and more on creating a high-performing balanced portfolio that delivers. Leicester and Ranieri had one of the simplest formations out there, and yet because it was built specifically for the players they had, it worked wonders. The same goes for your investments - understanding what you want to achieve and crafting a simple but personalised plan pays dividends.

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If you're interesting in speaking to a table-topping team that keeps things simple, performs brilliantly for low fees, and can create you a plan based on what you want to achieve, talk to Flying Colours today on 0333 241 9900.

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Image Attribution: By Pioeb (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons