Friday, September 6, 2019

Invested- Practice is the Key to Success

In life when we want to get good at something we practice it. It doesn't matter what it is: singing, shooting a free throw, pitching a baseball, skipping rope, etc. We practice to get better at it.

For some reason this rule of practice seems to get overlooked when it comes to money. We learn to make change in our early years and that is about as far as our financial education goes. We never learn how to invest, or how to practice investing.

That is, until now.

I recently played the board game "Cashflow" by Robert Kiyosaki. As part of the game there was an investing and trading mechanic, however it didn't reflect life as closely as I would have liked. So I took it upon myself to build a game that was a little bit closer to reality, but still based on the mechanic from the game. The result is "Invested" a one player investing game where you try to get from $1,000 cash to $1,000 passive income.

In this game, your only income is your dividends, rent on properties you own, and your capitol gains from selling stock. No paycheck! Dividends and rent are paid every 3rd turn in an effort to simulate a full month passing. Income from houses assumes that you have a renter who is covering the cost of your loan for the house as well as putting a little cash back in your pocket.

After playing through it a few times you will start to get an idea of what investors go through as they look at stocks and properties. Played more often, you will begin to see and think like an investor.

This game will give you just a taste of what investing is like. If you want a fuller experience, then I strongly recommend playing the original game of "Cashflow" as it forces you to look at your income, debt, and impulse buying as well as learning to invest.

Click here to play "Invested" now!