Monopoly, the household known game that is: fun, a good way to pass the time, a good way to bond with others, and an even better way to break those bonds. Monopoly is one of the most widely known games in the world, for a reason. What makes the game fun is the thing that makes the world go ‘round…. Money. Something about being able to physically see your income grow is pleasing, no matter if the money is fake. Like in real life, there is nothing better than having a huge payout, and nothing worse than seeing that money fall through your fingers. Out of the millions of people who have played and loved the board game over the years, from pre-teens to senior citizens; most do not know that Monopoly is a great way to learn about financial risks in real life situation.
The financial world to most people is an intimidating dog-eat-dog world: investing, net worth, interest rates, rate of return, IRA, mutual fund, 401k, rule of 72, blah blah blah… To the financially inexperienced, many, if not all of these words are foreign. Little do they know that through playing Monopoly the odds are that they already have a grasp of the basics of finances. One of the most prominent concepts of Monopoly is analyzing “risk and reward”. Risk and reward is the basic concept of higher risk has a chance for higher return, or a greater loss. Where lower risk will yield a lower return, but will be more stable. In the game one can consider themselves an investor. Depending on the type of “investor” you are, you will choose to buy either expensive high-yield properties, or cheaper, lower-yield properties. Depending on this choice one will either make net gains or net losses, gaining money and losing money, just like in real life. As Murphy’s law states: “anything that can happen, will happen”. Ever heard of a rainy day fund? A rainy day fund is an allotted amount of money set aside for when things go wrong, and sooner or later, things will go wrong. This applies to Monopoly as well as real life finances. Get a stroke of bad luck by landing on boardwalk? Well if you were playing without an allotted amount of money that you could use to pay for this large “rental” …show more content…
Coming back from tough financial times is difficult, especially with debt. In Monopoly some of the only ways to get out of debt is to liquidate properties. The good thing about knowing finances is the ability to handle debt in a productive manner. The key to safely paying off debt is to not dig yourself a larger hole by doing so. When debt occurs, many of times it can seem overwhelming and impossible to pay off, but it can be done. Sadly in order to get out of debt sacrifices usually need to be made. Whether it is eating at home and going out less, or riding a bike to work or carpooling to save gas. Little savings can add up fast. Even if there is not enough funds to pay off all debts, that is okay. Using the snowball method paying off debt will seem much less overwhelming and instead more controllable. The snowball method is beginning to pay of the small debts, and working up to the larger ones. This allows people to see the impact their saving is doing and to push them to stay on
The financial world to most people is an intimidating dog-eat-dog world: investing, net worth, interest rates, rate of return, IRA, mutual fund, 401k, rule of 72, blah blah blah… To the financially inexperienced, many, if not all of these words are foreign. Little do they know that through playing Monopoly the odds are that they already have a grasp of the basics of finances. One of the most prominent concepts of Monopoly is analyzing “risk and reward”. Risk and reward is the basic concept of higher risk has a chance for higher return, or a greater loss. Where lower risk will yield a lower return, but will be more stable. In the game one can consider themselves an investor. Depending on the type of “investor” you are, you will choose to buy either expensive high-yield properties, or cheaper, lower-yield properties. Depending on this choice one will either make net gains or net losses, gaining money and losing money, just like in real life. As Murphy’s law states: “anything that can happen, will happen”. Ever heard of a rainy day fund? A rainy day fund is an allotted amount of money set aside for when things go wrong, and sooner or later, things will go wrong. This applies to Monopoly as well as real life finances. Get a stroke of bad luck by landing on boardwalk? Well if you were playing without an allotted amount of money that you could use to pay for this large “rental” …show more content…
Coming back from tough financial times is difficult, especially with debt. In Monopoly some of the only ways to get out of debt is to liquidate properties. The good thing about knowing finances is the ability to handle debt in a productive manner. The key to safely paying off debt is to not dig yourself a larger hole by doing so. When debt occurs, many of times it can seem overwhelming and impossible to pay off, but it can be done. Sadly in order to get out of debt sacrifices usually need to be made. Whether it is eating at home and going out less, or riding a bike to work or carpooling to save gas. Little savings can add up fast. Even if there is not enough funds to pay off all debts, that is okay. Using the snowball method paying off debt will seem much less overwhelming and instead more controllable. The snowball method is beginning to pay of the small debts, and working up to the larger ones. This allows people to see the impact their saving is doing and to push them to stay on