Life Lessons Learned from Playing Monopoly
We've all played monopoly at some point or another and even as an adult this is one of my favorite games to play. I was noticing that the game has many lessons that I didn't pay attention to when I was younger but now as an adult, they hold significant weight.
I believe the lessons are now more relevant to things I have access to do now like saving money, investing money, and buying property.
PASS GO, COLLECT
Always Have an Emergency Fund, ALWAYS
One lesson I learned in monopoly is to always have an emergency fund. I was losing so bad in one game where my friend had houses and hotels on their property. I landed on it and paid the ultimate cost. I had $50 left and we called it a game because this was the end of the game at that point.
Similarly to when my car was having major issues and I couldn't afford to have it fixed at the time. I had to borrow money from others because I still had to get to work and I didn't have an emergency fund. I grew up taking public transportation but hadn't taken the bus since I bought a car. It was such an inconvenience to have to leave three hours early to get to work on time. This was way before Uber existed and boy am I thankful for it now.
"It may take you months or years to build up an adequate emergency savings fund. That's okay." - Suze Orman
Learn About Real Estate
The goal to playing monopoly is to win as the person with the most money leftover. My strategy when playing it is to try to plan my money accordingly to last the entire game. As I'm learning about real estate, it is easy to see how most people become very wealthy from this industry. It has the potential to create high levels of passive income if done properly.
Patience Pays Off - Delayed Gratification
Day-trading has become pretty popular with new investors but as a preference, my go-to Is long-term investing. I understand how investing works now and by sacrificing a little bit of my time and money now, I reap a much greater return. It's 100% always worth it. In monopoly, you have to wait a while before anyone lands on your property to earn the rent money they now owe you. You are initially sacrificing your money to purchase the property in the game, the houses, and the hotels for it. Once that first person lands property and you collect the rent they owe, you start to see a return on your investment.
Play Monopoly, Again!
This is just my take on lessons learned from playing monopoly.
If you think of any please leave a comment so other readers can benefit as well. If it's been a while since you played monopoly, I recommend you dust off the board and see what lessons you learn from this timeless game.