wearmanyhats

One of the greatest gifts a parent can pass on to his/her child is to teach them how to manage money.  The quintessential money game, of course, is Monopoly.  However, it is a long game for young players and ends up pitting people against one another.  The real world is a little “dog eat dog” but most of the time, there’s room at the table for everyone.

That is why the more superior game is Robert Kiyosaki’s Cash Flow 101 and Cash Flow for Kids.  If you haven’t played it, you might want to think consider its merits.  Cash Flow 101 teaches the simple principles of how to attain a comfortable lifestyle, but it is a lesson learned in which you have to make choices to use opportunities available to you, and control how you use money.  It’s a good way to play the stock market without losing real money, and manage money to a great financial end, no matter what your profession.  It’s fairly realistic, and the learning is the real joy of playing.

Cash Flow 202 takes the principles learned in the first game and expands on them.  It gives the players the chance to learn about puts and option investing in a non-threatening way.  The only bad thing about the game is there are nuances that present players with challenges that can never be answered. For example, if a player holds option and then suddenly the stock splits, its not always clear how that affects the option situation.

Cash Flow for Kids is a user friendly way to introduce children to the concept of debt, money management, and entrepreneurship.  In this game, children face the possibility of starting simple service businesses, finding extra money by using their creativity, and they also see what happens when they want to buy a “doodad.”  This concept caught on quickly with our two boys and they both felt that they needed to be more careful with money in the future.

The only problem with the cash flow games is that they are very pricey.  They start new at around $200, and retain their value.  A recent check on ebay revealed them have bids at at least $90.  Few money management books or teaching collections retain their value in that price range, which testifies to how good of a game it is.

One thing that few people will talk about is the psychology of the game.  It’s interesting to see how other players treat each other and money as they play.  For example, during one game, we saw that when some folks went out of the “rat race,” they held so tightly to their money that they could never do anything for fun in the “fast track.”  They ended up with the worst luck and the most generous person won.  This was not an anomalous happening.  Our family has played this game over the years with a variety of people, and we found their reactions in the fast track always determined whether or not they won.  The generous people were always the ones who got their dreams first.

Happy New Year and enjoy life more than money, giving more than acquiring, and life should be good for you.