Most of us have fond memories growing up and playing Monopoly with our friends and family. Sitting at the table or on the floor for hours and accumulating as many properties as you can get, putting hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place while hoping your annoying sister lands right there and gets bankrupt right out of the game. Ahh, memories.
Monopoly is still one of the top best selling games of all time and has maintained its popularity since 1935. This game has been around for so long that they’ve had to release several ‘modern’ versions to keep up with inflation. Even as more kids have given up playing board games in exchange for digital technology, the game remains popular.
What’s really important about Monopoly is understanding that it can be used for more than just a game. You can use it to teach your children simple economic concepts they may not understand. We’ve all gotten frustrated playing Monopoly a time or two when we start losing and spiraling out of control. These can be important lessons for the little ones.
Here are three money lessons you can teach your kids by playing Monopoly:
Lesson #1: Don’t Accumulate Debt
One of the main points of the game involves properly managing your debt. It’s fun when you get involved in building assets and creating a real estate empire. But you’ll soon find yourself incurring debt. That happens when you land on another player’s property and have to pay rent. The amount of rent you owe may turn out to cost more than you have.
At that point, you start selling off your own assets to pay the debt and stay in the game. This is known as a tipping point as soon as your debts outweigh your assets and you have nothing left. Yes, kids will probably get frustrated by getting behind and owing money, but let them work through it. The lesson is the same in life. Don’t get yourself into a lot of debt!
Lesson #2: Entrepreneurial Decisions Are Often a Roll of the Dice
We definitely want to encourage our kids to be entrepreneurs and Monopoly shows us exactly how business ownership is like. We often have to make tough decisions around cash-flow issues. When starting a business, you will make decisions whose outcomes are often like a roll of the dice. You don’t know how it will turn out, either in your favor or not. How do you operate when this happens?
Lesson #3: Borrowing Money from Friends and Family Impacts Relationships
There may come a time in the game when you have to borrow some money from someone else playing with you. Your cash flow may dwindle down and to stay in the game, you’ll have to ask a friend or family member to lend you some cash. But that can become a complicated situation. What if they lend you money, but they need it back before you’re ready to pay it back? What a frustrating situation that can cause and hurt those relationships along the way.
