7 Simple Lessons about Money You Learn from Monopoly ...

1. Avoid Debt at All Costs

One of the simple lessons about money that Monopoly has definitely taught generations of kids is that you should avoid debt at all costs. While mortgaging your properties (in the game) might seem like a good idea, you soon learn that in the long-term, you end up losing out on lots of cash when your fellow players land on said properties. This is transferred to real-life: while the short-term gains might be a nice addition to your wage slip, we all know that it’ll come back to bite you in the end. Even if you learn nothing else from playing board games, you’ll have done well by learning this one!

2. Negotiate Wisely

In the cut-throat game of Monopoly, you need to be able to negotiate with your fellow players effectively. If you have all but one of the red properties, and your companion opposite has the remaining card that you need, you’ll have to negotiate wisely. Don’t sell yourself short, but also bear in mind what you’ll gain from the transaction. Only by weighing up the pros and cons of what you’ll gain and lose can you truly succeed in building your empire, and this is exactly the same for real life. This is another of the important lessons about money that Monopoly teaches you – sometimes you have to give in to get a better deal, but you should never be a pushover.

3. Understand the Role That Luck Plays

While professional board game players (and yes, there are such people in the world – who knew?) might have you believe that their success is purely down to skill, one thing that Monopoly teaches you is that you should acknowledge that things are largely determined by luck. Nothing can prevent you getting a poor series of rolls of the dice except luck. Therefore you might end up winning or losing all of your money simply because luck wasn’t on your side – this is exactly the same with real-world situations, especially gambling

4. Invest and Manage

Nobody has ever won a game of Monopoly by watching their cash pile up instead of investing it wisely. However it’s more than buying every property that you land on – you have to invest wisely, and keep some cash back for a rainy day; or at least the day when your neighbour decides to build a hotel on the home stretch that will cost you tens of thousands to pay for landing on. This is perhaps one of the most important lessons about money that Monopoly will teach you: invest, but invest wisely so that you aren’t caught short.

5. Focus on Your Goal

Monopoly’s goal is simple: to create an empire large enough that it bankrupts the other players. You should apply the same sort of principle to your money – while you shouldn’t necessarily set out to bankrupt others, you should understand where you want to be and work out how you’ll get there. The only way you can be successful in life is to know where you’re headed and run after that dream; exactly the same is true in a game of Monopoly.

6. Investment versus Reward

For a successful empire you need more than properties: you need to build houses and hotels on your properties to financially squeeze your fellow players. But you should always remember to weigh up the investment that such an effort will take compared to the reward that it will reap. Should you spend thousands on hotels, when you will earn a few hundred back? Probably not. Apply the same principle to real life and you’ll find that Monopoly has taught you how to manage money effectively.

7. Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Have you ever won a game of Monopoly by rushing into the game and exhausting your cash supply before anyone else has even considered buying properties? Probably not, and the same rule applies to life. One of the simple lessons about money that you can gain from Monopoly is that you should consider purchases before you make them. If you rush into things and buy impulsively because you think it’s a good deal, without properly considering the transaction, you’ll find yourself in economic trouble very quickly. Always think about purchases before you make them – only a fool would do otherwise.

Well who’d have thought that this beloved board game could teach us how to manage money effectively? It’s got me thinking about other board games that might involve life-learning lessons above and beyond the general psychology of playing them. What do you think?