Tag Archives: Poor Dad

Money and the Games Children Play

In Red, In Blue

Fields, In Red, In Blue

I had the sudden urge to know if, at 8, she knows what money is all about.

So I called my daughter, who was busy playing, and asked her: C, what is money?  Eyebrows going up, eyes slightly questioning (as if saying, now where is mom going with this), she says, tongue in cheek, voice bored, “It has a lot of numbers and signs on it.”   Okay (sounds about right).  I made a follow up question: C, do you know how you can make lots of money? Grinning, she answered, her voice lilting and confident, “I can draw it.”

Obviously, I have to teach her about money.  And soon.

Interestingly, when Robert Kiyosaki was 9, he had the same idea.

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Grow Rich, Play Monopoly

Under the Sun, Playing

Under the Sun, Playing

It’s a funny thing. I have known Monopoly since I was a young kid. I enjoyed it, yes, and tried hard to get playmates to play with me but we usually get bored early in the game so we end up, always, not finishing it. We did not even care who won. But I did not know it could have such an impact on me. It was just a board game, after all, and board games do not really teach skills. Apparently, this one does, and I learned to look at Monopoly – and games – in a new light.

Fast forward to 20 years after. I read Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Kiyosaki said in that book that one can learn the basics of finance with Monopoly, such as “trade four green houses for one red hotel.” I could not believe my eyes as I was reading, I know this game! I immediately downloaded it to my Treo and played, and played, and played.

At home, at night, at traffic when my car is at a standstill – every chance I got, I played. And then, finally, I got it.

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