Board Games
“Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.” – Sophia Loren
It probably isn’t a surprise that Monopoly was my favorite childhood board game. I also liked Risk but quickly learned that my middle sister had more skill and ambition in taking over the world. While she was conquering continents, I was passing Go and buying up properties.
At the beginning of every game of Monopoly each player receives $1,500 from the Bank in the following denominations: 2 x $500, 2 x $100, 2 x $50, 6 x $20, 5 x $10, 5 x $5 and $1. I didn’t actually remember this but caught it in an advertisement for Schott’s Sporting, Gaming and Idling Miscellany. This was a tidbit recently relearned by reading the New Yorker cover to cover including the ads.
Anyway, my middle school mentality told me to buy whatever I landed on. It probably was not the most sophisticated strategy and often times, I would find myself out of cash and forced to sell what I considered a less desirable Utility or Railroad to hold me over until I passed Go. Back then, my goal was to buy and hold, unless I was trading up. Sound familiar? I was obsessed with being the first player to have hotels. Often times, this was at the expense of keeping enough cash on hand but hey, we learn from our mistakes. There’s nothing like a growing portfolio of properties, however cash is still king.
Daniel Kadlec recently wrote in Time “as a nation we are throwing so many resources at real estate that we may be under investing in other critical parts of the economy. While spending on homes is at a record 18% of GDP, our savings rate is nil and the stock market is going nowhere.”
The experts, like Suze Orman, recommend having eights months of savings in reserve. This is Personal Finance 101, but you’d be surprised at how many people live paycheck to paycheck. “If you’re worried about losing your job and being unable to pay your bills while you look for a new one, saving eight months’ worth of expenses in an emergency fund will give you the security you need. The best way to save is to put money away on the same day every month, as regularly as clockwork.” The pay-yourself-first method! So enjoy all your real estate holdings, but continue to save. Cash is always your friend, raining day or not.
By the way, these days, I prefer to play Scrabble with my partner, Jeanine, but maybe when I see the middle sister over the holidays I just might make her pull out the old Monopoly board and give her a real estate whipping.
It probably isn’t a surprise that Monopoly was my favorite childhood board game. I also liked Risk but quickly learned that my middle sister had more skill and ambition in taking over the world. While she was conquering continents, I was passing Go and buying up properties.
At the beginning of every game of Monopoly each player receives $1,500 from the Bank in the following denominations: 2 x $500, 2 x $100, 2 x $50, 6 x $20, 5 x $10, 5 x $5 and $1. I didn’t actually remember this but caught it in an advertisement for Schott’s Sporting, Gaming and Idling Miscellany. This was a tidbit recently relearned by reading the New Yorker cover to cover including the ads.
Anyway, my middle school mentality told me to buy whatever I landed on. It probably was not the most sophisticated strategy and often times, I would find myself out of cash and forced to sell what I considered a less desirable Utility or Railroad to hold me over until I passed Go. Back then, my goal was to buy and hold, unless I was trading up. Sound familiar? I was obsessed with being the first player to have hotels. Often times, this was at the expense of keeping enough cash on hand but hey, we learn from our mistakes. There’s nothing like a growing portfolio of properties, however cash is still king.
Daniel Kadlec recently wrote in Time “as a nation we are throwing so many resources at real estate that we may be under investing in other critical parts of the economy. While spending on homes is at a record 18% of GDP, our savings rate is nil and the stock market is going nowhere.”
The experts, like Suze Orman, recommend having eights months of savings in reserve. This is Personal Finance 101, but you’d be surprised at how many people live paycheck to paycheck. “If you’re worried about losing your job and being unable to pay your bills while you look for a new one, saving eight months’ worth of expenses in an emergency fund will give you the security you need. The best way to save is to put money away on the same day every month, as regularly as clockwork.” The pay-yourself-first method! So enjoy all your real estate holdings, but continue to save. Cash is always your friend, raining day or not.
By the way, these days, I prefer to play Scrabble with my partner, Jeanine, but maybe when I see the middle sister over the holidays I just might make her pull out the old Monopoly board and give her a real estate whipping.
posted by Nina Smith at 2:47 AM
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