Ca$hFlow Game... have you won, yet?

Question

https://www.richdad.com/Secure/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=/RichDad/Member/WebGame/WebGameLink.aspx?m=webgame&m=webgame

This is the game Robert Kiyosaki and his wife created.

I started playing this game before I bought my first investment property and to my surprise, it had real life application! In the game, I over leveraged my money and went bankrupt a few times. Thankfully, it's just a game  :wink: and I learned some great financial lessons.

Have you played, yet? If you have played, what did you learn from it?

Ryan Webber · Answer

Cash Flow is what initially got me interested in investing in real estate.  I also used the minimum ROI that I had developed in playing the game to crunch numbers in buying rentals in the real world (40% minimum).

The game is a tremendous tool to introduce people to investing and the basics of an income expense statement and balance sheet.  I would highly recommend playing it on a regular basis to anyone getting started in investing.

I host a monthly Cash Flow Club.  Its great for new investors to learn about investing and for experienced investors to network.

Bryan Hancock · Answer

The game is very instructional and does a great job of breaking investing in real estate down to its core principles.

I wish the game stressed more of the fundamentals in actually getting properties to cash flow though.  This is glossed over in the game and it is quite clear the the "Rents - PITI = Cash Flow" philosophy is implicit to the deals pulled.  Something more sophisticated where players have to save more money to get get properties to truly cash flow or something with options on how to leverage each opportunity would be more instructional.

The only way to increase cash flow from a financing standpoint for each deal is to completely pay the mortgage off.  This is never a good option based on the way the game is structured and thus I think the game overemphasizes leverage at the expense of prudent structuring of the portfolio needed to exit the rat race.

Aside from those complaints I think the game is excellent.  It really ties income statements and balance sheets together with property purchases and causes people to think about things.

Tre Holloway · Answer

i played the first game so many times. I really do like it, and love how it teaches all the fundamental investing concepts. and provides insight for those learning how to read numbers and become financially literate.

it has me chomping at the bit to make my very first deal!!!

Kevin Kaczmarek · Answer

I used to play the game a ton when I just started out. Get the computer version if you can. It will allow you to play so many more games in a short period of time. It does teach basic investing lessons that repetition drives home. After a while it will become boring and trivial and at that point, there is nothing left to do but play the real game in life.

Aaron Mazzrillo · Answer

Here is a fun twist; 
Get out the old monopoly game and write up some small option contracts, lease options, & sandwich leases. Makes that game a whole lot more fun and interesting.

Mike Jakobczak · Answer

@Annelise- well if your from a small town, you might have  to be the first one to start the club and educate everyone who wants to learn to play.  Most bigger cities we'll already from a few clubs started.  I use to promote at local real estate clubs, libraries, etc.  You can browse through website like BP or craigslist to see if anyone in your area is interested in playing.

Tre Holloway · Answer

yeah that would be a great addition to the game. to have that option to leverage the mortgages add another element and dimension to helping the players develop investment strategies.

Annelise A. · Answer

@ Tre... i have not played the new CashFlow 101 game yet but my hubby said it was a lot more in depth than the first as to the level of difficulty. I'm playing tonight and will get back to you.
@mike... where do you sign up for a game club? our town is pretty tiny and I'm not so sure people would have heard or it.

Mike Jakobczak · Answer

I use to host a Cash flow club, and built a great group of new and experienced investors.

It's a great way to network and find like-minded people.  Great way to pitch ideas and raise funds!

I recommend going to one or starting one in your area.

Tre Holloway · Answer

i haven't played the new one yet. but i played the original a whole lot. i was thinking about this post when i was going on my run today. and i thought about the game itself.

its really easy. and it has a whole lot of great knowledge and good things it teaches. but the only problem i had, was that they have these amazing deals and the dude always gets financed!

i wonder if they'll factor that into a newer version to REALLY help. because thats something that the future investors need to understand, to really be able to get out of the rat race.

the credit game is a whole game in itself. maybe they can incorporate it somehow since you have the debt you have to pay in the balance sheet?

like you start off with a job, a certain income and a credit score?

Ca$hFlow Game... have you won, yet?

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