Cashflow101 Reviews

*Game Review*

CashFlow - Investing 101 By Robert T. Kiyosaki

by Michael C. Gray

January 7, 2004

Why review a game in a tax and business newsletter? Because this game is designed to help develop business and investment skills. The American educational system is designed to develop good employees, not entrepreneurs or investors. Many people view a college education as a type of trade school. They believe getting a college education should result in getting a good job. When we enter the workforce, the tendency is to fall into "the rat race", spending about what we make and never becoming financially independent.

In Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki explained how this became clear to him at a young age. His actual "Poor Dad" father was a highly-ranked school administrator, who constantly argued with his wife over money matters. A friend's "Rich Dad" father took Robert under his wing and showed him how he acquired wealth.

How can you show how investment principles work in a way that makes them clear in a fun way? A game! That is how Robert Kiyosaki came to develop the CashFlow game. I received a CashFlow game from my wife, Janet, for Christmas and played a round with my adult children, Dawn and James, on New Years day. Although the instructions say to plan on spending about three hours to play the game, it took us six hours this first time.

The game is played in two parts. In the first part, "the rat race", your objective is to "get out of the rat race" by building your passive income to be greater than your monthly expenses. You draw a career card that gives you your beginning salary and monthly expenses. Those with a higher salary also have higher monthly expenses. Movement is determined by rolling dice. You get opportunities to make investments that can eventually generate the cash flow required to get out of the rat race. You can also have the "misfortune" of buying expensive "toys" or having children, requiring monthly payments that make it harder to exit the rat race. Monthly expenses can be reduced by paying off debts. The consequences of chance and choices are highlighted in the game. Progress is tracked on personal balance sheets and income statements.

In the second part, "the fast track", the objective is to win the game by being the first person to buy your "dream" or to accumulate $50,000 in monthly cash flow from businesses purchased on the Fast Track. (You have to finish the game somehow!)

This is an expensive game, but I believe the investment can be justified if it helps provide the mindset required for helping your family and yourself truly get out of the rat race. According to Kiyosaki, playing the game monthly should help you do just that.

"After hearing many good things about this game I decided to purchase it and find out for myself. I took it away on vacation with us, and had the chance to play it with my girlfriend, sister and brother in law. To start the game you must choose your color and pick a profession card. On my first game I managed to choose the "Business Manager" card. As an example, the business managers total income is $4600 per month. Total expenses are $2930 leaving the monthly cashflow of $1670. Expenses range from tax, mortgage repayments to credit cards and child expenses. Seems the more exotic your profession the more income you receive, but also the more expenses. A lot like real life. Some other examples of professions are truck driver, mechanic, engineer, teacher, airline pilot, doctor and so on..  The first time I played this game I thought it was going to be tedious as the game is based around a balance sheet, something I am not particularly familiar with. My brother in law is an accountant and is very quick with numbers and calculations, so having him there was very helpful! But you do not have to be an accountant to play this game, as the calculations are very simple. The idea of the game is to purchase enough cash flow positive assets to exceed your everyday living expenses. You can do this buy purchasing cashflow positive properties, businesses mutual funds and shares. As you work your way around the board, you land on different squares, examples being "paycheck" (where you receive your monthly paycheck depending on your profession) or though you do not have to land on this square to receive your income, just passing it will get you paid.. another example square is "opportunity" where you will be presented with investment opportunities such as businesses, property shares mutual funds etc.

Another example square is "doodads" these are unexpected expenses that are often unnecessary and require you to spend your money..for example "Buy Big Screen TV, Pay $4000"  Once you have accumulated enough assets to generate a passive income that exceeds your living expenses you are able to leave the rat race and play on the "Fast Track" the outer circle of the board game. Once you are out of the rat race and on the fast track, your goal is to buy your dream which you select at the start of the game. A few examples of the "dreams" are "golf around the world" , "be a jetsetter" , "dinner with the president" and so on. These dreams are not cheap, and if another player lands on your dream the cost of your dream then doubles in price! The first person to buy their dream or accumulate more than $50,000 per month in passive income wins the game. The game takes a little time to get used to all the rules, and to get familiar with the balance sheets, but once you get into things it is a really enjoyable game. I think the beauty of this game is it opens your eyes to real life. You begin to realize that the only way to get out of everyday life "ratrace" is to purchase assets, and not liabilities. I think the game was a real eye opener for my girlfriend, who loves spending all her money on shoes and clothes! This is a game that will change your mind set forever!  www.cashflowboardgame.com

MY RATING 5/5"