Robert Kiyosaki’s Cashflow 101 game is a great learning tool. The following tips have been compiled so that you can get the most value out of the game possible. These tips apply to real life too, so keep your head up.
1. Don’t cheat. The purpose of the Cashflow 101 game is for you to learn, so if you cheat, you learn to cheat. Why make money illegally when it’s so easy to do it legally?
2. Read the rules. You should especially read the three-hour millionaire piece in the back of the Cashflow 101 rulebook. Also check out Robert Kiyosaki’s helpful tips page that comes with the game. Learn the legal side of things and listen to the advice of professionals.
3. Find students to play with. Find people who want to learn more about investing and play money. It is completely different to play with people with the same money and financial interests than with family and friends who play with you because no one else would. Some action is better than none, but even better is someone motivated to action for their own personal reasons.
4. Know that another deal will always come your way. If you have no interest in a deal right now, know that the next deal of the decade is just around the corner (or the next card in the deck).
5. Research your options. Don’t let cash shortages keep you out of great deals. There are other people in the game who might be interested in the offers that only you have access to.
6. Learn to share. Shared deals: Split the cost and the return if you think the risk of borrowing the money is too great.
7. Understand the power of leverage. If that $1 deal shows up and you’re short on cash, borrow if you have to, but take it. This is just one example of how you can leverage bank money for extraordinary returns.
8. Have backup on a calculator. Yes, you may know your sums pretty well, but it doesn’t hurt to have a calculator handy to estimate how long it will take you to get out of the rat race.
9. Understand the potential of gray areas in the rules. Yes, the rules and laws are not all-encompassing, so there may be some gaps. But instead of using loopholes, set up a contract that at least two parties can agree to and that is a win-win situation. Don’t see the absence of rules as an obstacle, rather see it as an opportunity.
For the advanced player:
10. Play for real. Change the job cards to the actual jobs that some of your Cashflow circle members have and see how different people would get out of their financial situation. Example: Job Title: Store Cashier, Salary $1,500, Taxes $300, Monthly Cash Flow $150, etc.
11. Play for real II. Change the Big Deal, Small Deal, Doodad, and Market cards to reflect situations you’ve personally been in or might land in. Example: Market Card – Lose all assets due to litigation; Doodad: buy a new computer for $1,000, monthly expenses increase by $150; Small Deal: Buy shares in a small-cap company (the market card could quadruple your money or lose your entire investment); etc
12. Teaching and learning. There is always some area in which you will be better than others, why not show them how they can improve in that? Give and then receive. Allow others to teach you in areas in which they are more skilled than you.