Last weekend I had the chance to play Cashflow 101. It was not my first time, but I learned something new.
So what the hell is Cashflow 101? It’s actually a board game created by Robert Kiyosaki, the famous writer of the Rich Dad Poor Dad series. In his books, Robert Kiyosaki stresses on his Cashflow Quadrant and the importance of passive income.
I think most of his books are full of shallow generalizations, and are a bit lightweight in technicality. And perhaps he doesn’t even have a Rich Dad after all. But I give him credit for creating a revolutionary investment tool in the form of a board game.
I don’t own the game, since at the retail price of RM700, the game is so damn expensive. And since I can play for free, why buy hehe? (Btw, I know someone who knows someone who knows someone who can get it for RM350, so let me know if you’re interested)
Anyway, Cashflow 101 is like Monopoly but instead of landing on places and buying lands, residences, hotels or utilities, the board is divided to 2 parts: The Rat Race and The Fast Track.
The Rat Race is the common rut that most normal people face every day for the rest of their miserable lives if they don’t know how to reap benefits from opportunities.
Every player begins in the Rat Race. The only method to get out of the Rat Race is to earn enough passive income to exceed your fixed expenses. In other words, you have to make ‘money work for you’ (sorrylah kalau cliché). Throughout the game, you have to keep track of your financial statement, sort of like this. Once you’re out, you move on to The Fast Track where you have a shot at winning the game by getting your Dream.
If you google around, you can find tons of opinions from people who like the game. I agree with most of them.
But there are certain aspects of the game that I don’t like.
First, the game is heavily biased on real estate. Business ventures, which can generate better ROI in real life, play only a small part in the game.
Second, it is too easy to make money. For every investment, the potential selling prices are known upfront, so it’s easy predict property appreciation and stock gains.
Third, you have the chance to make outrageous capital gains. You can buy a stock at $1 and sell at $40. That translates to 4000%! Anybody wants to sell me Starbucks stock for 25 cents now? Hehe.
Then again, I guess Cashflow 101 is the best board game there is to teach about investment and leveraging. (Robert Kiyosaki has since introduced Cashflow 202, a similar game but with more sophisticated investing strategies involving fluctuating markets.)
Anyway, I killed the game easily, even at my first attempt. Maybe the lady luck was always at my side. Or maybe I’m too good haha.
But for me, it is not so much about completing the game. It’s the discussions you generate with other players that are more important. The people I played with so far are mostly property investors and business owners. So, listening to them (tips, strategies, the dos and donts, the lucky strikes, the mistakes they made, etc) is priceless - it’s even better than what any Milan Doshi’s seminar has to offer.
And the game gets more interesting if you get creative and introduce other investing elements. Especially when you bend the rules and include personal loan facilities, overdraft facilities, ASB investments, etc to stimulate the options you have in real life. This way, you can see how different strategies work out, using fake money and without the risk of ending up homeless.
So with Cashflow 101, now everyone can play rich.. Jom?
Posted by Khairul.
Filed under Education, Finance & Investment
Posted on Wed, 25 February 2009 at 2:23 am
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now everyone can play rich? I don’t think so, only one yang could afford RM700 board game, can play rich. (rich je yg could afford such expensive board game)
03 Mar 09 at 11:23 am #I pernah main game cashflow 101 ni. Tapi tak pernah keluar rat race.
Seronok sangat, sebab banyak belajar pelaburan.
04 Mar 09 at 10:04 pm #apa kata syarikat ni anjurkan sesi cashflow 101? susah nak cari tempat nak main la, yang ada pun kena bayar rm50 setiap kali main.
09 Mar 09 at 1:39 am #good idea tu Firu, nanti kitorang diskas macam mana nak buat session game ni
09 Mar 09 at 3:57 pm #i am interested to buy cashflow 101. is it really cost RM350 only. Coz i had asked some company but they offer more than that price. Please reply me asap me, ok? i am gonna crazy with this game
08 Apr 09 at 12:30 am #Keynes, yes the cashflow game is quite expensive. But you can get it at a much lower rate from my friend Hafizal.
You can contact him via his blog
http://mindahartawan.blogspot.com/2009/01/game-cashflow-101.html
(a very nice guy. works and lives in Puchong area.)
All the best k..
08 Apr 09 at 5:48 pm #hi, where u stay ? i wanna learn cash flow game , where can we learn in kl? pls contact me : xrayseen@yahoo.com, tx a lots.
12 Jul 09 at 2:39 am #It’s a nice blog.
13 Jul 09 at 4:48 pm #I like this blog.
Thanks.
ray seen, an alternative is to go here: http://smlearning.net/about.html
Unfortunately, they’ve suspended their classes temporarily. But you can always call to ask when will they resume it. It’s very cheap; RM30 per session. Hope this will help.
Kindly share if you know any other alternative.
13 Jul 09 at 10:33 pm #mmm….
saya ada 1 set cashflow 101..
bli dlm harga RM300++
the problem is…nak kena xpert dulu syarat dan cara permainanya…
klu u all turun JB inform la..leh share main board nie ramai-ramai..main sikit org tak syiok…
apa kata aidan buat board serupa cashflow 101 utk versi malaysia? (lepas dptkan xperiance main catur bistari + cashflow 101) kot ler dpt buat board yg lagi baik dari kedua-dua board tu…
10 Nov 10 at 12:19 pm #alyani.. takpe, lama2 main tu tau la caranya.. dah ada set sendiri ni, mesti nanti teror main.. tapi kena tau camne nak apply in real life, itu lagi penting..
kami jarang ke johor, bila pergi pun tak sempat singgah lama. kalau awak ada kat kl, singgah la ofis kami ye.
hm since kami mmg dah produce educational toys, kami pun ada terfikir nak produce educational board game jugak. tapi tak sempat2 nak buat. lagipun, kat malysia ni catur bestari pun dah ada. pernah main tak?
19 Nov 10 at 6:54 pm #