5 Financial Board Games that Teach Financial Literacy
Financial management can be extremely stressful but knowing the key lessons early on is of huge benefit to anyone to prevent falling into debt and managing their cash flow. The decisions made concerning their finances can have an impact on their quality of life both personally and professionally, which is why it’s important to be well-educated in this area from a young age.
Here is a selection of board games that can teach you valuable financial skills:
Monopoly
Monopoly is one of the most famous and best-loved board games in the world and is now available in a variety of languages and age ranges.
The game was originally created to educate players about income inequity within society, however, has now become a game of competitiveness to buy and sell properties and become the wealthiest player. The winner is the player with the highest net worth from the properties they ‘own’ and the cash on the table.
Monopoly is the perfect game for teaching players about managing their money effectively to prevent falling into debt (and being sent to jail during gameplay).
The Game of Life
The Game of Life was created more than a century ago and has educated families across the generations about how to make their money work for them.
The premise of the game is to make well-informed life decisions to attain the highest net worth. These decisions are those which we’re forced to make in reality and therefore, are highly valuable life lessons that can transcend into our day-to-day lifestyle.
Some of the lessons this game teaches includes made include:
- Understanding loan repayments
- The effect of tax and debt
- The effect of career choices on income
- The benefits of investing
Cashflow 101
Now more recently known as CASHFLOW, this game teaches players how to manage their finances, understand cash management and make key decisions in regard to investing. The latter is a subject that is very rarely taught, therefore, could encourage you to consider investing as a beneficial route.
If you already have an interest in investing in shares and forex markets, this could be a great exercise or break, between monitoring your investments and reading the latest news on FTSE 100, as an example.
One of the benefits of this game for developing financial skills including the likes of:
- How to invest
- Personal accounting
- Grasping monetary statements
Payday
Budgeting is one of the most important aspects of financial management in everyday life and PayDay is a game launched in 1975 which teaches this key lesson.
During the game, players work their way through the monthly calendar and have to deal with the likes of loans, bills, and unforeseen expenses before their paycheck comes in at the end of the month.
The game continues until you decide to call it quits. The player with the highest net worth at the end of the game wins. Some of the key skills players will learn from the game include:
- Understanding budgeting
- Understanding loan repayments
- The distinction between income and outflow
Charge Large
This game was invented by two entrepreneurs back in 2007 and released to the public in 2009. The premise of the game is to teach players how to use credit; by upgrading a gold credit card to a black card by improving their credit score and keeping debt to a minimum.
The premise is to ensure that players don’t overspend, and the winner is the player with $2500 in cash and no debt to pay off.
Charge LargeWrap-Up
Fortunately, many money management lessons can be learned from playing games, which can make understanding the key theories and concepts of finances much more enjoyable for the whole family.
While there are many online games and apps available to learn the basics of financial management, why not go down the traditional route and check out classic board games? Most games can be played from the ages of 8 upwards.
Have you tried any of these financial board games that teach money management skills? We’d love to hear your thoughts on these educational board games. Drop a comment below!
Find other educational games in our video below:
