To begin, you might look at playing the stock market as though you were playing a game of Monopoly. That's right; for playing the stock market 'game' is not unlike playing a game of Monopoly. There are definite comparisons and parallels.
In Monopoly there are a Boardwalk, a Marvin Gardens, Utilities, Railroads, etc. In the stock market you have the same type of properties (stocks), as in the game of Monopoly. For example, a Boardwalk may be a GE; a railroad, a CSX Corp.; Duke Energy, a utility. The rent a player collects in Monopoly could be compared to the dividends collected by a shareholder in the stock market. How much rent collected in Monopoly would depend on the property owned and how many houses are owned on the property. In the stock market game this would translate into which company is owned and how many shares of each company is owned.
To win the game of Monopoly a player will need to own properties (three of the same color) before building houses and, eventually, a hotel to attain that comfortable, worry-free income that the player knows will come. (The game is not won by selling the properties you own to your opponent, even at twice the price paid.) The game is won by building houses on the properties owned and collecting that worry-free rent.
Taking this approach in the stock market game, you would not win in the stock market by selling your shares owned, but by adding to those shares owned, so every "rent" (dividend collected) would be higher than the previous "rent" collected. This would be accomplished by holding on to those shares owned, and by having the dividends of each company owned rolled back into more shares each quarter. (This would be compared to building houses on the properties you own in the game of Monopoly.)
In Monopoly three properties of the same color could translate in the stock market game as having three properties (owning three different companies) that pay their dividends, one in January, the 2nd in February, and the 3rd in March. This would give the player in the stock market game a dividend every month of the year. To aid in the worry-free "rent" collected, the companies owned would have a history of raising their "rent" (dividend) every year. Owning one house on a property in the game of Monopoly could be compared to owning one hundred shares of stock in the stock market 'game'. A hotel would translate into 500 shares of a company's stock.
There are opponents in the stock market game, just as there are in the game of Monopoly. An opponent in the game of Monopoly is anything that takes money away from you (remember those fees you sometimes had to pay from those pesky Community Chest cards?). In the stock market game the opponents are also anything that takes money away from you ? taxes, credit card payments, commission-fees, fast cars, booze, etc.
To eliminate any of these opponents in the stock market game will aid the investor in accumulating more shares for even higher dividend collecting "rents". All dividends on qualifying dividend-paying stocks are now 85% tax free, eliminating one tax opponent in the stock market game. And, did you know you could eliminate another opponent ? those pesky stock commission fees to stockbrokers? All stocks purchased can be purchased commission-free, without the need of a stockbroker.
How much money do you need to begin a stock market investment game, played like the game of Monopoly?
As little as 100 dollars can be invested commission-free into a company to start collecting those ever-increasing cash dividends.
You have permission to this article either electronically or in print as long as the author bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way (typos excluded). Please provide a courtesy e-mail to charles@thestockopolyplan.com telling where the article was published. (Word Count 679)
For more excerpts from the book 'The Stockopoly Plan- Investing for Retirement' visit: http://www.thestockopolyplan.com
Charles M. O'Melia is an individual investor with almost 40 years of experience and passion for the stock market. The author of the book 'The Stockopoly Plan'; published by American-Book Publishing. The book can be purchased at http://www.pdbookstore.com/comfiles/pages/charlesmomelia.shtml
green cleaning service Park Ridge ..Three little pigs went to the market to stock up... Read More
Hello Inflation, it has been awhile, I see you on... Read More
The single most expensive stock market trades are those made... Read More
How many people went to a cash position this week?... Read More
During the month of January the Dow Jones Industrial Average,... Read More
Did you know you can make money (and a lot... Read More
Should the market turn against you, it is important that... Read More
Both the stock market and oil prices rallied recently, which... Read More
Just 30 years ago the stock market was a shadow... Read More
In one of my previous articles (Investing in the stock... Read More
If you are going to be a winner in the... Read More
Are you paying any attention to your retirement savings? Do... Read More
There are red lights, green lights, blue lights and spot... Read More
We keep hearing about this bear market and that the... Read More
Most stock market traders have a favorite technical indicator.The one... Read More
Using Swing Trading Strategies and Technical Analysis when Trading Stocks... Read More
A colleague of mine just returned from a scuba diving... Read More
What! Me worry?Many of you remember the cover of MAD... Read More
It is finally catching up with them. The brokerage companies... Read More
This article describes the model of a natural relationship between... Read More
As GuruFocus updates the stock buys and sells of gurus,... Read More
Spread trading is a technique that can be used to... Read More
As I said in Part I everyone in the insane... Read More
Everything you invest in has risk so you want to... Read More
AS BUILDERS BEGIN WORK ON THE FREEDOM TOWER in New... Read More
emergency cleaning services Morton Grove ..Both the stock market and oil prices rallied recently, which... Read More
It depends on your level of understanding of the market... Read More
The stock market has been in an up trend for... Read More
I mean it when I say that. While plastic silverware... Read More
When will the stock market stop going down and start... Read More
If you have been dealing with mutual funds for any... Read More
The single most expensive stock market trades are those made... Read More
When it comes to stock market trading it PAYS to... Read More
Stock trading remains a very competitive field and the stock... Read More
What can I expect to make my first year of... Read More
In 1960 an engineer working for a watch company in... Read More
If you have not back tested your trading system, you... Read More
Ever have one of those sample boxes of candy? Each... Read More
"There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action!" Johann... Read More
Ever notice how behavior in one area of life can... Read More
Mutual funds were created with the idea that one person... Read More
Buy high and sell low -- It's not a typo.Millions... Read More
The greatest stock market myth is the idea that investing... Read More
When it comes to mutual funds, there is a lot... Read More
Just 30 years ago the stock market was a shadow... Read More
As GuruFocus updates the stock buys and sells of gurus,... Read More
A common problem I often see when working with living... Read More
It is commonly reported that the stock market averages about... Read More
This article describes the model of a natural relationship between... Read More
Look back over the years and try to remember how... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |