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
recurring cleaning service Wilmette ..Economists know more about how the fragments of society work... Read More
The Law of Chaos is the theory of random unpredictable... Read More
What are you thinking when it comes to your no... Read More
Money management starts with protecting your capital, realizing profits and... Read More
In one of my previous articles (Investing in the stock... Read More
When it comes to buying a stock or mutual fund... Read More
Whenever I see mutual fund comparisons in the trade publications... Read More
What the heck am I talking about?It is often said... Read More
Do you own any mutual funds? In an IRA or... Read More
During our travel down life's path we come to many... Read More
When it comes to stock market trading it PAYS to... Read More
"Buy and hold" is one of the most heralded investment... Read More
If you don't know what a Roth IRA is then... Read More
Because there are so many stocks that are NOT paying... Read More
Mutual funds were created with the idea that one person... Read More
The demand for world oil is increasing while world reserves... Read More
Options trading can increase the profits you make when trading... Read More
Never lose money in the stock market again. Yeah, I... Read More
After some forty years of banking and investments, I retired... Read More
Let's first define insanity. It is doing the same thing... Read More
Several times each month I am solicited by various market... Read More
The Winter Games for the Olympics are coming up soon... Read More
There is so much involved in developing peak performance, that... Read More
Very few people, even professionals, have heard of the Dalbar... Read More
When you stand on the ocean shore and watch the... Read More
reliable maid service Morton Grove ..Question: How does it get better when it gets worse?Last... Read More
There is no question that the stock market is being... Read More
The ABC's of Stock Trading SuccessStock trading success...why is it... Read More
As a novice trader, you'll often feel the need to... Read More
It seems that every day I turn on the TV... Read More
Someday you may want to retire and continue to live... Read More
If you haven't heard of the technical indicator with the... Read More
Everyone who invests in the stock market wants to be... Read More
There can't be many traders who haven't at least considered... Read More
In his wonderful book, 'Multiple Streams of Income', best selling... Read More
There are formulas for just about everything, but it has... Read More
One of the basic laws of physics states that a... Read More
I have watched my cat play with a bag of... Read More
This is a rather simple strategy with which I am... Read More
That sounds like good advice doesn't it? Don't lose all... Read More
Sometime around 1980, can't remember exactly, there was a flight... Read More
What a great statement!I just heard someone use it in... Read More
Ever jumped out of an airplane? It's OK if you... Read More
Outlined below are some of the advantages and disadvantages of... Read More
It's about time someone spoke the truth concerning outsourcing. The... Read More
For weeks, no, months we have been bombarded with nothing... Read More
One of the main reasons many of us get into... Read More
Ever done any whitewater rafting or canoeing? Long periods of... Read More
I go to the Money Show every year to visit... Read More
The higher the market goes the more confusing are the... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |