Winning the Game of Money – What does it take?

Imagine that you’ve been playing a game without understanding the odds stacked against you. I’d say that the odds of you winning are low (let’s say less than 50-50). Now imagine that you’ve been playing the same game without even realising that you’ve been playing it. I’d say that your odds of your winning in this case are disastrously low. I’ve been deeply involved in the concept, theory, philosophy, psychology, and practice of money as a scientific application over the past years, and I write this post with the aim of sharing with you what this game is about, why it is relevant in the first place, and what the knobs and buttons under your control are, to do your best.

Disclaimer:

Before you proceed reading, please note that I’m no financial expert or financial advisor. I am merely a deeply curious individual who has done loads of scientific research, and experimenting around the financial concepts described in this post. No information from this post is to be taken as financial advice. Please use your own discretion to make your own decisions. You, and you alone, are responsible for your decisions.

Let’s get right into it!

In the following sections, I will be trying to categorize the different players in the game of money, and the mechanics of the game at the each level. Once I’ve built-up the narrative of each player, I will be trying to weave a meaningful plan of action in the conclusion that is robust enough for a person belonging to the lower-to-mid levels of the game. Anyone in the higher levels is likely already aware of the concepts discussed.

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Level 1: The Average Wage-Earner

This is the most standard level in the game; the stock setup, if you will. This level encompasses a broad range of people right from the broke and the struggling, to the upper middle-class wage earner. The level 1 player typically sells his or her time for money. He or she spends, let’s say, 30 to 100 hours a week, and gets compensated with money for it. The upside of playing the game at this level is that the player is busy most of the time. One of the downsides is that there is not much buffer for handling adverse situations – the loss of a job or a loved one or a shock disease-revealation hits the player right where it hurts, and in worst cases, wipes the player out completely. Another big downside is that the player has relatively very little time to do what he or she wants, as most of the time is spent doing what his or her employer wants. If the player doesn’t enjoy what he or she does for a living, that’s a tripple ouch! This scenario typically leads to a passive turned-off lifestyle such as netflix evenings, weekend sleep-binges, and poser instagram vacations. That’s enough for now about this level; let’s move on.

Level 2: The Corporate Nut-Job

Okay, this is description is probably unfair to a minority of players who belong to this level, but is a snug fit for the majority. At this level, the players are starting to break the upper middle-class barrier and scrape into the ‘rich’ echelon. The typical corporate nut-job started out as a level 1 player, and worked his way into level 2. These players are the typical low-to-mid level leaders of the corporate world. A minority of them have really proved their worth, and carry everyone under their wing along with them. These are the true leaders; I say more power to them. Unfortunately, the majority of the players at this level are the ones that have gotten good at gaming the system. They are at the prime of their political game, have licked enough boots to shine their path, and elbowed enough of their competition to secure their place. The upside of this level is the relatively good wealth in terms of money that it offers. These players do not worry about their day to day expenses, and have a nice buffer to adverse situations in life. The downside of this level is that, statistically speaking, the majority lose their sense of ethics, and stamp down on lesser fortunate underlings to prove (to themselves) their hard earned authority. You remember that kid who was never really well regarded by his parents, and grew up to be the brat who would would sacrifice anything to achieve his goals? This level is his arena to shine, as he flexes his corporate muscles.

Level 3: The Speculator

Players at this level are a mish-mash of level 1 and level 2 players, and a handful of thoroughbreds that took a direct berth into the level. These are typically players who have cash to spare, and try to invest their money, with the aim of ‘making it big’. The commonality between all of them is that they all think that they know better than the other players, and that they all know better than ‘the market’ (the stock-picker-association included). They follow the news religiously, believing that it gives them an edge in their well-educated decisions. As you might have guessed, this level is not a particularly bright level. If the whole game were to look like a game of snake and ladders, this level would be a snake head that sends the player spiraling down. There are no upsides in this level, except for the euphoria felt in extremely miniscule glimpses. Devestation usually follows the euphoria, and lasts much longer.