You have permission to publish this article either
electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the
author bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your
publication would be appreciated. Please email to
mailto:charles@thestockopolyplan.com (Word Count 711)

Investing in Stocks and the Game of Monopoly


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 dividend paying company is owned and how many shares
are owned of each company.


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. Too 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
plan, 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.


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 40
years of experience and passion for the stock market. The
author of the book `The Stockopoly Plan – Investing for
Retirement' published by American-Book Publishing. You can
invest in the book at:
http://www.pdbookstore.com/comfiles/pages/CharlesMOMelia.shtml

Copyright Charles M O'Melia - http://www.thestockopolyplan.com