Invest wisely, buy board games

If we were to ask you about any recent investments you’ve made, your mind might immediately turn to stocks, bonds, businesses, real estate, precious metals or some other large monetary purchase. We wouldn’t be surprised because these are the types of things that we’re conditioned to think of when someone talks about investments. Just ask any financial consultant about investing and that’s where they’ll turn.

Have you ever heard a financial consultant recommend investing in a $30 board game for your family? We haven’t either.

But that’s exactly what we recommend you do for your next investment – invest in some great board games.

After all, what is an investment?
An investment is something we expect to receive a return on that’s greater than what we put in. So if we buy stocks, we hope that the value of that stock will increase over time so that it’s worth more later than what we pay for it now. If we make a real estate purchase, we hope that over time the value of it will also be greater than what we paid for it initially (currently a very a touchy subject).

So when we have limited resources, like money, we have to be very judicious where we spend that money to get the greatest value. But we also have other limited resources that we need to spend wisely to get the greatest value. And one of those precious resources is our time.

Board Games are a great investment
Board games are a great way to invest both your money and your time. First, they don’t cost a lot of money. You can find a ton of great board games or card games for less than $30. Second, they don’t take a lot of time. But most important of all, they provide a fantastic return that keeps giving more and more every time you use it.

Sure we can spend $50-60 taking our family to the latest blockbuster movie. And we can have a great time and enjoy the experience together. But after those couple hours are over, they’re over. But with a board game – we get to spend the time together over and over again. And in the process we’re talking to each other, seeing each other smile, and the kids are learning values along the way – like how to get along, how to reason, how to take turns, and most importantly that they are loved and valued.

We can also drop $50-$60 on the latest and greatest video game that gets played by one or two of the kids where they stare at a screen the whole time. Then once they beat the game, their individual experience is over and they’re just left longing for more screen time on their own. And of course it’s not too long before the cool new graphics lose their luster and the game never gets played again.

But when we buy a great board game that the whole family can enjoy together, we play it together for years to come. Take last week for instance. For our family night activity we played a game of Clue. That’s right, the good old classic game of Clue. I can’t even remember how long we’ve had Clue on our game shelf, but I know it’s been a long time. Sure the minimal cost of that game is long forgotten, but the time we spent playing together was a fantastic investment.

With the tough economic times we’re currently facing, the choice of where we spend our resources seems even more critical.

So make wise investments this holiday season – invest in your family – spend time playing board games together!