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What activity comes to mind when you consider the following list of benefits?
Improved logic and mental focus
Enhanced problem-solving skills
Increased hand-eye coordination
Greater multi-tasking ability
Most people commonly guess these are the perks of activities like meditation, yoga, or routine exercise. Those are good guesses but not quite right. Let me add a few more to the list.
Faster response times
Improved teamwork
Stimulated creativity and visual memory
Improved strategy and leadership
Could these be the advantages of a consistent sleep schedule, reading, or listening to music? What do you think?
The truth is that these are all notable positive benefits of playing video games. Video games have come a long way since the simple arcade titles of the 1980s. They are more complex, challenging and require dynamic thinking to complete each objective. Mounting evidence has shown that the benefits of play go well beyond simple entertainment. Yet, people that play video games are still commonly disregarded as lazy, juvenile, or unmotivated loners. That is simply false.
The global gaming industry reached $185 billion in revenue in 2022. In addition, it is estimated there are more than 2.5 billion people that play video games globally. That is approximately one-third of the world's population. And although most people traditionally think of video games as primarily played by children, statistics have shown that the average age of a self-identified gamer is 34 to 36, with 70 percent of all gamers being over age 18. Video games connect people of all ages, education levels, social backgrounds, and economic statuses. They are silently becoming part of our everyday lives.
So how does playing video games have anything to do with investing and making money? Investing and video games have far more in common than most realize. Each has a set of rules, strategies, secret weapons, enemies, and achievements. But unlike video games, investing doesn't walk you through where to start or guide you in the choices you need to make from one area to the next. The investing world is a free-for-all with no direction on how to navigate the world. Therefore, millions of people every year lose money on investments because they are under-leveled and underprepared for the challenges they face. They are playing the game on the hardest difficulty without even knowing it.
At its core, this is not your average financial book offering motivational slogans and mainstream advice designed to make you feel good while giving you nothing of substance. The principles discussed in this book are about taking an often-confusing subject like investing and wealth creation and breaking it down into easily understandable and achievable steps. Mastering this game will give the reader the knowledge, money, and power to attain the achievements and real-life trophies they deserve. If you understand the basic concepts of a simple game, you can understand money and investing.
The title of this book is Level Up! for a good reason. Growing up, I loved video games and, quite honestly, still do. I admittedly don't get around to playing video games as much as before; however, the similarities between gaming and investing are massive. Like those games, the world of money has a set of rules, starting points, enemies, and goals. Plus, the more you play, the better you get. So the following chapters are broken down into levels with titles resembling those you might see in your favorite computer or video game. Each level will cover the following concepts:
The primary focus you should have at each stage of financial progress
The types of accounts to prioritize and potential challenges you may encounter
Connecting your actions to your overall goals at that level
How each level builds strategically to strengthen your financial stability.
Keep in mind that your situation is unique and may not fit perfectly into every level. For that reason, it is essential to take the information that pertains to your goals and leave what does not. The strategy is not to disrupt what is already working for you but give you information on opportunities that can help complement and benefit what you are already doing successfully. Let’s get started!