But that’s also a one lesson. It really isn’t possible so people that would like to believe so hopefully finds it now out

Say you were crazy frugal and lived on $12,000 and could invest $12,000/year to reach $4 in 7 years requires a CAGR of 110%!

I have to agree that there is no way a mutual fund is ever going to do that.

I guess it would be possible to day trade successfully to that level of gains… but the odds of doing so are insanely slim. I wonder if buying lottery tickets would be a more likely path!?!?

If you could buy on margin maybe- but making $24K could you get a large enough loan? Also any significant drop in the market will likely bankrupt you. Seems like a slim chance of success here too.

As for a business… well it’s certainly possible, but is it that likely? It still seems like a really steep slope… if you are funding it with $12K/year from your day job. If you get a significant business loan then the math changes completely. As long as you personally aren’t liable for the money it seems a reasonable risk. If the business succeeds you reach your goal if it fails you are at $0? I suspect that the chance of success would be at least 20%?

-Rick Francis

@ Kohti – Good point; but, I wonder, if your Number is something like the $4 million in 7 years that I tried in the game, isn’t the risk of failure by “investing” (presumably, buying the mutual funds that the game suggests) 100%?!

Yes. You are right. Starting a business has a great potential for reaching fortunes but as you know there is also bigger risk involved compared to other methods like investing.

As it was SEC that sponsored this game it’s no wonder that getting involved into a business is not included in the game. But there are other nice games that try to mimic making business out there.

If there’s a lesson to be found in the game I think it is: start investing early and stick with

Maybe the point is to demonstrate that a booring savings and investments is just that: a booring way to get poor slowly while having no fun.