We live here now.

Yesterday I came across the game “Mansion Impossible” (http://3form.net/mansion_impossible/) which hass a very simple premise: buy houses you can afford, sell them at a higher price, use that profit to buy and sell increasingly expensive houses for increasingly bigger profits until you can afford to buy the mansion. So what’s so great about this game?

1. In the beginning, your options are very limited, just like in real life. You’re not buying $100,000 properties right off the bat, although most of what you’ll see for sale is in the hundreds of thousands, or millions of dollars. When you start this game, Trump you ain’t. But, through patience and persistence, you work up to those million dollar homes.
2. You don’t have to go for every deal in your price range. In fact, you usually can’t. There are way more houses on the market than you could possibly buy (although, not so many that the game is confusing) so you quickly accept that you’re going to buy some houses, and do your best with those.
3. Owning more than one investment at a time means settling for a good, though not optimal return. If you only own one house, then it’s easy to watch its property value go steadily up, taper off, sit at a peak, then start to go down. Keeping an eye on the going price of two different houses at the same time means that you will notice when the price starts to go down, but you probably won’t cash out at the peak. And, that’s OK! You can try out both strategies (single or multiple ownership) and see which one works better for you.
4. When you can afford the bigger properties, don’t waste time on the smaller ones. Or in other words, invest according to your means. If you have big bucks to play with, you should be taking advantage of bigger deals. Sometimes, it only takes one or two big houses to propel your status into the next level. But, if there’s a slow market and there are no big properties for sale . . .
5. Your money does you no good just sitting in the bank. Instead of sitting there, killing time, buy a small property or two. Every little bit helps, and it’s only by actively doing that you increase your bankroll, and therefore get closer to your goal.
6. Your goal is tangible and your score is measured in time. Money isn’t the goal of this game; it’s the means to the goal. And, you’re evaluated based on how quickly you reach that goal. This teaches us what should be lesson number one of personal finance — it’s not about money, it’s about time.
7. You will win, it’s just a matter of time. In fact, if you just keep playing long enough, even with the most conservative strategy, you’ll eventually win. But, will you be alive to enjoy it? (You don’t actually die in this game. I mean that your “score” could be 100 years.) What I like about this lesson is that it shows how from meager beginnings, everyone can work his or her way up.

It’s true, you do start with $100K in the bank that is entirely available for purchasing real estate. Perhaps this isn’t reality for most. And, your properties never require maintenance. They don’t burn down. Tenants don’t trash the place and pipes don’t burst. But, it’s a simple introduction to acquiring wealth that introduces some basic principles of investing. And if you wanted to, it’s fun enough that you could just play it like a video game.

For about 20 years I played Pursue the Pennant, then Dynasty League Baseball, because of their realism. While I liked some of the arcade-style baseball games, I was always more interested in games that chose realism over flashing lights. Now, in the age of YouTube, I’ve found the greatest mix of realism and arcade in baseball history. Enjoy.

I have recently read Robert Sawyer’s latest release, Rollback. Overall I enjoyed the book, but after I finished it, I realized how much different it was from most of his other work. Books like The Terminal Experiment or Factoring Humanity are true mysteries: high-tension, usually involving crime with a scientific background. I didn’t feel the same tension in Rollback as I did reading most of his other work. I want to be clear: I enjoyed Rollback, but simply differently than I’ve enjoyed Mindscan or even the Quintaglio Ascension series. While the effect Rollback had on me was different, two key elements of Sawyer’s work were familiar, and I enjoyed them.

First, the philosophical question raised by his scientific theme: rejuvenation in the strictest sense of the term. In Rollback, the ultra-wealthy (wealthier than “mere celebrities”) have access to gene therapy techniques that return the cells to a younger state. Over a period of a few months, these younger cells return the body to a younger state, that of the time soon after the body has matured. This allows those near death to extend their lifetime by 60 years or more, but also to regain their youthful quality of life. Rather than have his characters gaze at their own navels over this question, Sawyer invites the reader to consider the possibilities, while allowing his characters to make decisions and get on with the business of living. I prefer this to the typical morality play in which two characters represent each side of the argument and spell out what the author believes through their dialogue and actions. I don’t have much need for a preacher these days, so I’m quite happy that Sawyer chose not to preach.

More personally, much of this novel takes place in Toronto, with a little in Winnipeg. I freely admit that one thing that attracts me to Sawyer’s work is that so many of his stories take place in Toronto. For me, the story comes more alive when I can actually visualize the setting, rather than having to imagine it. This is the first time reading such a story since the move to Dauphin, so thinking about places like Senlac Av. and Park Home Av. brought on even a feeling of nostalgia. This certainly intensified my feelings and helped me enjoy the book even more. Now that we live in Dauphin, the mention of Winnipeg towards the end felt almost like a nod in my direction, as strange as that sounds. I wonder how long it will be until those Toronto streets and landmarks become unfamiliar to me. It’s already been a month since we’ve ordered from a Pizza Pizza.

I enjoyed Rollback, even though it wasn’t quite was I have grown accustomed to reading from Robert Sawyer. I recommend it, unless you would be dissatisfied with the absence of a murder mystery.