Friday, October 29, 2021

45.6 billion money game! What "Squid Game" teaches us … (spoilers alert)


01

It took me two days to finish watching the hottest Korean drama "Squid Game" in Netflix.

There are only 9 episodes, the whole series is relatively short, and it can be watched within a day. It started with 456 players participating in six rounds of the game for the 45.6 billion won prize, and through elimination, there was a sole winner.

The weaknesses of human nature were fully exposed, and the contrast between good and evil makes people dwell deeper, thinking about life depicted In those childhood games.

And in this drama, we see the cruelty of debts giving an important blow to life, making people risk their lives for the sake of money.

02

What financial enlightenment does this drama give us?

1. At any time, don't develop the psychology of gambling

In the first episode, the protagonist is described as a person who is idle, loves to gamble, and lives off his mother. Because he loves to gamble, he is into of debts. His mother also has to share his burden of debts and not only that, he also secretly takes her pension money to bet on horses.

In order to raise money for his mother to perform surgery, as well as giving his daughter a decent birthday gift, he went to participate in the game, trying to change his destiny.

The majority of those 456 people have taken on huge debts and are unable to pay off their debts. They have no hope, so they come to participate in the squid game. They don’t know that an "opportunity" like this is equivalent to entering ‘hell’.

Getting rich overnight is like a dream. However, it comes with high risk. if they don’t choose to play the games, they will be chased by loan sharks. If they choose to play games, they will use their lives as the bet.

“According to the Bank of Korea’s data, the total household debt in South Korea exceeded 1800 trillion won in the second quarter of this year, a record high in a single quarter, an increase of 41.2 trillion won from the end of the previous quarter. In addition, South Korea’s household debt accounted for The GDP ratio has reached 105%."

In reality, many people have the psychology of gambling and will want put their money in speculation. The real investment is to do a lot of background work, accumulating money bit by bit through careful analysis.

Do not have any gambler psychology. Just one failure is sufficient to destroy you and your family. Do not use high leverage to trap yourself in a situation where you will never recover.

03

2. Reasonable budget and spending, don’t let excessive consumption overtake your life

Most participants are burdened by loads of debts. If you want to stop having debt, first review  your own income and expenditure.

When spending exceeds expectations, you must adjust, reduce unnecessary spending in the future, try not to spend future money, use as much as you earn, and face your own financial situation objectively.

When you already have debts, don't let it roll. The first task is to solve the debts, and then consider investment or other goals.

04

3. Never underestimate compound interest, persistence is ultimate victory

At the end of the game, the protagonist won a prize of 45.6 billion won.  He is almost a person who can make money while not having the need to work and let money do the compounding work. But the practice of compounding interest is long and painful, and this process will take ten, twenty, or even thirty years. You can't experience the happiness like winning the lottery which is immediate.

The world’s richest man Buffett once said, “It’s easy to decide one thing, and it’s also easy to give up halfway. The only way is persistence.”

Investment is a game in which everyone can participate in, but in the end, only a few people make money.

Why? Most people were eliminated by the market ruthlessly because they couldn't stand the torment of time and emotions.

Many plots of "Squid Game" are derived from reality. You think you are just a movie viewer, but in fact, you are already in the real "Squid Game".

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