If you haven’t seen Squid Game on Netflix, you are missing out on good nine hours of thrilling television.
Beyond the thrill, drama, and suspense, this series brings to light the importance of taking care of our finances, the anxiety that accompanies an economic downtime, and the problems that arise from making poor financial decisions.
Here are six lessons Squid Game can teach you about personal finance.
P.S: A little bit of spoiler alert…. We will (try to)project the lessons without giving away too much about the series.
Prioritize Paying Off Debt
This is the most obvious money lesson in Squid Game.
Episode 1 introduced Seong Gi-hun as a deadbeat father who relied on his old mother for financial support. He stole his mother’s credit card and withdrew money to bet on horses. After winning ₩4,560,000, he decided to run away instead of paying his debt.
Seong Gi-hun wasn’t the only chronic debtor in The Squid Game. Several of the characters constantly received calls and were harassed by any means to pay off their debts.
Paying off your debt should always be a priority because it’s very hard to achieve financial security while you’re in debt. With the right planning, discipline and order, you can get your finances back into order.
Be Very Careful With Your ATM Cards
This is another lesson you should take to heart. Never trust anyone with your ATM cards!
If Seong Gi-hun could steal from his ailing mother who did everything she could to support him, then no one should be trusted. This may sound harsh, but it is sound advice.
Keep your cards carefully and never disclose your pin to anyone. Improving your passwords, make it harder for hackers to steal your money.
Use passwords that only you can decipher and avoid poor cybersecurity practices like using names and birthdays as passwords.
Get The Right Financial Help
In many ways, The Squid Game showed the dark sides of getting financial help from loan sharks. By seeking help from loan sharks, you are digging yourself into a deeper hole.
So, avoiding them is a good practice both in the series and in real life.
Aside from their aggressive debt collection practices, Gi-hun’s loan shark creditors were portrayed as intimidating and disgusting with unfair and criminal debt collection debt recovery practices.
If you have financial difficulties and need funds, approach legitimate loan providers like Rosabon Financial Services to bail you out. Here, our Loans are affordable and stress-free, giving you a flexible repayment period. This way you are not under undue pressure.
Diversify Your Investments
In episode 3 of Squid Game, Cho Sang-woo shared the “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” lesson he learned straight from business school right before the Honeycomb Game.
This lesson applies to all aspects of your personal finance. When investing, it’s better to diversify your portfolio rather than put all your money in one place. This can also apply to your savings accounts.
When you split your savings across multiple accounts, you may enjoy the advantage of extra benefits. It also protects you if you can’t access one account for a while, whether due to technical problems, fraud, or theft.
If it’s too good to be true, it almost certainly is
As early as Episode 1, Gi-hun should’ve realized that the Squid Game salesman’s pitch was too good to be true.
In finance, if something sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is too. You’ve probably come across many get-rich-quick schemes that promise you ridiculously high interest rates within the shortest possible time. If you were smart enough not to fall for these tricks, congratulations!
Before agreeing to anything, always make sure you do your research before you trust the people or company you’re planning to do business with. This is the best way to avoid all forms of scams and terrible schemes out there.
Always Compare And Analyze Your Options
In the heart-stopping Episode 7, players were tasked to cross a bridge from a dizzying height by jumping on platforms that are either made of fragile glass or sturdy tempered glass.
While the others fell to the concrete floor below for choosing the wrong platform, Player 017 was able to use his experience as a glassmaker to choose the right platform to jump on.
At every point in your finances, you need to make informed decisions. Whether you are choosing a loan, starting a new business, buying an item, it is important to do your research before taking on any financial responsibility.
Don’t leap to your financial death without checking the financial glass first.
Squid Game showed how the financial choices you make now will ultimately determine your future, no matter how insignificant. If you want to make the right financial choice for yourself and your family, talk to us at Rosabon Financial Services today and we will work with you. Have you seen this series? What did you learn from it?
