Investing is starting to look (and feel) like a game – but is that a bad thing?

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Oh, hi again. Before we jump into today’s newsletter, I’m looking to speak with retirees who rely mostly on CPP and OAS for their retirement income for an upcoming story. If that’s you, or someone you know, please e-mail me at mraman@globeandmail.com

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Today we’re talking about the gamification of investing… and what that could mean for buying and selling stocks.

Ready, set, play

When someone brings up managing money or personal finance, the first thing that comes to mind probably isn’t: This is going to be fun. But that might be starting to change.

You may have noticed that more investing platforms now have elements that feel a little like a game. Maybe it’s a satisfying sound when you make a trade, a progress bar showing your portfolio growth, or even a leaderboard comparing your performance with others.

Earlier this year, during the Olympics, Wealthsimple ran a promotion called Spin the Coin. Users could spin a digital gold coin in the app for a chance to win a one-ounce gold coin.

It’s a small feature, but it taps into something powerful: People are more engaged when there’s an element of play.

In a 2022 study, the Ontario Securities Commission gave investors small “points” with almost no real value for buying or selling stocks. Trading frequency jumped by nearly 40 per cent. In follow-up research, the OSC found that social features, such as social interactions, led to a 12 per cent increase in trading of promoted stocks.

But gamification doesn’t just push people to trade more. It can also encourage better behaviour, a recent OSC study found.

In a large experiment involving more than 4,000 Canadians, the OSC had participants use a simulated investing platform with game-style features designed to reward diversification, including scores, progress goals, leaderboards, and digital badges.

All four features improved how diversified participants’ portfolios were.

In other words, gamification can push people toward riskier behaviour, but it can also nudge them toward better investing habits depending on what is rewarded. The real lesson is that it’s more nuanced than simply saying gamification is good or bad.

And investing isn’t the only place where finance is becoming more game-like.

Prediction markets, platforms where people bet on the likelihood of real-world events, are also gaining attention. They are generally off-limits Canada, but there are some versions that are purely for entertainment.

The Toronto Prediction Exchange, for example, gets people to predict the answers to questions such as whether Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau will get engaged in 2026 (currently a coin flip) or whether Jesus will return in 2026 (about 2 per cent odds).

The questions can be silly, but that’s kind of the point. People like finance when it feels interactive and engaging.

Earlier this month, The Globe and Mail wrapped up its inaugural Trade Off simulation stock-picking game. Participants started with $100,000 in virtual cash and built their own portfolios over 12 weeks, with a leaderboard tracking the top performers.

And the contest is coming back. If you want to try your hand at stock picking, you can create a free Globe account and register for the next round. You have until March 22 to sign up and compete for a $5,000 grand prize.

The Calculator

$1.7M

What Canadians think they need, on average, to retire comfortably, according to a recent BMO survey. This number has been plastered everywhere recently, and it makes sense why: People like having a benchmark to aim for. Seeing it can either bring a sense of relief if you’re on track… or the opposite.

My take: After speaking with many financial planners over the past year, most say a single “magic number” for retirement savings isn’t all that helpful. Everyone’s situation is different. A better approach is to estimate what you expect to spend in retirement and then work backward from there.

The Retirement Receipt

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This retired teacher-turned-entrepreneur is helping schools navigate AI

The situation: Rick Guetter retired in December 2023 at 60 after a career that included 25 years as a high school teacher and the final 12 years running an IT services company. After selling the business, he initially spent a few months enjoying the lack of structure in retirement, including a family trip to Mexico. Soon after returning home to Guelph, Ont., he began consulting educators on how to navigate artificial intelligence in schools.

The numbers: Rick and his wife rely on pensions, investments and the proceeds from selling his business. Even with a financial adviser guiding their spending, he says shifting from decades of saving to spending in retirement has taken some adjustment.

His advice: Retirement left Rick with far more free time than expected. He now spends a few days a week writing a blog, running workshops, and working with students, often for free. The rest of his time is filled with pickleball, workouts at the YMCA, coffee with friends and time at the couple’s cottage. “Once you leave full-time employment, you can become pretty irrelevant in the work world unless you reinvent yourself,” he said.

Best of the Rest

💰 Tax season can look different in retirement. From pension income splitting to RRIF withdrawals, Canadians are thrown into a whole new (tax) ball game after they retire. Check out The Globe’s retiree tax guide to learn how you can get the best bang for your buck when filing your taxes this year.

🏦 A seniors’ advocacy group has filed a complaint with Canada’s Competition Bureau, alleging that sales practices at the Big Five banks steer clients toward in-house investment products instead of the broader market. The group says the approach could limit competition and potentially harm retirees who rely on bank branch advice.

📉 Feeling nervous about your portfolio lately? With war, oil prices and inflation worries rattling markets, investors are wondering how volatile their investments really are. One metric that can help answer that question is “beta,” which measures how volatile a stock is compared to movements in the broader market.

🏠 Think your house stops costing you once the mortgage is paid off? Think again. Even a fully paid-off home carries continuing costs, and tying up hundreds of thousands of dollars in home equity comes with a big opportunity cost.

Try This

🌍 If you’re planning an international trip this summer, consider booking sooner rather than later. Rising oil prices linked to the Middle East conflict could push airfare up as much as 20 per cent in the coming weeks, according to Globe reporter Mariya Postelnyak.