An eye-opening parable about money.
An investment banker was taking a much-needed vacation in a small coastal village in Mexico when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. The boat had several large, fresh fish in it.
The banker was impressed by the quality of the fish and asked the fisherman how long it took to catch them.
He replied, “Only a little while.”
The banker then asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish?
The fisherman replied that he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.
The banker then asked “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The fisherman replied, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, señor.”
The banker scoffed, “I’m an Ivy League MBA, and I could help you. You could spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats until eventually you would have a whole fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to the middleman you could sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You could control the product, processing and distribution.”
Then he added, “Of course, you would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to the city where you would run your growing enterprise.”
The fisherman asked, “But señor, how long will this all take?”
To which the banker replied, “15-20 years.”
“But what then?” asked the fisherman.
The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You could make millions.”
“Millions, señor? Then what?”
To which the banker replied, “Then you would retire. You could move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
I first saw this story at financialmentor.com. Why do you want to be wealthy?