The Fisherman and the Investment Banker

I have an important new twist on an old story for you …

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“I write to you the story of a fisherman in a Mexican Village who goes out every day on his boat to catch a fish. The fisherman goes out for three or four hours, catching a small load of fish and returning home. Every day he does this, without fail. One week, an investment banker from New York is vacationing in this Mexican village. Every day he sees this young fisherman go out, catch fish, come back, go out, catch fish, and come back. So after a few days, the investment banker approaches the fisherman. He asks the fisherman if he catches fish like that all the time.

“I do,” says the young Mexican, who is about thirty years old.

“How long have you been fishing?” asks the investment banker.

“All my life,” says the Mexican. “Since I was a boy.”

“And you catch fish like that every time?” He looks at the sizable fish in the catch.

“Yes,” says the Mexican. “There are always fish.”

“But you only go out a few hours a day. If you catch fish like that, why don’t you go out longer—catch more fish?”

The young Mexican thinks a minute and looks down at his feet. He looks back up at the investment banker. “Well, I like to spend time with my family and play cards with my friends.”

The investment banker nods, he steps closer to the Mexican. “Look,” he says, “if you double the amount of time you fish, you’ll make double the amount of money you make now.”

“Why would I want to do that?” asks the Mexican.

“Because then you can buy another boat and hire more fishermen.”

“Why would I want to do that?” asks the Mexican again.

“Because then you’ll quadruple your earnings and pretty soon you can have your own fleet.”

“And why would I want to do that?”

“Well, once you have your own fleet, you’ll have enough fish to cut out the middle men and go directly to the distributor. You do well enough with him, you can buy his company. Then, we do an IPO, take the whole operation public. You’ll cash in. You’ll be rich.”

“And then what?”

“Then,” says the investment banker, “you can spend time with your family, and play cards with your friends …”

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That’s a nice story. It’s usually used to show how ridiculous the Investment Banker’s position is, and how we should focus more on what’s important than money … which, of course, is true.

It’s just that money is a part of – or at least an enabler of – what is important …

For example, what happens when the fisherman gets sick, or too old to fish?

We can cover ‘sick’ with Fisherman’s Insurance (a couple of fish from his daily catch should cover that) …

… but, how do we cover ‘old’?

I think, only by meeting the investment banker part way …

 IF the fisherman’s ideal retirement is simply to spend some time with his family every day (and, eat a few fish), and have a little spare time to play cards, it shouldn’t be a very big number …

… no IPO’s necessary!

But, it will take some investing in cold-storage to build up enough fish to last as long as the fisherman does!

Perhaps it’s time to think about how many fish you need?

5 Responses to “ The Fisherman and the Investment Banker ”

1. Diane says:

   March 2, 2008 at 12:48 pm

   I’ve never seen any man – fisherman or not – too old to fish! And if the fish are always there…well then!

   I get your point that there is more to the story than the simplified version above (preparing for the proverbial rainy day, for instance). It would have been good to have additional information about those other things to consider, perhaps suggesting other blogs to follow to flesh those out?
2. AJC says:

   March 2, 2008 at 1:11 pm

   That’s true Diane, one is never too old to fish … I guess that’s the reason that I’m writing this instead of, well, fishing!

   But, what happens when the fish are NOT there … or when you lose the passion or the ability TO fish? That’s the moral of this story … and the point of this blog is to fill in those ‘blanks’ … if you keep reading and, more importantly, contributing. AJC
3. Devolving the Myth of Income … Part II « How to Make 7 Million in 7 Years™ says:

   March 31, 2008 at 2:58 pm

   [...] a recent post I wrote about the Fisherman and the Investment Banker; ‘Mario’ is the Fisherman, I am the Investment Banker … what happens when [...]
4. lynda mills says:

   March 27, 2010 at 8:35 pm

   I beleive the banker will die rich & the mexican happier.
   money or happiness?…& that questions starts a new “what if”…..
   there is no answer to what ifs just another question.
5. Nic Buchanan says:

   March 28, 2010 at 3:50 pm

   I know the story is about happiness and the need for money in your life, but did no one else immediately just think sustainable fishing and the environmental impacts? Maybe it’s the “John Butler Trio” in me that went straight to big corporations extorting our planet for money.