Why Retire Early?
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The story of the Mexican Fisherman and why retiring early is important to us.
Have you ever heard the parable of the Mexican Fisherman? I’ve heard several versions, but I like this one, retold by Courtney Carver over at bemorewithless.com (which you should also check out):
An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, “only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.”
The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”
To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”
“But what then?” Asked the Mexican.
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 would make millions!”
“Millions – then what?”
The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
To me, this parable speaks directly to the “why retire early?” question and maybe a little to the “how do you define early retirement?” question.
It has themes of rest. Of family. Of simplicity. Of enjoying life. Of friends. Of contentment. Of working to have “enough” and not the maximum. Of marital connection. Of a slowing down of life (strolling). Of a connection to the water. Of community (a small village).
There are also other factors that aren’t in the parable that influence our family’s personal choice to embark on this journey (mainly health related) but I’ll save that for another post.
I would say for 20+ years, I’ve been on the path suggested by the Harvard MBA. Trying to earn as much as possible to afford as much as possible, hoping for company stock or profit sharing to go through the roof. Not resting enough. Although family is and has always been a priority, it is shoehorned into the leftovers of the forty-hour work week. Our life is not simple. The kids are being run from one extra-curricular to another. There is traffic. There is not enough time to connect with friends. There are too many “somedays.” There is not enough time to help people and keep all the other balls in the air.
We spend a crazy amount of time acquiring our stuff, maintaining our stuff, storing our stuff, buying more stuff for our stuff, and then selling our stuff. Because of how life is set up, there is little contentment and always looking toward the next goal, the next thing, the next phase that will allow us to slow down. Randy Komisar’s quote captures it perfectly:
“And then there is the most dangerous risk of all — the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.”
Randy Komisar
Yep, that has been us.
There is a paradox in our plan, however. We intend to work like crazy, save like crazy, not be content like crazy (for 2020 through 2022) to be able to afford the freedom to live a life like the fisherman. I’d say we’ve been doing that for years (whether we knew it or not). But that’s not what the fisherman did, did he? He didn’t spend as much time as he had that day fishing because the fish were biting so that he could sell them and save and invest and stop fishing someday. He did just enough. Maybe we’re doing it wrong, but first realizing that we’re on the wrong plan is a key step.
I don’t know where you are, but by landing here, I’m glad to hopefully be a part of you realizing who you are in this parable. Second, charting a course to get off the wrong plan and onto one that allows you to live a life more in tune with your values is key, whether that can happen tomorrow, two years from now, or when you save enough. Just don’t let “someday” turn into forever and be at risk spending your life not doing what you want. The freedom you think you are buying by doing so may never come and you will have missed out on the daily joy the fisherman has taught us about.
For our family, early retirement looks more like the Mexican fisherman in this story and less like the Harvard MBA’s plan. It’s time to slow down, be content, and enjoy a simpler life. A life of contentment, a slower pace, and abundance (of time, connections, and depth). We won’t have an IPO and become very rich, live in a big city, or own a fleet of boats (well, maybe we’ll have a fleet of boats 😊). But hopefully we’re not too late to jump off the MBA’s plan and be more like the fisherman. No matter where you are, I don’t think it can ever be too late to wake up to this.
