BY JOHN KARIUKI
Though they were rendered ages ago, Aesop’s famous fables contain some financial lessons that can apply to people’s personal money situation today.
There are investment, saving and frugality lessons galore in the following three fables of The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Dog and the Bone and The Goose that Laid Golden Eggs.
The ant and the grasshopper
In this fable, an ant diligently spends time during summer gathering up extra food, a grasshopper laughs and plays. The grasshopper laughs at all this effort and scoffs: "Why gather food when there is abundance all around us?" But when winter comes, the grasshopper finds himself out of food while the ant has plenty. The grasshopper comes to realise the folly of his short-sighted ways.
If one starts with small and steady deposits in an investment fund, the savings will grow and generate more money. [PHOTO: COURTESY] READ MORECBK plans to slash mobile money fees by more than half Why Kenyan traders choose HFM in 2025 Kenya stakes claim as Africa's next innovation and deal-making capital |
The fable ends with the grasshopper dying from starvation.
The lesson from this fable is that we should prepare today for lean times ahead. It pays to create an emergency fund and plan for one’s retirement while the opportunity lasts.
The dog and the bone
In this fable, a dog walks alone with a bone in his mouth. He looks down into a pool of still water, and sees another dog, also with a bone in his mouth, looking back at him. He gets greedy of the other dog’s bone, actually his reflection, and thinks that the other dog is a push over. He opens his mouth and barks at the second dog, ready for war. But he drops his bone into the water. He is left with his reflection and no bone.
The financial lesson here is that if one gets greedy, he or she risks losing all that they already have.
Scores of people regularly get greedy and fall into investments scams that promise fabulous returns.
The goose and golden eggs
In this fable, a farmer and his wife discover that they have a goose that lays golden eggs. But after a few days this goose stops laying these eggs. The farmer and his wife get impatient and slaughter the goose to get all the golden eggs at once.
But once the goose is dead, they find no golden eggs inside. They realise that they have just killed the source of what could have been their greatest wealth.
The financial lesson here is that impatience often destroys accumulation of wealth.
If one starts with small and steady deposits in an investment his or her nest will grow and generate more money for his or her spending pleasure in retirement.
Indeed, all investments take time to mature, but some people often have no patience to learn the tricks of any business. Frequently they will hop from one idea to another.
