Once upon a time, in the charming little town of Pigglesworth, there lived five little piggies – Patricia, Priscilla, Pippin, Pookie and Pinky. They all had a great desire to retire and enjoy the relaxed life around Pigglesworth. Here are their stories:
This little piggy went to market
The oldest piggy Patricia wanted to become rich fast. She heard that buying and selling would net her a lot of money. So she went to the market to choose from among the many fruits and vegetables. She saw that there was a lot of demand for plums. She bought plums (equivalent to a single stock), for all the money she had. She planned to keep them and sell them when the plum season got over. She figured she can sell the plums at a premium and become rich quickly.
Well, the plum season got over and Patricia, highly excited, went back to the market to sell all her plums. But unfortunately, there was no demand for plums anymore. All the pigitons of Pigglesworth were now craving apples. Panicing and not wanting to wait till the next plum season, she sold everything for a tiny fraction of what she paid.
There went Patricia’s dream to retire rich.
Lesson: Never put all you eggs in one basket.
This little piggy stayed home
The second piggy, Priscilla, decided she is going to marry the richest piggy in town and become rich that way. She was a great looker. She married the richest piggy. They lived happily and Priscilla was over the moon about her riches. She stayed home to raise her own cute piglets.
She didn’t pay much attention to her husband’s spending neither did she plan for her own retirement (spousal IRA). She trusted her husband to take care of everything.
Unfortunately after a few years they grew apart and before their 15th anniversary they got divorced. She didn’t have any assets in her name and her husband claimed he lost everything in the business so couldn’t pay her anything either.
There went Priscilla’s dream of retiring rich.
Lesson: Always save for retirement even if you are a work-at-home parent.
This little piggy had roast beef
The third piggy, Pippin, was the most intelligent among the siblings. He didn’t want to take the get rich quick route. He knew that starting early and saving consistently is the secret to riches.
He decided he also wanted to try his luck in the marketplace (investments). He would buy and sell goods to make money for his retirement. But instead of buying the hot new fruit of the day, he educated himself on how the market worked. He went to the market and bought a mix of fruits and veggies for his own rainy day (emergency fund), in case he couldn’t get to the market.
He then took a look at the inventory of things available at the market. He thought about buying some fruits (precious metals), a mix of them, as piggies are fond of fruits and the profit will be high too. But he also knew that scientists are always coming up with new nutritional information. What if one day they come to conclusion that fruits are not very healthy for piggies? (risk tolerance)
He couldn’t bear the thought of losing all his hard earned money. So he decided he will buy a little of everything. He bought a few fruit seeds (precious metal funds), he also picked up stuff to plant a vegetable garden (stock mutual funds). He added some nuts (bond funds) to his stash and picked up a cow for dairy (real estate). He stocked up on staples and added some herbs (money market funds) to his garden for good measure.
He leased some farm land (brokerage) near by which charged low rent every month (low cost funds) and gave him access to plant and harvest anytime he wanted.
He was happy with his bounty (asset allocation). Every payday he went to the market and bought himself a portion of all the supplies he had planned. Sometimes the fruits were cheaper, sometimes the veggies were cheaper. But it didn’t matter to him because he would buy it every single month (dollar cost averaging) and when the fruits were cheap he could get a lot of fruit seeds.
He kept a balanced supply and was consistently doing this for many years (asset rebalance). The other piggies thought he was a dumb piggy to just keep buying and not having an exciting market day. But he kept at it.
After a few years, he slowly started seeing the fruits of all his labor. The fruit seeds have become a beautiful orchard. He had more fruits than he could ever eat. The vegetable & herb gardens were producing a bountiful harvest.
He decided he had enough to live off his land and more. He started selling his produce. His local harvest was very tasty and the word spread. Piggies were paying a lot to get the tasty fruits and veggies from Pippin.
This little piggy had roast beef and lived happily ever after.
Lesson: Start early, save frequently, invest in low cost index funds, diversify and don’t time the market.
This little piggy had none
Pookie was always a lazy piggy. He didn’t study or hold a job for more than a week. He would just get a few dollars here and there from his siblings or what other piggies took pity and gave him.
This little piggy had none.
Lesson: No body cares about your money more than you do.
This little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home
The youngest piggy, Pinky, was a spoiled piggy. She always got what she wanted by complaining and the habit stuck with her through the years. She got a good education and got a good job. She got herself a new car, a house and fancy clothes as she “deserved” them. When she couldn’t keep up with her payments, she complained about student loans and that all the evil piggy banks were charging her a lot in interest.
She complained about her high taxes and ignored her retirement account. She was drowning in debt but complained about how everyone is traveling. She traveled too by taking more loans.She retired with just a very modest amount from her Social Security and is still complaining about how very little she is getting paid and how she deserves more.
This little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home
Lesson: To build wealth, you must spend less than you earn
Which piggy do you want to be?
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
That was fun to read
Of course, we all know which piggy we want to be.
No joke, Suja! I laughed at the animation. Although, those pigs look a bit scary. Where in the heck did you find them? Entertaining and informative post!
First, where did you fnd such a cute piggy? Second, it was a very entertaining post! Really enjoyed it. Loved the titel as well, quite catchy. We all want to retire one day, don’t we? The question still remains how soon and how comfortably we can do it?
LOL you really made that an easy yet entertaining read. I now have the sudden urge for roast beef.. yum…
haha… great post. Very cute. I’ll have the roast beef.
This was entertaining and informative! I like how you created such charming stories for different investment tactics (or lack of tactics, in some of the piggies’ cases). Great post!
I thought the message was, don’t be a pig!
If I had to choose I would pick the piggy who is eating roast beef.
Agreed. Entertaining and informative. I love the story and the graphics. Gosh you are talented. I like your point about taking emotions out of investing. This is really important. We have to think objectively or we can lose a lot of money.
This is unbelievable. I think this is, hands down, one of the best posts I have ever read. Your analogies were dead on.
While I’m a vegetarian, I still want to be the piggy that ate roast beef!
Good thing piggies are omnivores. But I don’t suppose Pippin would be investing in pork bellies. Great graphic!
I love this analogy! It’s so creative and very informative.
lol, very clever. I have a piggy series too, but the third little pig is smart and prudent. I strive to be that piggy (currently I call myself pig 2 1/2, lol).
Love the stories and presentations, I’m retweeting!!!
Great presentation Suba. All important lessons.Spending less than we earn is a battle that too many of us fail to acknowledge.
Nice post Suba. Only one out of 5 piggies made good, that ratio doesn’t bode well for Pigglesworth. Soon the 80% is going to rise up.
That was so much fun to read, I love the piggy theme.
Great illustration. A nice gentle critique of many people’s lifestyle… with the keyword being “gentle.” Sometimes that is hard to communicate, you mastered it. Well done!
This was way cute…I shared it on Twitter but had to add a title to the tweet since your share settings don’t for some reason! Good post!
This is way too cute. What a wonderful analogy. I guess being a lazy piggy won’t pay off in the future
This can be a nice bed time story for kids. Shall serves dual purpose. Good message in a cutest way.
It is very important to teach personal finance to kids in a way that they find it interesting and are excited by it. Only then, they will have a passion to be financially free and financially aware. This is the best education we can provide to our kids. The manner in which you have explained the concepts is truely commendable! I am on lookout for more from you! Thank you!
Fantastic post. Very creative and I love the images.
Excellent post – the graphics and piggies aside, the content is very true. In investing, your diversify/ rebalance approach is well stated and all readers would of course be well served to emulate your third little piggie.
I love the analogy of your story. I guess we do not need to answer who is our preferred piggy. We all know who.
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