The Geese of Fortune : A Fortune Fable

It’s been a while since I shared a new Fortune Fable - I hope your kids enjoy this one.

This fable covers some of the most important money topics we should all be teaching our kids. I’ll cover the money lessons at the end.

Fortune Fable: The Geese of Fortune

Once upon a time there were three brothers. The brothers all worked hard on a farm to earn a little bit of money to pay for food and shelter. They weren’t the happiest of brothers. In fact, most people didn’t like talking to them as they were always grumpy and complaining about things.

After a rather long day working on the farm, they were walking home through the woods when suddenly they heard a strange sound.

“What was that?” said the youngest brother.

They stopped and listened.

“Honk. Honk. Honk.”

They followed the sound deeper into the woods until they came to a small clearing. Sitting underneath a large tree were three small yellow geese.

They couldn’t believe their luck. There wasn’t a farmer or house anywhere nearby and it appeared the geese didn’t belong to anyone.

The three brothers looked at each other.

“I’m keeping mine,” said the first brother.

“So am I,” said the second.

They each picked up a goose and took it home.

The first brother woke up early the next day and took his goose to the market. As it was yellow, he managed to get a very good price, even though it was small.

The farmer at the market handed him ten silver coins.

The first brother stared at them. He had never had so much money before. He was rich!

He went around the market and bought some new clothes and food for a big meal. For the rest of the week he decided to take a holiday from working on the farm. He ate like a king and was never happier.

But silver coins have a strange habit. They disappear much faster when you are spending them than when you are earning them.

By the end of the week, every single coin was gone.

The first brother was back to working on the farm for a little bit of money and was really upset that he couldn’t keep having the nice meals and new clothes he had been enjoying.

As he returned to the farm, he saw his brothers. He assumed they had done the same thing as him. But they both seemed much happier than before. He walked over to the second brother.

“Why are you so happy?” he asked.

The second brother smiled and pointed towards his house. “I decided to keep my goose,” he explained.

“I built a small pen for it because I love eating eggs. Now I get an egg with my breakfast and another with my dinner every day.”

The first brother looked confused. “That’s why you’re happy?”

The second brother nodded. “It feels like a luxury to me. I’ve never been able to eat eggs every day before.”

Whilst he still had to work on the farm, his meals were much better than they had been before. And he also had a few spare eggs which he could sell at the market to buy himself something nice.

The first brother thought about this. Perhaps his brother had been clever after all.

He then looked over at the third brother. “Surely you did the same thing?” he asked.

The third brother smiled. “I didn’t sell my goose,” he said.

“And I haven’t eaten any of its eggs!”

The first and second brothers looked at each other.

“Then what have you been doing?” they asked.

The third brother smiled. “Come and see.” He took them around the back of his house and opened the gate to a large wooden pen.

The first brother stared. The second brother stared. Inside the pen were dozens of tiny yellow goslings.

“Where did they all come from?” asked the first brother.

“From the eggs,” said the third brother.

The brothers couldn’t believe it.

The third brother explained that instead of eating the eggs, he had allowed them to hatch. He now had a whole pen full of baby geese.

“But you haven’t received any money,” said the first brother.

“And you haven’t even eaten the eggs,” added the second brother.

“That’s right,” said the third brother.

“I’m waiting.”

The first brother laughed. “Waiting for what?”

“For the little geese to grow.”

The third brother knew that the baby geese would eventually grow up and lay eggs of their own.

He could then eat some of the eggs, sell some at the market and allow some to hatch into even more geese.

Days became weeks. Weeks became months. The little geese grew bigger.

And then something amazing happened. The first of them started laying eggs. Soon there were more eggs than the third brother could possibly eat.

So he took the extra eggs to the market and sold them.

He used some of the money to buy things he needed, but he didn’t spend it all. He kept looking after his geese. And the geese kept producing eggs. And the eggs kept producing more geese.

Before long, he had to build an even bigger pen. His flock continued to grow and the number of eggs he could sell grew with it.

Eventually, he was earning so much money from his geese that he no longer needed to work on the farm.

One morning, the three brothers sat together eating breakfast. The first brother looked at his empty purse. The second brother looked at his one goose. The third brother looked out across his enormous flock. And suddenly, they all understood.

The first brother had sold his goose and spent the money.

The second brother had kept his goose and enjoyed what it produced.

But the third brother had kept his goose, allowed it to produce more geese and patiently waited for his flock to grow.

The third brother smiled.

“The goose wasn’t the fortune,” he said. “It was the beginning of the fortune.”

The End!

Teaching your kids about this story

The key question to ask your kids is:

“Which brother do you want to be like?”

Hopefully they say the third / last brother.

You can use this short fable help your kids appreciate the 3 Rules of Wealth

RULE ONE: Save before you spend

If the geese were money, then the first brother spent all his money quickly. Whilst he was very happy in the short term, it didn’t last long until he was back to where he started.

The second and third brothers saved their money (geese) before spending. They both had long lasting benefits to their lives as a result.

To help your kids learn more about the importance of this rule, they can read the Fortune Fable 'The Trip to the Village' from Grandpa's Fortune Fables for free here.

RULE TWO: Invest what you save

This is where the third brother excelled.

Whilst the second brother kept his goose (money) and benefited from doing so, he didn’t see the benefits grow over time as he ate the eggs (income).

The third brother saw his benefits grow as he let the eggs hatch. Just like investing your savings. The eggs are like the payouts from your investments (dividends) and the increasing flock of geese is the value of the investments growing over time.

Take the time to help your kids invest (build the geese pen) by setting up an investment account for them. If you don't know where to start in terms of investing, please check out our updated investment guide which teaches you all about what investing is and how to start.

RULE THREE: Be Patient

This third brother showed incredible patience. In the short term he didn’t have any extra money or get to eat any eggs, despite seeing his brothers enjoy those luxuries. He took the time to build a big pen and waited for the eggs to hatch and for his geese to grow. He was handsomely rewarded for this over time.

This is so important for kids to learn and we need to train kids to see the benefits of being patient. Whilst a lot of people show off what they have spent (Rich), those who are financially healthy (Wealthy) are the ones who look after their money (geese). You can read more about Rich Kids vs Wealthy Kids here.

Thanks for reading and I hope your kids enjoyed this story!

Will

P.s.If you enjoyed this story then you'll know doubt enjoy my books, Grandpa's Fortune Fables and Frankie Fortune.

By subscribing below, you get the first 2 chapters of the books for free or you can buy them book at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. If you've already read either book, it would be amazing if you could leave a review.