Welcome to The Crow and the Jar!
This is not your typical Financial Independence/Retire Early (FIRE) blog detailing how to become financially independent. There are already plenty of those. But what happens after FI? Many blogs discuss withdrawal or drawdown approaches, but few have implemented them. In this blog, I shall attempt to show real life applications of published strategies.
Every person’s situation is unique, including mine. My post-FIRE situation isn’t “pure” (I’ll explain how/why in future posts), but I hope some readers will find my experience useful.
Why the name? The blog name is taken from one of Aesop’s Fables. You may also know it as The Crow and the Pitcher. Here is a version of the story:
THE CROW AND THE WATER JAR
A thirsty crow noticed a huge jar and saw that at the very bottom there was a little bit of water. For a long time the crow tried to spill the water out so that it would run over the ground and allow her to satisfy her tremendous thirst. After exerting herself for some time in vain, the crow grew frustrated and applied all her cunning with unexpected ingenuity: as she tossed little stones into the jar, the water rose of its own accord until she was able to take a drink.
This fable shows us that thoughtfulness is superior to brute strength, since this is the way that the crow was able to carry her task to its conclusion.
Aesop’s Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World’s Classics): Oxford, 2002
Some other versions provide similar but different morals:
In a pinch a good use of our wits may help us out.
Aesop for Children (translator not identified), 1919. Illustrations by Milo Winter (1886-1956). Available online at Project Gutenberg.
What we cannot compass by force, we may by invention and industry.
Bewick’s Select fables of Aesop and others, with illustrations by Thomas Bewick. 1871 (first edition published in 1818). Available online at Michigan State University.
I see the jar (or pitcher) as the group of assets a FIREd individual has to draw from. Some of those assets are “stuck” in retirement accounts that may be tricky for an early retiree to access. We have to be a bit inventive to get them out, like the crow and the water in the jar.
I hope you’ll follow along on my journey to access my jars.
