Die with zero: So machst du das Beste aus deinem Geld und deinem Leben

by Bill Perkins

Stellen Sie sich vor, Sie hätten zum Zeitpunkt Ihres Todes alles getan, was Ihnen aufgetragen Sie haben hart gearbeitet, Geld gespart und sich auf Ihre finanzielle Freiheit im Ruhestand gefreut. Das Einzige, das Sie dabei verschwendet haben, war ... Ihr Leben.

Früher oder später sterben wir alle, sodass wir uns die Frage stellen müssen, wie wir das Beste aus unserer endlichen Zeit machen können. William Perkins betrachtet diese Frage als ein Wie kann man ein maximal erfülltes Leben führen und gleichzeitig die Verschwendung seiner Lebenszeit minimieren? Manche Erfahrungen können nur zu bestimmten Zeiten gemacht werden, daher macht es keinen Sinn, Chancen ungenutzt verstreichen zu lassen, aus Angst, unser Geld zu verschwenden. Die Verschwendung unserer Lebenszeit sollte eine viel größere Sorge sein. Indem Sie genau planen, wie Sie mit den Ihnen zur Verfügung stehenden Ressourcen das Maximum an erfüllenden Erfahrungen erreichen, maximieren Sie auch Ihre Lebensqualität.

Dieses Buch ist für diejenigen gedacht, die lebenslange denkwürdige Erfahrungen über das bloße Geldverdienen und -sammeln für die sogenannten goldenen Jahre stellen. Das Leben ist zu kurz für später.

Genres: Nonfiction, Finance, Self Help, Money, Personal Finance, Audiobook, Business

275 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 28, 2020

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Called the "Last Cowboy" of hedge funds by the Wall Street Journal, Bill Perkins is considered one of the most successful energy traders in history. He's reported to have generated more than $1 billion for his previous firm during a five year period. After studying electrical engineering at the University of Iowa, Bill trained on Wall Street and later moved to Houston, TX where he made a fortune as an energy trader.

Now at age 51, Bill's professional life includes work as a hedge fund manager with more than $120 million in assets, Hollywood film producer, high stakes tournament poker player, and the resident "Indiana Jones" for several charities.

Bill manages this via smartphone on his yacht in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and while traveling the world with close friends and family.

Reviews

[Amelia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll save you some time... just save some money and then spend it. Make a list of things you'd like to do across your lifetime; like travel to Mexico or learn an instrument. Once you have a list decide on a good time to do those activities based on your health and possible future events like when you're going to have kids - it might be hard to go parachuting when you're 90.

I can not believe someone made a whole book out of what should have been a 1 page article.

[Jen Juenke · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW! Ok, as part of the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) Movement, I was eagerly awaiting to read this book.
I grew up in extreme poverty. I am a saver due to the circumstances in which I was raised. I have a VERY HARD time spending money. Its gotten a bit better and the author argues that I should spend money on experiences and end my life with ZERO money in the bank.
Its a great idea and made me think alot about aging, gift giving, and money in a new way.
I really liked that he had referenced Vicki Robin's book, Your Money or Your Life, which this book feels like a continuation of. With Ms. Robin's book, I felt that it was overly preachy, while this authors book was about the experiences, the memories that harvest interest, and doing what you love.
I thought the graphs were spot on, especially the health and diminishing returns.
I have to say that for the most part I agreed with everything that the author wrote.
Couple of things I did not agree with is not to save money in your early working life and to take on a "moderate' amount of debt early in life.
While I understand where the author was coming from, saying you will get more from the experiences then saving the money....I CRINGED INSIDE. People need to save money, especially Americans.
Further, don't get into debt. Save money for things you need, make debt the last thing you resort to and you will have a better, more optional life.

Overall a great financial book that doesn't necessarily tell you the numbers of retirement, but more the emotional response to get out and make memories.

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

An alternative perspective on saving and spending – both of our financial resources and of the days of our lives.

I didn’t wholeheartedly agree with everything he said, but the overall guiding principles are logical. Certainly, this philosophy gave me pause to consider my own ideas about health and wealth during various stages of my life, and will help me to define my own limits, both financially and psychologically, rather than just instinctively following the earn, save, and maximize wealth model that has permeated American culture. A thought-provoking and discussion worthy read.

[David Rubenstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a thought-provoking book about how to use your money during your lifetime. The book really changed the way I think about money.

The book is not about how to make money. It is not about how to run a business. And--it is very easy to get the wrong idea about the book; Dying with Zero does NOT mean that you shouldn't give money to your family, your heirs, or to your favorite charities. Instead the book IS about what to spend your money on, and when to spend it.

What is your most valuable possession? It is you memories! Your memories are your most treasured possession, the one thing that defines who and what you are. Consequently, spending money to build up memories is the best use of your money. One should spend your money acquiring experiences, not things. These experiences can be alone or with friends or with family. Whatever your preference. Your experiences will define who you are, so think about what experiences you will appreciate. Also, think about when it is best to acquire these experiences. A road trip--staying in hostels or other inexpensive places--might be best at a young age. Arduous treks are also best when you are young; you might enjoy hiking the Appalachian trail, but if you are out of shape it might not be best when you are 70 years old. Think about your "go-go", "slow-go", and "no-go" years. The author deeply regrets not going with his friend through Europe, staying at hostels, in his early 20's. At an later age, he would not have appreciated such a trip as much.

What about giving money to your family--say, your children. For them, too, receiving an inheritance would be much more useful at an early age, such as when buying a first home, rather than at a retirement age. The idea is that if you die of old age with money in your bank account, you have lost it; you haven't used it to acquire experiences. And while you could will it to your heirs, they will not receive it at the best age to take advantage of it.

I highly recommend this book--it was quite an eye-opener for me.

[Nathan Shuherk · Rating 2 out of 5]

At only about 200 pages, this is simply too long. The ideas presented could’ve been a 15 minute TEDtalk (possibly where the idea originated). I could pick apart the different sections of this book, but I will simply say this: the only people this book is really written for is people in a certain income or net worth zone. The ideas kinda fall apart when applied to the very (not even ultra) wealthy and people without much chance of a retirement - the majority of this country. Aside from a narrow audience, the voice can be slightly boisterous and condescending. If you find yourself in a position where this thinking applies to you, a conversation about these topics would be more useful than reading this book.

[Kristi · Rating 1 out of 5]

So... I don't usually write long reviews, or reviews at all, but I'm about to get on a soap box here.

I'm not big on self help books in general for two main reasons:
1) They usually could be a fantastic essay or blog post, or even just a list with bullet points of main ideas. But a whole book? This usually just means chapter after chapter of explaining why they wrote the book and then a few chapters of self aggrandizement and repeating two or three main points over and over.
2) 90% of self help books that I've read, the writer is completely out of touch with most of the population.

But I continue to read, because I'm a glutton for punishment and I keep thinking, "this book will be the one that changes my life."

I usually give a couple of stars anyway because I at least I gleaned a couple of bullet points to add to my life. This book especially rubbed me wrong though. I agree with the idea that it's not a good idea to hoard everything and sit on it like Smaug, we should be enjoying life the best we can with the means we have. Which is why he gets a star.

But his suggestions are down right terrible and irresponsible for most of the population. For example he talks about taking out loans in your 20s for fun things, because you'll be able to pay them back later. Umm, excuse me? I'm sure most of us 30 somethings still living paycheck to paycheck trying to pay off our student loans would argue that this is a terrible idea. And for the record, I do not have student loans anymore, but I've been there.

He also is completely out of touch. He talks about renting out an entire hotel in Saint Bards for his 45th birthday party and flying in all of his friends, and even having Natalie Merchant do a private concert for everyone. And what a good use of his money this was. What!?! I'm happy for him that he could do that (remember that self aggrandizing I mentioned earlier?), but how is this a valid example of anything for 95% of anyone on this planet?

Anyway, I'll save you the 200 pages. Don't save everything until you die. Enjoy things now.

[Maria Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

CIUDADO, QUE HOY VENGO CARGADITA🤫!!!

Y es que, déjame hacerte una pregunta: "AQUÍ, ¿QUIÉN GANA: TÚ O TU ECÓNOMIA?"🤪.

Sí, sé que ahora me dirás: "No sé de que carajo estás hablando, pero si mi economía crece, gano yo..." Pues déjame decirte que no🤭!

Y es que hay una cosa que está clara: lo único que te llevarás de esta vida serán tus experiencias, esas en las que has cantado y gritado de la emoción! Esos momentos únicos, inolvidables, que atesoras en tu corazón como si fueran joyas.

Así que, dime: ¿qué experiencia deseas vivir con todas tus fuerzas😍? Tal vez, ¿ir a un concierto de tu cantante favorito? ¿Viajar por Europa durante seis meses? ¿Vivir una temporada en otro país?

Y, ahora dime: ¿qué es lo que te lo impide?

Si tu respuesta ha sido: el dinero💸, quizás deberías de hacer lo que Bill Perkins nos sugiere en este libro, y eso es... No esperarás que yo te lo diga, ¿verdad?🤭

Por cierto, el autor es uno de los empresarios y gestores de fondos de cobertura más exitosos del mundo. Ha ganado una fortuna como inversor en el campo de las empresas energéticas y es el director ejecutivo de BrisaMax Holdings.... Vamos, que algo sabe sobre dinero y de cómo hacer realidad tus sueños🥰.

[Sharon Orlopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great friend mentioned the Die With Zero concept so when I saw the book, Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life I knew I had to read it.

The main premise of the book is to not squander your life away and to determine the best way to allocate your life's energy. It is not a financial planning book. It is a book that reminds readers that our lives are the sum of our experiences. We should all actively steer our lives to live our lives to the fullest by creating memorable life experiences.

Some interesting information included:

* Retirees with $500k or more saved for retirement spent down 11.8% of their money before passing away. They had 88% of their retirement savings left over after death.

* One-third of all retirees increased their wealth during retirement.

* 60 is the average age people receive an inheritance. The age people typically need money is between 26 - 36. Retirees should consider gifting money to their children while their children are younger.

* Retirees have three stages: go-go years, slow-go years, and the no-go years. Consumption slows down in the slow-go and no-go years.

Author, Bill Perkins challenges the notion that everyone should be focused on saving for retirement. He strongly believes we should be creating memories and experiences continually.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Blinkist*

I’m not sure what I think of this book based on reading the Blink. Some statements I agreed with, while others I did not (some statements to me seemed like irresponsible advice, that people could easily take as license to spend money they don’t have or not save enough, for example).

The numbers in one example scenario in the Blink didn’t add up:

“Meet Elizabeth, for example. She’s a 45-year-old woman without children, and her annual net income is $49,000. But Elizabeth only spends $33,000 of what she earns. She puts the remaining $16,000 into her pension and savings account. By the time she retires, at age 65, she will have a total net worth of $770,000. This sum will include all those savings as well as her home equity.”

This sum _includes_ home equity? What assumptions is the author making here? This $770k figure actually seems low. Based on my calculations, she should have $770k PLUS home equity and any other savings. This scenario also assumes she a) didn’t start saving for retirement or buy a house until age 45 (and had no other debt, i.e. she had a net worth of $0 at 45; not entirely unreasonable assumptions, but if you’re younger than 45, aim to do better than this) and b) she receives zero promotions or pay raises in these 20 years.

“After retirement, Elizabeth spends $32,000 a year, until, two decades later, she dies at the age of 85. At the time of her death, Elizabeth still has $130,000 in her savings account.”

This would only be true if she leaves the entire amount in cash, which based on the previous paragraph, also includes her home equity, meaning she would need to sell her house, and live, where...? The next example makes a point which contradicts this spending / balance figure, but again, my calculations indicate she should actually end up at age 85 with over $1.5 million...

“Suppose you need $12,000 a year to survive. You expect to live another 40 years. That means, in order to retire, you need a net worth of $480,000.”

So far so good, arithmetically, and the example continues:

“In fact, you can probably stop working with significantly less than this amount. This is because your money and assets will accrue interest over time, so your net worth would decrease slower than you expect. In reality, you only need around 70 percent of your estimate to quit working. Interest rates will take care of the rest.”

Not just decrease slower, but more than likely increase over time, and with less than 70% even (good news which actually supports the author’s point).

“If you want to get the most out of your time on Earth, you shouldn’t allow your net worth to climb much higher than your survival amount. And when it does, begin to reduce wealth, rather than building it up. You might, for example, decide to spend more on great experiences or reduce how much work you do.”

This is what we call a good problem to have. The solution is simple: adjust your spending and or gifts and or charitable giving accordingly.

“Don’t waste your life saving up for a rainy day. You might get wealthier as you get older, but your health and openness to new experiences will decline. It’s smart to spend your disposable income while you're young, pursuing risky dreams and taking up mind-expanding travel. Never forget that nothing lasts forever – and nor will you. So choose happiness over an ever-expanding bank balance.”

Yes and no, though. Risky dreams and mind-expanding travel (or whatever it is YOU personally value, if you don’t share the author’s bias towards these two particular values) don’t have to cost a fortune. It is also possible to balance both, since you don’t know what the future holds. (Health problems or disability are things that can happen, though I hope they don’t!)

This is also an argument FOR saving while you are young, when compound interest can work most in your favor. I hope the key message of this book, which was ambiguous to me from the Blink, is not to saddle your future self with debt to travel the world or whatever the author seems to think we should be doing with our money.

I have many, many more thoughts on this topic, but overall I don’t think I can agree that spending all of one’s money is the only measure of having lived fully.

[Marien Dille · Rating 2 out of 5]

if you ever see that I finished a nonfiction book, specifically a self-help book, I need you to know that I skim-read half of it. it’s fine it’s whatever. I probably read it for a book club so the gaps were filled in.
anyways I had mixed feelings about this, as I usually do about self-help books. I love the overall idea! it’s made me think more intentionally about how I spend my money and my time, and it’s encouraged me to branch out in what a successful life is. I esp love the idea of memory dividends - that just like monetary investments can bring dividends in the future, when you spend your money on meaningful experiences for you and your loved ones, then you get memory dividends to enjoy the rest of your life. I like that it emphasizes there is NO point in having money for money’s sake.
however respectfully the man is kind of a psychopath. I trust him 0%. encourages broke 20-something’s taking out $10k from loan sharks to travel around Europe for two months (you’ll make it back!!!) instead of saving any money, considered “renting out a private island for his birthday party (twice)” a reasonable way to spend money, etc. I had a really hard time with the fact that he is so absurdly wealthy and telling people that they will certainly make more money in the future - that was true for him, but how many people is that actually true for? what about saving for the future????? what about emergencies - lost jobs and insane medical bills and recessions and car crashes??? what about people who have no one to fall back on if they can’t pay back the $10k and are destroyed by the crushing debt that ensued???? it brought up a lot of questions about the *personal* morality of spending so much money on experiences when so many people aren’t deciding between investing $10000 and spending it on a lavish Europe trip that they’ll remember forever - they’re deciding if they should pay rent or buy their kids school supplies, to buy groceries or utilities. it’s confusing to me, and I don’t think I have a good answer yet. I don’t think it’s necessarily bad to spend money on cool things like that, but it also made me uncomfortably aware of the privilege I have to be able to have such pleasant trade-offs when so many don’t. I think I need to maybe just apply the general principle in a way that feels more aligned with the kind of person I want to be and let go of his more audacious claims before I get more upset haha.
anyways, I could ramble forever about this. end opinion: it made me realize experiences > money (to a reasonable extent) and it made me angry.

[Jeff Heuer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many books of this genre, it could stand to be more concise, but it does offer a provocative reassessment of typical thinking around saving, spending, retirement, inheritance, etc. For most, it will not be simple to put the thinking here into practice. Nonetheless, the book will ask you some challenging questions about how you want your life to unfold, and encourage you to live each year you have deliberately.

[Sad Sunday (Books? Me?!? NEVER!!!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received this book from the author. Thank you!

In many nowadays cultures saving is a norm. Want something? Work and save. Save every cent, every penny. Prohibit yourself from certain indulgences. Don't overspend on crazy things! They make you happy? Well, you will have to do without. Eat buckwheat. Walk. Squeeze the most out of every tube, carton and package. Finally, have enough saved for what you wanted? Have it, and well, there is more you should start saving for right now! Star immediately! Yeah, I might be overreacting with that, but a job-home-family way of thinking penetrates even the modern people.



What I loved the most about Die With Zero was a laid-back, but facts-based approach. Yes, save, but don't forget to enjoy! Don't slowly kill yourself over dreams that others believe to be worth reaching for. Make money, but invest them smartly. Do it while you can, since you never know which day will be your last. It's a nice proof that some things we want are closer than we imagine and we don't need to wait for ages to achieve it. There is a nice little chapter about finding balance - I think it's very important for a person. This need is sprouting many practices and beliefs, but don't look that far - listen to your heart, follow what you truly want and answer one question - do you need all things you currently have in your life? So, don't forget to look around - there is always more to enjoy than your work and money!

[Nick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ironic for a book that focuses on maximising your time before you die to waste my time.
Some mildly interesting points, but it's basically a blog post that got out of control.
I'll summarise so you don't have to read it:
- buy experiences, not things, because apparently you won't remember things when you're older.
- you're already too old to do everything you want.
- the author is rich.
- don't save money if all you're planning to do with it is die and give it to someone.
- learn basic finance.

[Matt Lillywhite · Rating 3 out of 5]

“We all have the potential to make more money in the future, but we can never go back and recapture time that is now gone. It makes no sense to let opportunities pass us by for fear of squandering our money. Squandering our lives should be a much greater worry.”

This book was okay. I thought the concept was interesting. It basically talks about spending your money on experiences - instead of accumulating a bigger bank account.

Honestly, this book could’ve been a blog post. But if you don’t know much about personal finance, it’s worth reading.

Three stars.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has some interesting ideas about spending your money during your lifetime to die with zero, instead of being afraid to spend all your money. It also goes through some of the objections people would have about the financial concept.

However, I have a few main concerns:
1) This could have been a Youtube video or single article. I found the chapters very repetitive. Each chapter could be a paragraph or two, honestly.
2) This book only applies to a very specific margin of people - mainly upper middle class. It does not apply to the ultra wealthy or the many people who live paycheck to paycheck to get by.
3) Suggesting to everyone multiple times that they should go into debt to go on vacation is irresponsible in my opinion. Not everyone has the financial experiences that the author did of increasing their income tremendously over their lifetime and being able to easily pay off such debts in the future.
4) Waving away people's concerns over wanting to save extra money in order to pay for healthcare when they're older seems insensitive given the author is American. I'm not American (Canadian here), but from what I've heard of the American health care system, I can understand people's concerns about saving for medical expenses. Plus, not every medical expense can be solved by keeping healthy and getting medical insurance (which are the author's two suggestions for this).
5) Suggesting that people don't need to really start thinking about saving for retirement until their 40's/a bit later in life (and use their earlier years to enjoy experiences) is irresponsible again. It takes away the decades that their retirement savings could compound, meaning they could have saved less earlier to get the same result. But also, many people aren't able to put off saving for retirement because their financial situations simply don't allow for it.

All in all, I have mixed feelings.

[Elisabeth Ensor · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I heard about this book, it immediately reminded me of the lessons I learned from losing both of my parents at a relatively young age—62 and 67. Neither of them got to retire, and their health declined significantly during the last five years of their lives. They weren’t off on grand adventures or pursuing new or long-held dreams.

After settling their estate, I became determined to make my own big dreams happen now—before it’s too late. This November, we’re taking our kids to Europe, a lifelong dream finally coming true.

Reading this book has inspired me to think seriously about my life expectancy, prioritize what matters most, and focus on creating meaningful experiences with my husband and kids well before retirement age.

What an outstanding and thought-provoking concept. I’m so grateful for this book.

[Sebastian Gebski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars just because the topic is extremely important, but it has got very little attention in the public space. Long story short, it's a book about maximizing value out of your life - not the value you generate, but the value you "live through."

This book is important not because it gives you a ready-to-use recipe, but because it creates a proper (reasonable, credible, understandable) nudge to re-assess your thinking about money, earning, and saving. Whatever you do with that, it's up to you.

Don't get me wrong, there are some things I do not agree with (in this book). There are also some painful simplifications. Examples: how many people are able to have meaningful savings (percentage-wise) in different societies around the globe, what's the role of uncertainty/risk, and isn't the author's thesis skewed by the relative stability of Western societies (in the last 50 years), shouldn't we think about saving as a cross-generation activity that spans over several decades, so we collectively ease up lives of future generations (in cumulatively stacking way), etc. But still, even with these imperfections, I haven't had a better impulse to actually start considering this topic, so I wholeheartedly recommend "Die with Zero" to every adult person.

[Erin Clemence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the author for providing me with this novel, in exchange for an honest review.

Bill Perkins is a CEO and former Wall Street trader who made his money in energy stocks. His novel, “Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life” is a financial self-help book of sorts, but not entirely. Perkins suggests tips to “live a full life” and “be your true self” by focusing more of your attention on experiences, and less on money.

This concept is hard to grasp for most of us. Since childhood, we are told to “understand the value of a dollar” and to “work hard to earn what you want”. Perkins turns these tenets on their heads and forces us to look at money in a new way- use it to experience life now, because the older you get, the less chances you will have to use it in the best ways possible.

The novel itself is very well written, and each chapter covers a different aspect of Perkins’ theory. Not every chapter will relate to everyone but there is something for everyone somewhere in this book.

It was very difficult for me to relate to Perkins. Although I can appreciate his values and his belief system, it is hard to accept financial and life advice from someone who flew his entire family (and all of his friends) to the British Islands for his 45th birthday (and has a laissez-faire attitude about it) , and is a millionaire at the age of 50. It is extreme examples like this that make it hard for me to find a connection with him. He does gives example in this book of “normal” people (i.e. non-millionaires) and how they can use his theories as well, but they don’t relate with me. Not everyone starts at one job and then advances (and continues to make wage increases with those advances) . The possibility of staying at the same job until retirement is high in these risky times, and the likelihood that we will go from “rags to riches” is next to impossible, for the working class of the world (you know, the majority of us).

I appreciated Perkins’ life advice, and it does make a lot of sense. To spend money while we are young on experiences that would be both foolish and irresponsible when we get older, for example. There are definitely a lot of experiences I missed out on as a youth because I was too focused on making money. It also connects that we need to focus on the memories we leave behind, and not on the financial windfalls we leave our relatives.

Perkins does state often that he is “not” a financial advisor, and it is best to leave our financial decisions into the hands of those who are (he definitely touts the benefits of annuities and insurance, though, for someone who isn’t a “financial advisor!”).

“Die with Zero” is an interesting take on how we, as a society, look at money, and the skewed importance we give to it. Since it completely went against everything I have ever been taught (and even against a lot of my current practices with the money I have now) , it definitely took a lot of open-mindedness to get through this book, but Perkins definitely has some good ideas.

[Rubi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't underestimate the risk of inaction. Life is all about discovery.

I have enjoyed this book quite a lot because it is different. The majority of books focus on money, talk about saving, investing, more saving, more investing... But that is not everything!
We cannot forget that we need to spend money in getting new experiences and our energy, health and time on earth are limited, so don't leave for tomorrow what you can do today!

The central idea of the book is the following: We need to aim to die with zero because it makes no sense to leave money in the bank when we die. It is very important to live experiences when you have the health to do so, and not leaving them for later because who knows if we will be healthy and okay to do them in the future!

Very nice and motivating book, without a doubt.

“The utility, or usefulness, of money declines with age.”

“Movement is life.”

“Focusing on money distracts from the hard truth that time and health are fleeting.”

“We all die a multitude of deaths throughout our lives.”

[Janssen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so eye-opening! Bart and I have been talking about it non-stop.

[stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is written by a millionaire for millionaire. If you are in the middle class category don’t bother reading this because it’s depressing. This guy repeats himself throughout the entire book and talks about making the most of your life by traveling and enjoying life experiences, which is great...if you are a millionaire!! He says spend that money, but also make sure you save a million for retirement 🤔 great book if you are a millionaire, if not pass!

[Lorilin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our culture’s focus on work is like a seductive drug. It takes all of your yearning for discovery and wonder and experience, promising to give you the means (money) to get all those things—but the focus on the work and the money becomes so single-minded and automatic that you forget what you were yearning for in the first place.

Well, this book blew my mind.

In a nutshell, author Bill Perkins argues that we think about saving and retirement all wrong. Many of us, myself included, dutifully save our pennies, squirreling away every extra cent so that we can have enough in retirement to go on a couple vacations and then pay for our inevitable health problems as we age. But we’ve got our priorities reversed. We forget that health is a commodity, too, and we don’t have it forever.

We live in a culture that overemphasizes hard work and delayed gratification. (Did your insides clinch up like a fist when you first read that? Yeah, mine, too.) But what about experience? What about spending time and creating memories with the people you love? Life is a balance between money, health, and time. When we’re young, we have good health and lots of time, but less money. As we get older, we usually have more money, but also more constraints on our time and health.

So there’s a sweet spot, an optimization point, where you have money and time, as well as enough good health to enjoy it. (For most of us, this will occur when we’re 30 to 60 years old.) We should capitalize on this time, not squander it to work more than we need to. Of course, most of us still have to work—we need an emergency fund and the right amount saved for retirement. But the trick is to work just enough to pay for what we need and for the experiences we want to have…but not a minute more. (Don’t worry, he helps you figure out how to find your peak optimization point.) Whatever money you don’t spend at the end of your life is waste. It means you worked that extra time but never got to enjoy the fruits of your labor. How depressing.

I’m sure you’ll have the same objections to some of these arguments as I did. What about the kids’ inheritance? What about end-of-life donations to charity? What if I love my job and don’t want to quit? He has answers for these objections and more. The one I found most compelling: why let death determine how and when you spend your money? Why not be intentional with your money while you’re alive? Consider giving your son $20,000 when he’s 30-years old and needs help with a downpayment for a house, rather than wait until you die (when he’s 60) and he no longer really needs the money. Again, it’s about optimization.

The most life-changing concept in this book, though, concerns time buckets. Instead of having a bucket list, where you list things you want to accomplish before you die, be more specific and intentional. Divide your life into five-year increments (20-25, 25-30, 30-35, etc.), and decide what you want to accomplish and when, keeping in mind the levels of health, money, and time you need to accomplish each item. For example, I’d like to visit Niagara Falls at some point. I’d also like to see the tulip farms in Holland, earn a paycheck again, throw myself a big birthday party, see the redwoods, run a real 5K (not a DIY 5K, like I did during covid), visit the Louvre, leave a server a $100 tip, learn self-defense, and hold one of my grandchildren. Each of these things requires different levels of money, health, and time. Maybe I can visit Niagara Falls this summer since it’s closer and cheaper (40-45), but I’d rather take a trip to Holland when my kids are older and we have more money in the bank (45-50). I’d want to learn self-defense when I’m healthy enough to do it easily (40-45), and it probably goes without saying that I’m not looking to be a grandmother anytime soon (55-60 please, kids!). But I love this concept of being more intentional with your life, your time, and the experiences you want to share with the people you love.

So yeah, I enjoyed this book. It really made me rethink the way I want to live my life. It also helped me feel less guilty about spending money to experience, you know, fun. I know not everyone is a curmudgeonly scrooge, but I can be, for sure… Five stars all day.

[Jay French · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dying with no money left, having spent it all on living. It sounds like an interesting concept – if money, a proxy for time, is a resource, can you optimize its use down to the last cent? The engineer in me was curious. I believed before reading this book that the only way to do that was to know for certain the date of your own death. After reading this book, I’m still of the same opinion. Perkins suggests that a person buy insurance and/or annuities to spend that last dollar, while doing any planned legacy giving while still alive, and while living life to the fullest. I don’t believe the insurance products he suggests all exist except in a theoretician’s mind, so practicality is a problem. As is risk. The author doesn’t always discuss additional risks taken while trying to limit a risk, like for instance your insurance company fails after you’ve paid for your annuity or insurance product. I found this disheartening in this book, as the author is an engineer who made his fortune in financial trading. I thought I found a kindred spirit.

And I did, in a way. The author begins the book describing his thinking being influenced by the book “Your Money or Your Life”, which explained how your time, or life energy, is traded for money, and you can think of your purchases as really being a chunk of your limited time on earth. He takes the concept to the conclusion that to be optimal, you should not waste time on making money that you won’t spend, hence the title of the book. But it ends up that the author isn’t done there. He continues down the optimization path by suggesting that life experiences and the memories they provide are what is really important in life, and to maximize these memories, you should spend on experiences while you can. For example, if you want to say you climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, it’s best to do that when you are younger and abler than risk not being able to do it later in life when you may not be able to physically. This seemed to be the main thrust of the book, not quite what the title leads you to believe.

There were two things I didn’t like about the book. One was the bragging. The author is wealthy and enjoys spending his money. He threw himself a birthday party right out of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, flying friends to a Caribbean island and having a private concert. He is not psychologically opposed to spending. I tend to be, so I found this over-the-top example a bit too much. He used these examples to make his point, and he did.

Another thing I felt while reading this is what I would call “go-getter privilege”. There are risks that people who have generated wealth will take that other people will not. It is like there is a built-in insurance in the mind of a wealth generator, where they believe they can rebuild their wealth should any risk reduce their financial situation. I felt this strongly about the author, a multi-millionaire energy trader, as I read this book. It would be interesting to see if the author would have the same perspective if he was, say 20 years older and considering his wealth-making capabilities, facing age discrimination and no longer having his industry contacts, having followed his own advice and given away or spent most of his fortune. I think it would be quite a different book.

In summary, if you find yourself wealthy and want some logic behind upping your spending, this book is for you. For others, it is still a very interesting book, more a personal philosophy book than a finance book, making you think about your physical and financial capabilities at different times in your life and trying to make the best use of each.

[Mook Woramon · Rating 4 out of 5]

เป็นหนังสือที่เตือนว่าอย่าเก็บออมเงินมากเกินไปจ้าาา ให้รู้จักใช้ด้วยยย 😆😆
ได้สิ คนเขียนรวยแล้วก็พูดได้ 😩😩 ส่วนคนอ่านจะออมเงินได้กี่โมงงง 😅😅

คือผู้เขียนเค้าก็อยู่ในแวดวงคนรวยอะโนะ เค้าก็เห็นตัวอย่างคนรวยที่ทำงานเป็น autopilot รวยจนใช้เงินได้สิบชาติแต่ก็ยังไม่หยุดทำงาน ซึ่งถ้ารักการทำงานมีความสุขก็ดีไป แต่บางคนละเลยครอบครัว ละเลยสุขภาพ มารู้ตัวอีกทีก็สายไปแล้ว

ผู้เขียนเลยมาแนะนำวิธีที่จะใช้เงินให้เหลือน้อยที่สุดก่อนตาย

@ ทำไมต้องให้เงินเหลือน้อยที่สุดตอนตาย?
- เพราะถ้าตายไปโดยยังมีเงินเหลือในบัญชีเยอะก็เหมือนการใช้พลังงานชีวิตทำเงินไปอย่างสูญเปล่า เช่น ทำงานได้เงินชั่วโมงละ 100 บาท แต่มีเงินเหลือในบัญชี 100000 บาท เท่ากับทำงานฟรีไป 1000 ชั่วโมง เอาเวลาที่เหลือไปทำสิ่งที่ชอบดีกว่างี้

@ ถ้าเงินเหลือเยอะแล้วไง ก็เอาไปบริจาคหรือยกให้ลูกหลานสิ
- ถ้ารู้ว่าเงินเหลือแน่ ๆ เราก็กันเงินส่วนของตัวเองไว้ เงินที่เหลือก็บริจาคหรือให้ลูก ๆ ได้เลย ให้เงินตอนนั้น เงินก็ได้ทำประโยชน์ตอนนั้น ทำไมต้องรอตายก่อนถึงให้เป็นมรดก โดนภาษีอีก เผลอ ๆ ล���กอาจตายก่อนเราด้วยซ้ำ เออ ก็จริง 😅😅

@ ความยากคือเราไม่รู้ว่าจะตายเมื่อไหร่นี่นา
- ซึ่งเราก็ต้องหาสมดุล บริหารความเสี่ยงเอาเอง ลองคาดการณ์อายุขัยเฉลี่ยตัวเองและ ค่าใช้จ่ายรายปีสำหรับการดำรงชีพนั่นคือจำนวนเงินขั้นต่ำที่ต้องมี ส่วนเงินออมที่เหลือก็ซื้อความสุขไปจ้าาา
- ส่วนวิธีลดความเสี่ยงเงินหมดก่อนตายที่ผู้เขียนแนะนำคือการทำประกัน
>> ประกันชีวิตคือสิ่งที่ช่วยให้คุณรับมือกับความเสี่ยงของการมีอายุสั้น จ่ายเงินเพื่อปกป้องคนข้างหลัง
>> ประกันบำนาญคือสิ่งที่ช่วยให้คุณรับมือกับความเสี่ยงของการมีชีวิตที่ยืนยาว

หนังสืออ่านง่าย ย้ำซ้ำไปซ้ำมาเรื่องใช้เงินซื้อประสบการณ์ ซื้อความสุข
เนี่ยเราเลยอ่านเตรียมตัวไว้ ตอนถูกลอตเตอรี่ร้อยล้านจะได้ทำตัวถูก 🥹🥹

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A thought-provoking perspective on how to balance earning, saving, and spending to maximize life fulfillment and enjoyment. While some principles can be utilized by a general audience (focusing on health and prioritizing experiences over things), the book is meant for a specific population (high-income over-savers) and can be detrimental for people who do need to focus on saving for retirement. For those that fall into the right audience, I think his premise is interesting, reasonable, and left me with a lot to think about. The general theme is on maximizing life enjoyment over maximizing wealth. The three points that stood out to me: 1-give your money to your children and charity when it has the most impact (which is sooner than later; for your children, between the ages of 26-35 when they most need it); 2-timing matters, so don’t just plan a general life experience bucket list, plan experiences that make the most sense for each age; and 3-invest money and time early in your health as it can maximize the quantity and quality of your life experiences/enjoyment. I did disagree with one major premise that permeated the book: “Life is the sum of your experiences.” To me, life is the sum of the good you did, the meaningful relationships you formed, the impact you had on others and the world—ultimately who you became. The adventures and experiences are secondary contributors to a fulfilling life, and I think this fact deserves some acknowledgment. With that said, this book could make for an interesting discussion.

Notes:

Chapter 1: Optimize your life
Rule 1-Maximize your positive life experiences
-The closer we get to death, the more aware we become
-Don’t put off what you want to do until it’s too late
-To get the most out of time and money, timing matters; have each experience at the right age
-So focused on maximizing wealth and not on what you can get out of that wealth (including helping others)
-FIRE movement - financial independence retire early
-Spend money on experiences; memory dividend; expand your life; be purposeful and deliberate

Chapter 2: Invest in Experiences
Rule 2-Start investing in experiences early
-“Life is the sum of your experiences” (**have to disagree with this premise, life is who you become, the good you have on others, the difference you make on the world, your meaningful relationships)
-Memory dividend. Start early. It changes you. Builds a rich life.
-Besides retirement, What are you saving money for?

Chapter 3: Why did with zero
Rule 3-Aim to die with zero
-Live deliberately and not in autopilot
-Critique-We don’t know when we are going to die and there are unexpected needs that you can’t fully plan for
-Even with increased healthcare, spending declines with age; get insurance, like long-term care insurance

Chapter 4: How to spend your money (without actually hitting zero before you die)
Rule 4-Use all available tools to help you die with zero
-Life expectancy calculator, annuities
-Final countdown—-trying to get to the stage where you don’t take life for granted because you are reminded of your mortality
-Not just about money—but also about time
-You will die with much much more than zero, meaning you have wasted many hours of your life energy earning money that you will never get to enjoy

Chapter 5: What about the kids?
Rule 5–Give money to your children or to charity when it has the most impact
-Give early when they need it most (not as an inheritance when they don’t)
-Be intentional about what you want to give and when you want to give it
-Be deliberate with our life and your kids; must Overcome autopilot and fear
-A person’s ability to extract real enjoyment out of wealth/gift declines with age
-Giving your kids time with you over working harder to leave them more money
-Optimal time to give to your kids are when they between the ages of 26-35; not too late to make a big impact, and not so soon that they might squander the money
-Charity-giving while living (most helpful sooner than later)--You can certainly leave money for the people and causes you care about, but the truth is that those people and causes would be better off getting your wealth sooner rather than later

Chapter 6: Balance your Life
Rule 6-Don’t live your life on autopilot
-Balance spending on things that really matter (experiences not stuff) and saving what you need for the future; which will be different per personal and different at different ages
-What prevents people from taking a trip under 60-time and money; over 75-health
-If your capacity to enjoy life experiences is greater at some ages and then others then it make sense to spend more of your money at certain ages than others (40s over 80s); the real golden years come before retirement age (health, money, and time); effect of health on life enjoyment and fulfillment; spend more time and money on health (earlier than later)
-Exchange money for free time (house cleaning, healthy meals, laundry) equates to greater life satisfaction, increasing negative life experiences and gaining positive life experiences

Chapter 7: Start to time-bucket your life
Rule 7-Think of your life as distinct seasons
-We all die a multitude of deaths throughout our lives (our last time with baby, as a teenager, skiing, last time with all kids at home)
-End of life regrets - wishing they had the courage to live a life true to themselves (regret over not pursuing their dreams); I wish I had not worked so hard
-Make an Experience list and then drop the experiences into a 5 year bucket (what age would they best)

Chapter 8: Know your peak
Rule 8-Know when to stop growing your wealth
-Deliberately determine, and it should not be at the end of your life before you start spending down (experiences and giving money away)
-Most peaks are between 45 and 60

Chapter 9: Be bold—not foolish
Rule 9-Take your biggest risks when you have little to lose

[Taylor Roberts]

TLDR: I am enraged. Too long. Stupid. Irresponsible. Out of touch.

1. Way too long. This could have been a quick article. The premise is... don't horde your money and spend your time working. Use it on things you like to do before you're either too old to do it or... dead. That's it.

2. Who the heck was this written for? Because it wasn't me. I think this book maybe makes sense if you are wildly wealthy. He writes about his friend who said he was going to stop working when he made $115 million, but he didn't stop until he was 38 and had a net worth of $711million. And now he has regrets because he wasn't around for his kids like elementary school years. What??? Not gonna be me.

Apparently when he was 45 he rented out a resort in the Caribbean, flew out 50 of his friends, booked Natalie Merchant. And then he says, "Be like me. Enjoy your money when you're young enough to enjoy it." What the HECK are these examples?!?!

3. What the the heck is this financial advice?? He tells story about his roommate quitting his job and borrowing money from a loanshark to go to Europe in his early 20's. And he says he regrets not doing the same because his roommate had this really romantic eat love pray experience and now that the author has a bagillion dollars, a Europe trip just isn't as rewarding. WHATT??? Don't go borrow money from a loanshark???

When he talks about his own wealth he says he worked hard and was extremely lucky. But then he talks about being bold and taking risks and gives the example of how MARK CUBAN FROM SHARK TANK took a risk by moving to Dallas at 23 to sell software?!? I'm glad some risks turn out for some people but these are crazy lucky people. Not everyone is gonna just take a risk and be Mark Cuban.

When talking about having enough wealth built up for retirement and end of life care he says, "What I'm saying is that you can't pay your way out of high-priced end-of-life medical care; since uninsured medical care is so expensive, it won't make any real difference for the vast majority of us whether we save for it or not. Either the government will pay for it or you will die." ????????

I'm peeved. lol.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. This has me totally rethinking how I spend and save. It contains steps to help readers become more deliberate in how we spend our time, money, and life energy.

Perkins’ emphasis on experiences over things and “return on enjoyment” resonated with what I’ve learned, but he framed them in a way that gave more urgency to the concept and suggested tools to actually make that happen.

He perfectly puts into words the dilemma of health, money, and time and how we rarely have all three—and what to do about that. Much of what we want to do is best done while we are young or in the middle of our life, not the end! As Perkins says, “You retire on your memories.”

I appreciate such a different perspective that has been a catalyst for reevaluating how I save, spend, and what I want to accomplish in my life.

[Lin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me a new perspective. Instilled the importance of spending more time on experiences than making money. Your life is measured by your experiences. Though most of his tips are meant for people who are already wealthy and have extra money to spend the general ideas he mentions can apply to anyone. Take more chances when you’re younger because you can. Spend more money when you’re younger because as you grow older the amount of money you make will generally increase. Don’t let work stop you from spending time with friends and family and from preventing you from doing the things you’ve always wanted to do that you’ve probably put off several times already. A nice reminder of what’s important. :)

[Mehtap exotiquetv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mit wie viel Geld auf dem Konto, willst du die Welt verlassen?
Wenn du Bill Perkins fragst, sagt er: "Idealerweise 0 €"
Und er bringt sehr viele lebensbejahende Argumente dafür, wie wir mit unserem Geld umgehen sollten, damit wir das Maximum an Lebensqualität herausholen. Und um das Maximum herauszuholen, muss man das ersparte Geld sinnvoll zu den Bestzeiten ausgeben.

Die Grundlage seiner Argumente sind:
Junge Menschen haben viel Zeit, top Gesundheit aber kein Geld
Menschen mittleren Alters haben eine moderate Gesundheit, finanzielle Ressourcen aber häufig wenig Zeit weil viele Verpflichtungen (Arbeit, Kinder)
Ältere Menschen haben häufig schlechtere Gesundheit, hohe finanzielle Ressourcen und viel Zeit

Im Hinblick auf diese Stufen, wann macht es wohl Sinn sein Geld in aktionsreiche Erlebnisse zu investieren? Genau in den besten Jahren! Wie man das anstellt ohne in Altersarmut zu schliddern erklärt er an einfachen Berechnungen und mit Hilfe von Bucket Lists.

Dieses Buch ist echt ein Augenöffner im Bezug auf Lebensqualität und der Zweck von Arbeit. Warum leben wir eigentlich und wofür verdienen wir das Geld, wenn wir es doch nie ausgeben. Um einen Nachlass für die Kinder zu haben? Warum muss man dafür warten bis man Tod ist? Warum kann man seinen Kindern nicht vorher eine Freude machen und muss warten bis sie 60 sind (Das ist das durchschnittliche Erbenalter).

[Tony Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life changing! I’m not usually a big self help book guy but this was recommended by someone I respect so I checked it out. I am not exaggerating when I say it has profoundly changed me and my outlook on life. Die with zero doesn’t mean spend all your money on yourself and leave nothing for your kids. It means investing in your life (life experiences, your health, charitable gifts, money to loved ones) while you’re still around to enjoy it. Highly recommend!