Die Broke: A Radical Four-Part Financial Plan

by Stephen M. Pollan, Mark Levine

From America's most trusted financial advisor comes a comprehensive guide to a new and utterly sane financial choice. In Die Broke, you'll learn that life is a game where the loser gives his money to Uncle Sam at the end. There are four steps to the process:

Quit Today

No, don't tell your boss to shove it...at least not out loud. But in your head accept that from this day on you're a free agent whose number one workplace priority is your personal bottom line.

Pay Cash

You should be as conscious of spending as you are of saving. Credit should be a rarely used tool for those few times (buying homes and cars) when paying cash is impossible.

Don't Retire

Your work life should be a journey up and down hills, rather than a climb up a sheer cliff that ends with a jump into the abyss.

Die Broke

It sounds terrifying, the one intolerable outcome to your financial life. And yet, in truth, dying broke might be your best option for a life without fear: fear of failure and privation now, fear of impoverishment in the long run.

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

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Jay English · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most financial advise books are and exercise in author arrogance on how to manage your money and this book is no exception - but it was written by a New York attorney - go figure. The tone is one of schooling you on the four principle. I actually agree with two: quit today - working for yourself is the reality even if you get a paycheck and never retire, I am from Florida and I have never met a truly happy retiree. We have a bumper crop and they are as miserable and bored now as they were when I was five (1957). The book is dated and a second, updated publishing might be in order. Some of the facts are wrong - such as maximum earning age for Social Security without an offset in benefits. The other fact is that if you buy a car with a short term loan (say 2 or 3 years) and keep it twice as long as the loan term you are far better off than leasing. He may want to check his math. The value of the vehicle is the residual that you get to keep.

The book's concept of paying cash is nice but the real issue is self control and being conscious of the price of things you purchase. Most ATM's no longer charge fees and most banks do not charge fees if you direct deposit. The fact that I found most annoying about the book was that his examples all included people making over $200 K. If someone makes $200 K and has no saving they do not need financial advise they need the consumer of the year award. The example are laced with the feel good parts coming from his advise. How good does someone who has to define life with spending really feel? Good ideas, a bit outdated and delivered with an arrogant tone. Not my favorite read.

[Wellington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four simple steps form the basis of this book::

1. Quit Today. This is probably my favorite chapter. Quitting means quitting a mentality. He strongly suggests that we think of our job as an income producing activity. It's not a place that you should expect spiritual fulfillment or to be fully respected/appreciated. We should think ourselves of free agents in the sports world jumping to whatever job increases their short or long-term pay. Thinking of jobs this way make it easier to tolerate.

2. Pay Cash. I got this one down and disagree. Using credit cards judiciously can be an asset. I have a 30 day no interest loan and usually get rebates from my credit card. Every year I get paid $100-$150 just for the convenience of using my credit card.

3. Don't Retire. We got in our heads that at 65, we are supposed to stop cold turkey and retire. Who says? We are still productive and could be consultants. Part-time working maybe? Or why stop at all? There are plenty of people who once they stopped working really stopping living.

4. Die Broke. This part wasn't written for me. Not yet.

The second part listed his quick thoughts on many financial questions. I am thankful for perhaps the first unbiased opinion on our confusing insurance options (house, auto, life, term, health, earthquake, floor, disability). He is also a big proponent of lease cars versus buying.

[Armand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay maybe 3.5 stars. There were certain areas where it became too technical on Investment methods and terms and some suggestions were a little bit on the hardline stance like not using your ATM card or paying everything in cash. I'm more for reasonable use of credit and living in a budget but the book succeed by giving us a radical shift in dying broke as a good thing. The book has 4 premise for this type of Plan, 1) Quit Today, 2)Pay Cash, 3) Don't Retire, 4) Die Broke. I like it when the author says that rather than living an inheritance to your children, it much better if capable to give them the money when they need it now rather than later for good reasons. Work is seen as a stepping stone to other higher paying jobs hence you maintain a two way focus on giving your best but looking for other better opportunities.

Overall a sensible self help financial guide to living well and using our resources on a timely manner.

[Paulo O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die Broke is a bit dated (and I would not follow his investment advice), but it is primarily a book about personal monetary philosophy. His arguments against passing on an estate to heirs, or worrying about such things, are compelling ... and, actually, altruistic.

This is a book about changing your monetary philosophy and budgeting to spend what you can while you are alive, even if that spending is helping those you love (while you are still alive. It is also about waking up the fact that you work for yourself, not your boss, and the pitfalls of using short-term credit. The author advises cutting up credit cards and switching to cash as much as you can -- only buying what you can afford to pay cash for -- as a way of life.

I wish there were more help in the book for calculating what one could be spending without worry -- based on one's assets, income, etc. -- but I suppose that is too personal a problem for a philosophical book like this. Still, I enjoyed it immensely, found it helpful.

[Abi Olvera · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm all for diversity in personal finance strategies. This is definitely not a book one should read when learning about personal finance basics. This is a niche strategy. The "Dying Broke" strategy would be very good to people who are straight up AVERSE to leaving ANYTHING. I would have liked to have seen a breakdown of the overall average loss/outcome of converting assets to annuities and such, to see exactly what you (on average) are walking into, which is a likely a high price to pay for the dependence on perpetual income rather using existing wealth. Either way, glad I read it as it teaches especially about the flexibility of wealth once you have it and also has some great tips about navigating the insurance industries in the latter half of the book.

[Thurston · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book could have been 20 pages long. Author repeats same themes over and over with little detail, typical of these types of books. Not much substance.

However, I do agree with the premise.

Donated book to library

[Chris Bray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thought provoking in many ways. Between this book and the 4 hour work week it gave my wife and I quite a few long discussions.

[Ethan S · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a weird book to read in 2018. Certainly some financial advice books are more timeless than others, but this book, written in 1998 and clearly directed at upper middle class/professional class baby boomers is very dated. Some of the advice stands up better than others, paying cash for everything is always a good idea and I like the idea of dying broke, even if I think his suggestions for how to do it could leave you in a very risky position.

However his advice to focus only on your income in your job and take nothing else’s into consideration is not how I want to live my life. He actively encourages someone to switch from a job with higher satisfaction to one just because it pays 10% better. Also the idea to “never retire” at least in the way he lines it out is only going to work for a narrow strata of upper middle class and higher professionals who can transition to consulting or some other type of work.

There’s some interesting things here but it’s pretty dated, I disagree with about half of it and the back half is basically a fancy appendix of him explaining how different concepts/institutions fit into his philosophy.
Skip it and read “Your Money or your Life.”

[Anthony Messina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cleaning out my older books. A little dated as it is over 20 years old now, but there is a lot of useful information to be gleaned nonetheless. It's an interesting philosophy, but not one I think many people can wholeheartedly support. I think if we only use half of what is in here, most people will be better off financially and dated or not, many of the tips still apply to today, perhaps even more so with the proliferation of credit cards, debit cards and electronic payments.

[James Ireland · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't finish this book because I didn't agree with most of the author's advice. I'm still sort of skimming it to see if maybe there's a pearl or two of wisdom. His approach seems to be that you're pretty much screwed in today's economic reality so work til you die and don't bother saving anything. He is of the opinion that retirement is an outdated policy that no longer makes sense...maybe he loves his job but I think he is probably in the minority.

[Michael]

Book is dated as it was published in the 90's. Premise is that you should keep working until you can't work any more, and use up all your money and leave nothing to your heirs. Recommends that after you are working less you start buying annuities for guaranteed income using your accumulated retirement savings, and take out a reverse mortgage on you house so you have income until you die.

[Y T · Rating 4 out of 5]

A relatively easy read.

I’ve learnt the key points which may be applied to my life, e.g. don’t retire, help my family to understand why I would pursue a die broke philosophy for our wealth.

The second part of the book was filled with topical write ups for various financial considerations. Skip over them if they don't apply where you live.

[G____ Goshin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one the better books by the authors. Very realistic in how to take care of our finances towards the end of our lives, and written in a straight forward manner. Highly recommended and grateful this book landed in my hands.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is some wise information in this book that I will implement. I doubt I will adopt the entire die broker philosophy. I especially like the outlook on life to enjoy your money, not leave a large inheritance.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say that I buy into Pollan's economic philosophy, but the book is full of good information, not just on annuities, insurance, U. S. Treasury bonds, etc., but even on job interviews, resumés, and car leasing.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

A plan for living well and leaving nothing. I liked it a lot.

[Rhonda G.]

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[Sam Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has stayed on the top of my shelf for frequent reference. I find it a unique concept.

[Rob Perhamus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny but true. Can't take it with ya! Been doing this since 1st published

[Sonya Zoller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the ideas he introduces. I'm now going to spend all of our money and leave none for the kids. Life is not about what you leave behind, it's about living.

[StarMan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of it is dated (1998), but many of the concepts are still practical and useful. ~3.33 stars now (2022)

[Tikri /Letitia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1997, it is interesting that Stephen Pollan's predictions were accurate, and his premise is still applicable.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read that everyone should read for learning how to approach your life, career and your finances!🥸

[P S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lessons about living frugally and working around expenses to stretch the cash you have.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The essence of this book is good and I agree with a lot of what the author says. But, I just can't seem to get over the whole notion of "not retiring." According to Pollan, our lives are meaningless without a job of some sort, so his proposal is that we don't "save" for retirement, but instead figure we're going to work until we're dead. I can understand where he's coming from, but at the same time, I don't want to be held to a schedule when I'm 80 years old or older. Ideally, you'd set your own hours and whatnot, but still...I just want to pick up and leave and go do stuff...or not. So that was one of my big hang-ups.

So, in a nutshell, Pollan is saying to "quit now", "pay with cash", "don't retire", and "die broke".

By "quitting now", he's saying not to think of your job as a career that's going to fill voids in your life. It's merely a vessel to making money. I agree, to an extent. I, however, don't think that money is all that matters in making the decision to leave for a different company, and I got the gist that's what we're suppose to be doing for his plan. Only looking at the bottom line. The reality is, that we have to be happy with where we spend the majority of our days (and in his case, our lives). Money can't buy a lot of things. But, he does say that we should be continually looking for a new job or opportunity, and I agree. The worst time to be looking for a job is when you don't have one.

I completely agree with buying everything with cash. I don't think you need to be going into debt to keep up with the Jones' or whatnot. Pollan says the only thing that should be bought on credit is a house and a car. There isn't anything to argue there. No need to be paying interest on McDonalds.

I've mentioned my misgivings on the don't retire bullet. I just don't agree.

As for dying broke, Pollan points out something I've never thought of...inheritance. Apparently, people live frugally now so that their descendents can reap the rewards of their hard work. This is an almost completely foreign idea to me. Almost completely because I did have a rich great-aunt die who left us a bit of money. But it was never an expectation. I have never looked at my parents as cash cows who will pay out when they die. I'm shocked that some people look at their parents that way.

Another note is the idea that we should be saving for our childrens' college educations. I know very few people who have benefited from a fully funded college experience courtesy of their parents. The few I do know certainly aren't ringing endorsements for shouldering that kind of responsibility. They haven't made much of themselves and their college degrees are mickey mouse majors that have no real life application. I want to be able to help out my children while they are in college, but I won't be picking up the entire tab.

All in all, there is some really money saavy advice in this book, but I almost think it's too old to do much good now. Written pre-September 11, it's a little behind times economically as well as practicality-wise. I would recommend Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover to this one.

[Sid Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well-written, non-technical advice for one's financial life. Chapter 2 includes some history of employment, and a rationale for why so many are disappointed with corporate careers, that is worth the price of the book.

The book is centered around four principles, one of which is to organize your life so that you do not leave an inheritance and do not run out of money; the idea being to spend any money you might have left at death, on the people you love, while you are alive to watch them enjoy it. After presenting the rationale for the four principles, the book has short chapters on everything from asset allocation to umbrella liability insurance.

The book is organized in such a way that the reader can quickly skim past areas that are not applicable or that she already knows about. I knew most of what was in this latter section of the book, but the review was still good. There were short chapters on LTC policies and REIT investments that I found particularly informative.

The book is post great-recession, so is still relevant. The four principles are thought-provoking and not the same old stuff. This is not a book that will teach you about portfolio management at all. My main criticisms of the book are that 1) the strategy depends on immediate annuities, yet no mention was made of the high expenses associated with those products, and 2) there was no discussion about indexed annuities, which are one of the greatest rip-off's around today. Even so, the author focused only on the safest use of annuities (immediate), and provided a smart strategy for timing the purchase of them. This is a book I will keep around for reference, and I recommend it for anyone.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

My wife and I read this book in our late 20s, as we were contemplating having children.

It really influenced our mindset and approach to parenting.

We came to see our role as launching our children on a path of self-reliance.

I remember a famous financial advisor once telling me, presumptively, that I would do anything to help my children succeed, give them anything I thought they needed.

Actually, no. Die Broke taught me to let my children enjoy their own quest and struggles. That's how they build character and value their achievements.

One implication, for our family's financial planning, is that we are not trying to build up a large estate and bequeath it to our children. We will enjoy the fruits of our labors with them while we are alive. And trust they will do the same. This doesn't mean we should not have a family emergency fund, or that we would not help our children in a time of dire need. Again, it's more of a mindset that we are growing self-reliant children.

There's other great advice in this book, that I implemented immediately, such as to emphasize disability insurance more than life insurance.

[Stacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anytime I read a financial book, I ask myself if I would hire the author as a financial planner. In this case, the resounding answer was no. By page 2, he had admitted that he gave bad advise to clients for 20 years, and yet here's a book on his new advise that he had been practicing for two years! By page 28, I was ready to put the book down and walk away, but I stuck it out even though it was in no semblance of an order, and was filled with cocky arrogance and assumptions. But I think the most ironic part was how he kept referring the reader back through history for lessons learned - though he apparently forgot to look at historical expamples in the first 20 years when he was giving out advise to spend, spend spend, like no depression was coming!

[JP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Better than his second book, he advises people to spend their resources while they are alive so that they get to use all of it, so that they get to direct what happens with it, so that they get to see the benefit of gifts to others, and so that children do not slack off in the anticipation of a big inheritance. It makes sense to me. However, once again, I see a fairly shallow adviser behind this. He steals Jane Bryant Quin's check-to-the-funeral-home-should-bounce line and is not knowledgeable in some of the variations in financial laws across states.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

As radical titles go, this is a humdinger. Whatever you think of Pollan's advice, he writes in an easy, relaxed style that delivers confidence and security. Quibble, if you must, about the relevance of his advice: this is a solid counter-argument to the investment industry and many conventional notions about financial planning. Don't follow it blindly. Test your plans against the logic presented herein.