Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life

Great read and thought provoking concept for using the money you have worked hard to acquire, rather than letting it go unused during your lifetime. Good food for thought and conversations with peers. The link to the app no longer works.

While I read and thought about his ideas on life energy, experiences and money, one thing kept coming to mind for my situation. Now I know I am not alone in that I am in a lifetime committed relationship with my spuse. The author talks about an individual life and money. But if someone has a slightly younger and longer living spouse that perspective needs to be discussed. I am not trying to die with zero, if I have to plan on my wife living to 100. I may die in my early 70s like my parents, so my plan is different for sure from that of my wife. I guess that we just assume that the savings is either 50/50 or set for her to die with little money, whereas I would still need to die with a million or two for her. He is not alone in his writing as meant for a single person as many articles talk about needing X number of dollars to retire without discussing married couples and joint and individual finances (401k, IRA) etc. But overall it is an interesting quick read, that I may need to re-read a time or two.

If your spouse has a hard time making the turn to now spending your money instead of saving it— GET THIS BOOK! My spouse is a frugal new Englander and he said it was very enlightening for him! It may drone a bit, but it is a quick, easy read!

Just finished discussing Die With Zero (my second time through it) with our book group by Bill Perkins — and it left me rethinking not just finances, but how we lead our lives.The core message? Life isn't just about saving money — it's about investing in experiences that shape who we are as leaders, we're often focused on building legacies, climbing ladders, and planning for the future. But Perkins reminds us: memories are the real return on investment.This book challenges the grind-for-retirement mindset and asks instead: Are you using your time, energy, and money in a way that aligns with your values — today?As someone who coaches others to lead with purpose, this one hit home. Don’t just build — live. Don’t just plan — prioritize. Because at the end of the day, the goal isn’t to die with the most... it’s to die with zero regrets.

Die With Zero contains a controversial and thought-provoking concept, which is to plan your life so that you purposely spend all of your wealth by the time you die. To maximize a person’s life, the author (Bill Perkins - NOT a financial advisor) recommends that most people should begin spending down on their retirement savings between 45 and 60 years of age (depending on one’s estimated life expectancy) so that they will reach zero net worth by the time they pass away. In theory, this plan is a great idea. In reality, this idea is impractical and down-right dangerous given that it’s impossible to predict the timing of one’s demise.I strongly disagree with many of the points in this book, starting with the notion that any money earned during a person’s career is “wasted” to the extent that the person dies before spending it. In other words, the author is saying that money has no value unless it is spent during one’s lifetime. In my opinion, this is wrong for several reasons. As just one example, having savings in the bank gives many folks the feeling of financial peace and security. If you don’t believe such a feeling is valuable, just ask anyone who has ever lost sleep worrying over unpaid bills or a lack of retirement savings.With that said, I found other points in the book that are worthwhile, including:1) everyone should be mindful of how they spend their time and money (i.e., consider whether the daily Starbucks routine is a better choice than saving for front row concert tickets or a summer vacation and regardless how you answer that question, it’s empowering to know you have a choice),2) a fulfilling life has more to do with amassing memorable experiences than increasing the size of one’s bank account,3) plan to spend some money on experiences while you can still physically participate (don’t wait til retirement to buy a ski boat b/c most 70 year olds can't water ski),4) retirement planning should include the concept that spending varies during your golden years (most retirees are more active/spend more $$$ in early retirement and less as their health declines), and5) deferred gratification (i.e., saving for an emergency or retirement) is wise, but denied gratification is not smart (i.e., work until you die without stopping to smell the flowers along the way).Overall, I completely disagree agree with the main message in this book. Personally, I’d rather die with a pile of unspent money than take a chance of outliving my savings and end up eating dog food for my remaining days on earth. For financial planning advice, I definitely don’t recommend this book. However, it is valuable in the sense that it provides a different perspective on retirement savings and made me think more about my future.

Indeed I’m currently working in autopilot mode, while I’m enjoying my life fulfilment with my saving at the same time. Money is always the comfort food on securing living in most of the people’s mind, it’s a bit difficult to change the traditional perception which has been rooted deeply. This book showcasing a lot of examples to show how we could go to the direction of die with zero, and the ways sound easy to follow, but hard to change the deeply rooted mind. Thanks so much for this book for guiding how we can do so… it’s really worth to read!

I must read regardless of where you are in your life and your career. It will make you assess your life’s priorities and evaluate options before it’s too late.

Best advice for from all time, im on the right track, thanks for writing this amazing books, good works, love it