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Die With Zero: Live Life to the Fullest

Tim shares the book Die With Zero by Bill Perkins and challenges traditional retirement planning by emphasizing the importance of maximizing life experiences and maintaining a balance between money and time.


The basic concept of retirement is relatively new for us. Until the last few generations, our ancestors just worked until they died.

But with the capitalist structure in this country, as well as the building of the middle class and a few social safety nets, things have come a long way in the past 100 years or so, and retirement and longevity are at the top of the list. And how we think about retirement is also evolving.

Die With Zero Book

It’s quite common to feel stressed and uncertain about your retirement. But with modern retirement planning, the old rules no longer apply.

Although the COVID pandemic caused many crazy things to happen in this world, one of the good things is people thinking, “Hey, do I really need to keep working and just run up the proverbial score (or nest egg), or am I good and can I live a successful retirement now?”

In this video, I'm going to share what I consider to be a better approach, or framework, to use to think about retirement.

First, I want to start with Bill Perkins's book Die With Zero. It’s a relatively short book, and you could probably read it in 4-5 hours. And yes, I recently read it, but you don’t really need to read the book to understand the importance of the concepts—sorry Bill.

Now, I think he goes a little too far with the die with exactly zero schtick, but then, this is the title of his book. It’s obviously okay to finish with more than zero, certainly if it helps maintain peace of mind and a good night’s sleep.

Important Concepts

His book does illustrate a few important concepts. Mainly, his emphasis on maximizing life experiences and that the ultimate goal is to maximize life fulfillment, not just wealth accumulation for its own sake.

Next, having a balance between money and time is key. You should use your money to buy experiences when you are physically able to enjoy them, rather than deferring enjoyment to an older age when you might not get as much out of it, or might not even be physically able to do what you want.

Also, the balance between optimal health and wealth is obviously essential: You should try to maintain good health so you can use your wealth to enjoy experiences to ensure a fulfilling life.

Bill’s book promotes a philosophy centered on maximizing life experiences, maintaining a balance between money and time, and ensuring that you live a fulfilling life. He encourages readers to be intentional with their spending, prioritize experiences, and consider their health and happiness as integral parts of their financial planning. And I agree!

A Better Approach

The reality is, whether intentional or not, maybe you’ve gotten into the habit of putting off so much until a future date that you can’t see the forest for the trees.

But there's a better approach. Does this sound like you?

  • Are you from a middle-class or even a lower-middle-class family? 
  • Have you worked hard and saved diligently, always deferring enjoyment to the future? 
  • Have you followed the traditional path: you got good grades, then a good job, then you bought a home and started a family? 
  • Then did you find yourself stressed and not fully enjoying life despite your financial success?

Our traditional model says to work until full retirement age, typically around 65 or 67, and then enjoy life. That could be because it is what your parents did. Or maybe your peers did, and you feel guilty if you don't work that long. 

Well, maybe you’re in your 50s and you’re thinking you might work 10 more years. Maybe you have a high-paying job and significant savings, but you are not fully enjoying your life. Is your work too demanding, does it consume 50-70 hours a week, leaving little time for anything else?

Are you sacrificing time and health, for wealth? This is a common issue with traditional or historical retirement planning.

What if we could show you some financial projections and that your finances are in great shape due to the hard work, saving, and living within your means that you’ve already done? This has certainly happened before with some of our clients.

If you have high portfolio balances but little joy and fulfillment from the fruits of your labor, perhaps it’s time to rethink what you really want, and consider making some changes.

Memory Dividends

"Die with Zero" captures this well by suggesting that the goal is not to maximize wealth, but to maximize lifetime fulfillment through experiences and memories.

Bill speaks about memory dividends, and I love this concept: Memory Dividends are the continued "payouts" we receive from re-experiencing something from our past.

What does he mean by that? As an example, let’s say your group of friends decides to book that last-minute flight to go see your favorite band perform at an incredible venue. The cost of the flight, concert ticket, and hotel stay is steep, but you decide to do it anyway. The experience is incredible, and you have a blast.

But it doesn't end when the experience ends—you and your friends reminisce about the evening for years to come. Every single time you get together, you talk about the amazing night and feel those same sensations as though you were there.

And even if something crazy happens, and it wasn’t necessarily a blast at the time, you’ll still have that memory dividend and the crazy stories for years to come. Those are memory dividends.

Even sharing these memory dividends with others can be great, though sometimes they might lament not being part of said memory. And maybe sometimes we repeat these memories more than we should. 

Does anyone else's old man love to tell the same stories over and over? And yes, I may have repeated a story a time or two myself. But I’m sure we’ve all lost loved ones, and we know that these types of stories, shared from those loved ones are what it’s all about. That's the good stuff!

Anyway, we often see prospective clients deferring joy and experiences, hoping to enjoy them later in retirement. However this approach often leads to dissatisfaction because it ignores the importance of balancing time, health, and wealth throughout life.

Making a Change

So, what could you do differently? Well, if your situation allows, consider demoting yourself at work, try to take a role you enjoy more, or maybe one with less responsibility, even if it means a pay cut. This could improve your quality of life by giving you more time and energy to enjoy life now.

What if the next ten years could be your best in terms of health and energy? Why not make the most of them?

What if you could retire earlier? Historically, retirement planning has led to having more money than needed, but missing out on meaningful experiences. Instead, planning should focus on using money as a tool to live a fulfilling life.

Bottom line:

Traditional retirement planning is flawed because it prioritizes saving for a distant future over enjoying life now. Be intentional with your money; use it to create meaningful experiences and memories, not just to accumulate wealth or “run up the score.”

Take a high-level look at your life, and balance work, saving, and enjoyment throughout your life, not just in retirement. Start living intentionally, discover who you are beyond your work and responsibilities, and integrate joy and purpose into your daily life.

Think of money as a tool rather than the ultimate goal. If you're wondering how to start, begin by assessing whether you have enough to live more intentionally now, instead of just saving and investing forever. 

And please reach out if you’d like a guide. It’s what we do.

A CERTIFIED financial planner™ professional can help you plan for your retirement. Schedule a call today so we can talk about your situation. 


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