Die With Zero Summary And Review

Die With Zero by Bill Perkins discusses the importance of spending all your money deliberately and wisely before death to have a more prosperous life today. Not in an uncertain distant future.

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Die With Zero Summary [pdf]

Have you ever thought about what will happen to your money after you depart from this planet?

This may sound gloomy, but it’s critical that you deliberately decide to spend your money.

Please read this book summary till the end to learn why it’s so important and what’s the right way to do it.

Alright, so without further ado, let’s dive right in.

Lesson #1: Don’t delay gratification for too long. Also, think about the experiences you would like to have.

Most people live as if they have an infinite amount of time.

But we all know that we all get old and eventually depart from this planet.

The author wants you to think about the experiences you would like to have.

Many people delay their best experiences. They think that they will enjoy their much-awaited vacation after retirement.

But the reality is, our health won’t be the same as it is right now.

The timing matters a lot.

You can’t do mountain climbing in your late 80s, can you?

Delayed gratification is a great thing, no doubt about that. But don’t delay forever.

You should also try to live your life and enjoy the present moment.

Again, there is a catch. Enjoying your present moment doesn’t mean you don’t keep a savings account and spend extravagantly.

The key is to find a balance.

The goal of a savings account is to save money for the future, right?

Financial planning is also a crucial part of life.

But remember, you don’t need to suffer today to have a great life in the distant future.

You don’t need to delay the trip you always wanted to go on.

You don’t need to delay the experiences you want to have.

But again, you don’t have to empty your savings account either.

The author says that life is a sum of experiences.

You have a limited amount of time.

So before you spend your time on anything, always ask:

“Is this worth my time?”

“Will I regret this in the future?”

You can always grow your wealth, but you can’t get back the time you have already spent on useless activities.

The author used to save every penny he could while he was working as a junior finance worker. But later, he realized that he was unnecessarily depriving himself of the fun he could have in his twenties.

Remember, save money for the future, but don’t procrastinate your dreams or wishful experiences.

Life is all about the experiences you gather.

Lesson #2: Experiences also pay dividends just like any other investment.

We hear about investing in the stock market, equity, real estate, etc. But do you know that you can also invest in your experiences?

Sounds confusing, doesn’t it?

Yes, you can invest in your experiences. Let me explain.

Our lives are a sum of experiences, as we discussed.

All these experiences that we live are stored in our memories.

When you remember a great past experience, you can relive those moments.

It could be a trip to Switzerland or your first dollar earned from your business.

Those special moments become a part of our memories.

Erase all your memories, and you will be a different person, won’t you?

Use some of your wealth to buy experiences that you can cherish.

In old age, your health will decline considerably. That is when you will remember those fantastic experiences and relive those happy moments.

Experiences also help us make better decisions.

For instance, once you learn how to drive a car, you don’t have to learn it again.

You can go to so many places and save time and money by driving your car.

Once you learn a new language, you can communicate with more people and open doors to many possibilities.

We all learn through experiences.

Experiences, whether good or bad, help us become better people.

There comes the point in everybody’s life when more money stops making you happy. It just becomes a number on your bank account.

Think about billionaires. They give a lot of money to charity. Why do they do so? It’s because there is a limit to how much you can spend on yourself.

After a certain point, it’s just illogical to earn more money.

I’m not saying that it loses its value. Money is always necessary. But you start giving more importance to other things like your relationships, health, etc.

You may find some experiences expensive, but they might be worth it.

A personal consultation with a philosopher might help you live a better life. Sure, he may charge you a lot for that, but it might be worth it. That experience will pay dividends in the future.

That’s why you must deliberately choose how you will spend your time.

Every experience demands some time from you.

And time is currency.

Those who don’t see time as currency waste it.

Also, just like investing money, the sooner you start investing in your experience, the more dividends you’ll get.

Most people invest in buying material things that provide little enjoyment for a short time, while experiences provide long-term happiness.

You always remember your experiences.

Don’t get the wrong idea that having an enjoyable experience is everything in life. But they play an essential role in our lives if you look at them from the author’s perspective.

Lesson #3: There is no point in dying with millions of dollars in your bank account.

A lot of people leave behind a fortune before they die.

But the question is: What if they spent all their money to live a better life?

The money they leave is equal to doing a job with no salary.

Do we really need that much inheritance money left behind for our kids?

You indeed need to pay for medical bills as everybody’s health declines in old age, but the author argues that people just save too much.

The right way is to spend almost all of your money before you die or, in other words, “die with zero.”

The author discusses how most people accumulate wealth instead of spending it after retirement imagining certain use cases.

But things don’t happen that way.

By the time we retire, we have seen a lot of things in life, so we tend not to like flashy materialistic things anymore.

When we are young, we are full of energy. But you rarely see an older person with the same enthusiasm.

You might want to accumulate money for your kids, or you might like to donate your money. That’s a good thing.

But the author’s research shows that people just save way too much. They hold more than they would be able to spend.

There is no need to go to such great lengths for money.

And as we discussed, the same amount of effort could be spent building better memories and living a life without regrets.

Many people save money for the worst-case scenario and imagine one day when they will have some severe illness, they will be able to afford the expensive treatment.

But what are the chances that this will happen? Well, nobody knows.

Maybe you won’t have any of those severe ailments.

Another reason people save money is to pass on their wealth to their kids after they pass away. But again, why can’t you pass on your wealth while you are still alive?

Wouldn’t it be a better approach to just give some of your wealth to your kids while they are young and then spend the rest of your money to live a fuller life?

Just think about it. What’s the point of having 50k dollars sit in your bank account when you are no longer on this planet?

I know all of this may sound gloomy, but the idea is that you could make your current life better if you don’t let your money go to waste. And use it right now instead of putting it off for a future that you don’t know anything about.

This doesn’t mean that you have to empty your bank balance in the next few years.

Draw a timeline of your life, and then plan how you will spend the wealth you have accumulated.

Lesson #4: Decide when you will stop growing your wealth.

We are trained to keep growing our wealth till we die. It’s rare that someone sits down and calculates when they will stop growing their wealth.

You may be wondering if a person stops growing his money, how will he survive in old age?

What if all the money is spent before you complete your timeline?

The idea of dying with zero sounds great, but if you are not careful, you may end up in a worse situation.

Dying with zero doesn’t mean that you have to become irresponsible and spend all your money buying luxuries.

Remember that the goal is to improve the quality of your experiences while you are alive.

You must make sure you don’t have money below a certain threshold.

Your threshold is the minimum amount of money you need to survive for a year.

First, decide when you will stop growing your money. After that, calculate how much money you need to survive.

It’s easy to calculate that amount. Think about how much money you need to survive for one year and then multiply it by the number of years you believe you will survive.

It’d help you eliminate any confusion or fears.

Chances are, you will need less money than you believe after retirement. As we grow old, our net worth also usually increases. And also we tend to spend less.

The goal is to spend what you are making, but smartly.

You would not want yourself without money after retirement, right?

Also, there is a caveat. The author is not a financial advisor. So you have to evaluate how much wealth you need personally carefully.

There is no magic number that everyone should hope to achieve one day.

If your wants are low, you would probably need less money. In comparison, if you have a habit of spending more, you would probably need more money.

Also read: How much is enough? (Book Summary)

Lesson #5: Take more risks when you are young.

The author advises that one should take more risks when one is young.

The reason is simple: There is less risk, and you get a lot of time to recover from the loss.

Imagine yourself trying to jump off the top of your garage in your 60s. That would be foolish, right? You might end up with a severe injury.

But that’s precisely what the author did when he was young. He used to have so much fun doing this. He knew that he would recover within a few months, even if he got hurt.

The point here is: You can take more risks at a young age.

As you grow older, the downsides of taking risks also increase.

Let’s say you want to start a bootstrap business in your 60s. What if you fail and lose all your savings?

You also can’t quickly change your career after the 40s.

What if it doesn’t work out?

You might have a family to serve or have debts to clear.

Some risks are worth taking as they may provide you with valuable experience. But being bold in your old age has a lot of downsides.

A lot of people make this mistake. Even during a young age, they give excuses and avoid all types of risks.

This stops them from exploring possibilities.

Also, some opportunities are exclusive.

Let’s say you have a deep interest in fashion and want to become a model. Many people enter the field of fashion, but they fail for various reasons. It’s highly competitive.

It’s a risky career.

But at a young age, you can give it a shot. This is not possible at an old age.

The modeling world is not so open for mature models above 50. And even if you become successful at that age, you would get fewer opportunities than young models.

The author says that boldness at a young age is about taking risks, while boldness at old age is about spending what you have earned wisely and not fall into the trap of taking risks with big downsides.

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The Key Takeaways from Die With Zero

Too long; didn’t read?

Here is a list of the best lessons from this book summary:

• Spend all your money before you die.
• There is no point in growing your wealth at an old age. Instead, spend it on improving your life experiences.
• Take more risks when you are young. Don’t be too bold and foolish in your 60s.
• You probably don’t need as much money as you think after retirement as you tend to spend less when you grow old.

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Die With Zero Review

A great book.

I didn’t expect much from this book in the beginning.

But the author hits the point hard: We should also think about spending money on our experiences.

What’s the point of dying with millions of dollars in your bank account? The better approach is to spend it all.

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FAQs about ‘Die With Zero’

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Further Reading

People who enjoy this summary also like reading:

• Rich Dad Poor Dad [Book Summary]
• I Will Teach You To Be Rich [Book Summary]
• The Psychology Of Money [Book Summary]
• The Parable Of The Pipeline [Book Summary]
• The Automatic Millionaire [Book Summary]

Other recommended books on personal finance:

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Now You Tell Me

So there you have it.

I hope those lessons will help you plan your future spending.

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