How to Die with Zero… and Why You Probably Won’t
The book Die With Zero by Bill Perkins struck a chord with many readers for its perspective on money: wealth is not meant to be hoarded until the grave, but instead used to maximize life experiences along the way.
Plan your spending so that you reach the end of life with no money left behind unused.
Every dollar should be converted into either meaningful experiences, lasting memories, or intentional gifts to others.
While the idea is compelling, implementation of the goal is far from easy.
Why “Dying With Zero” Is So Difficult
Many Die with Zero calculators assume perfect knowledge of the future.
But to perfectly time your last dollar with your last breath, you would need answers to questions that nobody can reliably know in advance:
How long will I live? Life expectancy tables can provide averages, but individuals vary widely. What if you spend as if you are going to die at 80 but then live to 90? Or flip that around? See Retirement Risk: Longevity (How Long You Live) – Gilbert Wealth
What will future investment returns look like? Markets are unpredictable in both the short and long term. While average 30-year returns for stocks are around 10%, this has been as high as 13% and as low as 4.7%. What if you set your spending assuming a lower conservative rate but then actually get a higher rate of return? What you the opposite happens?
What unforeseen expenses will arise? Health care, long-term care, family needs, or economic shifts can all derail even the best-laid plans.
When Will You be Healthy Or Not? Will your good health last until 70? 80? 90? It is hard to know! If you build a plan assuming you’re going to deplete your body by 75, what if you don’t?
The Strategies To Die with Zero
There are certain financial strategies that can move you closer to Die With Zero by seeking to eliminate every possible source of variance in your financial future but these come with a cost.
- You could Be an Ultra-Conservative Investor to eliminate portfolio deviation but then you subject yourself to inflation risks and miss out on long-term growth opportunities.
- Heavily Rely on Annuities to address an unknown life expectancy but then lose liquidity or reduce your legacy.
- Take Out As Much Insurance as you can to attempt to mitigate any future cost like long-term care or medical costs but then you’ll be paying a sizable chunk of your income to insurance costs for risks they may never materialize to the level of protection.
The Die with Zero Mentality
Die with Zero is more of a mental shift than a mathematical framework.
It brings home that money is not the end goal. Health expectancy will eventually fail and there comes a time when the ability to enjoy certain experiences simply disappears. The hikes you once dreamed of taking become too physically demanding. The long international trips become exhausting rather than exciting. Even time spent with family can begin to look different as energy declines.
The point of the concept is to remind us that there are windows in life when certain experiences are possible and those windows eventually close.
Die with Zero encourages people to think intentionally about when money should be spent, not just how much should be spent.
One of the key concepts the book lays out are “Memory Dividends” which is the idea of the recurring joy that you might receive after having a meaningful experience. You not only enjoy the actual experience itself but you also receive joy every time you walk by the photo of that experience and remember it. Every time you regal others about the adventure, you receive a little more joy.
What does this mean for you?
- Taking meaningful trips while health and mobility allow it
- Helping children when it actually impacts their lives
- Funding experiences with grandchildren while everyone can participate
- Spending more during the active years of retirement rather than preserving everything for later decades
Of course, this doesn’t mean ignoring financial risks or abandoning prudent planning. Longevity, market returns, and healthcare costs are still very real uncertainties. A thoughtful retirement plan still needs guardrails.
But the central lesson remains valuable: money is a tool not something to accumulate indefinitely out of habit or fear.
The real takeaway from Die with Zero is not that you should literally end your life with no money left. It is that you should be intentional about aligning your financial resources with the periods of life when they can create the most value, meaning, and enjoyment.