Nine rules for turning your money into memories while you can still enjoy them, instead of dying with a pile you never spent.
A sharp, readable reframe of what money is for, with a useful time-bucket idea, held back by its audience (people who already have enough) and a cheerful view of risk. Four out of five. This is a book review, not financial advice.
Every guide comes as a video and a full written article. Pick the one you need: the review is spoiler-free, the ending explained is not.
A summary of Die With Zero by Bill Perkins, one rule at a time: experiences, memory dividends, annuities, giving early, time buckets and when your net worth should peak. Not financial advice.
Is Die With Zero by Bill Perkins good money advice? A review of the nine-rule book that tells you to spend your life energy, with what works, what doesn't and my score. Not financial advice.
Six practical ways to use the ideas in Die With Zero, from time bucket lists to giving earlier, plus two cautions. Not financial advice.
Loved Die With Zero? Six books about money, time and living well: The Psychology of Money, Four Thousand Weeks, Your Money or Your Life and more.
Die With Zero (2020) is a personal finance book by Bill Perkins, a former Wall Street trainee and energy trader. It argues that money is a tool for creating experiences, and offers nine rules for spending, giving and planning your life so that you do not die with a fortune you never enjoyed.
Below you’ll find a review, a summary of the nine rules, practical lessons and six books to read next. None of it is financial advice.
Bill Perkins trained on Wall Street, made his fortune as an energy trader, and now asks a simple question. Why work and save for decades, only to die with a pile of money you never enjoyed?
The book is built on nine rules, one for each chapter. They are about turning your money into memories while you are still young and healthy enough to enjoy them. It opens with the old fable of the ant and the grasshopper, and asks the question the fable skips: when does the ant ever get to play?
It was published in twenty twenty, and it is short, so you can read it in an afternoon or two.
Bill Perkins trained on Wall Street, made his fortune as an energy trader, and now asks a simple question. Why work and save for decades, only to die with a pile of money you never enjoyed?
A sharp, readable reframe of what money is for, with a useful time-bucket idea, held back by its audience (people who already have enough) and a cheerful view of risk. Four out of five. This is a book review, not financial advice. Read it if: you are a saver who never feels allowed to spend; you want a nudge to plan experiences while you still can; you like short, story-driven nonfiction. Skip it if: you are living paycheck to paycheck; you want a step-by-step investing guide; you want rigorous financial research. Review: Die With Zero →
A summary of Die With Zero by Bill Perkins, one rule at a time: experiences, memory dividends, annuities, giving early, time buckets and when your net worth should peak. Not financial advice. Summary: Die With Zero →
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman, Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware, The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko, Die Broke by Stephen Pollan and Mark Levine. Books like it: Die With Zero →
That money is a tool for creating experiences, and that you should aim to spend, give and enjoy it during your life instead of dying with a large unspent fortune. The author says that hitting exactly zero is impossible, and the goal is to push you in the right direction.
They are: maximize your positive life experiences, start investing in experiences early, aim to die with zero, use all available tools, give money to your children or charity when it has the most impact, do not live on autopilot, think of your life as distinct seasons, know when to stop growing your wealth, and take your biggest risks when you have little to lose.
No. The author says he is not a certified financial planner, and this channel is not a financial advisor either. Treat the book as a set of ideas to think about.
The review names three. It speaks mainly to people who already have choices, the author's glamorous lifestyle makes some examples feel far from most readers' lives, and aiming at zero is cheerful about the risk that you cannot know how long you will live.
Amazon links. We may earn a commission if you buy through them.
