The Provocative Philosophy of ‘Dying with Zero’

EP027 with Alison O'Leary

What does your net worth curve say?

I want to share a provocative philosophy with you.

I’ve been really inspired by a book I listened to called ‘Die with Zero’, by Bill Perkins.

On the surface, it’s all about aiming to die with zero pounds (or dollars) in the bank. Now I appreciate this sounds quite drastic, and possibly a bit mad, but the deep premise behind Perkins’ philosophy is about aiming to consciously get the utmost out of the life that we have.

He challenges us to really think about our death – something most of us do a great job of avoiding – and work backwards, considering how to get the most out of our money and our life, rather than putting things off for some far-flung time in the future, or our retirement. 

It blends eye-opening insights about time, money, and happiness from a psychological science and behavioural finance perspective, and it makes a timely, convincing, and contrarian case for living large.

Intrigued? Honestly, this stuff is fascinating. Join me in this episode as I get into it with you!

In this episode I talk about

  • Perkins’ contention that death wakes people up, and the closer it gets, the more awake and aware we become
  • How I felt at the age of 48 after losing my husband suddenly, and how my life changed overnight
  • The crux of Perkins’ “Die with Zero’ philosophy, which gets us to consider our “net worth curve” (the money and assets we accumulate over time) against our “aging curve” (the truth is, the older we get, the less our health and mobility is guaranteed), and how to use this information to make conscious decisions on whether to invest in, or delay, meaningful and memorable experiences
    • Perkins suggests using any insurer’s free life expectancy calculator to work out the age to which you are expected to live to (here’s one you can use!)
  • How reflecting on Perkins’ philosophy has altered how I personally make decisions around the time, money and energy I spend on things

 

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