Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life

The opening chapter of Die With Zero establishes Perkins’s central philosophy: Individuals should maximize their life experiences rather than their bank accounts. He introduces this concept through the story of his friends Erin and John. When John received a terminal cancer diagnosis, Erin decided to leave her job to spend valuable time with her husband during his final months. This poignant example illustrates how mortality forces people to reassess their priorities.

Perkins argues that most individuals live as if they have unlimited time, which leads to problematic behavior. Although delayed gratification makes sense to some degree, many people take this principle to an extreme, postponing enjoyment indefinitely. He frames this as an optimization problem—how to maximize fulfillment while minimizing waste—and positions it as a universal challenge regardless of income level.

The author recounts a transformative conversation with his boss during his early career. Working at the New York Mercantile Exchange with a modest salary, Perkins prided himself on saving money. His boss questioned this strategy, pointing out that Perkins had come to Wall Street to earn significant amounts in the future. This interaction introduced Perkins to the concept of consumption smoothing, which involves transferring money between periods of abundance and scarcity. He realized he had been doing this backward, taking resources from his struggling younger self to give to his potentially wealthier future self.

Another pivotal influence on Perkins was the book Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robinson and Joe Dominguez. This work helped him understand that money represents life energy—the hours a person spends working. Therefore, spending money equals spending life energy. This perspective transformed how Perkins evaluated purchases and job opportunities, considering the true cost in terms of life energy rather than just the monetary figure.

While the authors of Your Money or Your Life advocated frugality as the path to financial freedom, Perkins diverges from this approach. He emphasizes the value of experiences over material possessions, noting that experiences provide what he calls a “memory dividend.” Living frugally when one can afford more prevents access to these meaningful experiences.

The author acknowledges that not everyone has the financial resources to fully implement his approach. The book primarily addresses those who save excessively to their own detriment, not those genuinely struggling with poverty or those who spend recklessly.

The chapter concludes with Perkins describing humans as “energy processing units” whose reward for processing energy is the experiences they choose. Since most experiences require money, and earning money requires spending life energy, individuals face a complex optimization problem. Perkins promises that subsequent chapters will provide guiding principles to help readers make wiser decisions about allocating their precious life energy, encouraging them to plan for the future without forgetting to enjoy the present.

In Chapter 2, Perkins establishes his second principle: Begin investing in experiences early in life. Perkins illustrates this concept through a personal anecdote about his former roommate Jason, who borrowed money from a high-interest lender to fund a three-month backpacking expedition across Europe in his early twenties. At the time, Perkins questioned this decision, concerned about both the financial risk and potential career setbacks. However, upon Jason’s return, Perkins noted that while their income levels remained comparable, Jason had acquired invaluable memories and experiences.

Perkins expresses regret for not joining his friend on this adventure. By the time he finally traveled to Europe at age 30, Perkins felt he had missed the optimal window. His increased responsibilities made extended travel more challenging, and he considered himself too mature for the youth hostel experience that would have enhanced such a journey in his twenties. Meanwhile, Jason maintains that despite the financial burden, his investment in early travel experiences yielded priceless returns that could never be taken away.

The chapter frames life as a collection of experiences with quantifiable value. Perkins proposes assigning numerical points—experience points—to activities based on personal enjoyment. He explains that since individual preferences vary significantly, the point values assigned to specific experiences differ from person to person. For instance, gardening might earn high points for enthusiasts but none for those who dislike the activity. This system allows individuals to evaluate and compare diverse experiences, facilitating decisions that maximize lifetime fulfillment.

Perkins emphasizes that experiences generate “memory dividends” that compound over time, similar to financial investments. He explains that the earlier one acquires memorable experiences, the longer one benefits from recalling and sharing those memories. Therefore, delaying significant experiences until retirement or advanced age drastically reduces their cumulative value.

To illustrate this principle, Perkins recounts advising a friend considering a vacation property purchase. Rather than evaluating the investment solely based on financial appreciation, Perkins encouraged his friend to consider the experiential returns: frequency of use, quality time with family, and creation of lasting memories. He suggested that if the property would facilitate numerous meaningful experiences, it represented an excellent investment regardless of financial performance.

The chapter concludes with Perkins drawing parallels between traditional financial investment advice and his philosophy of experience investment. Just as financial advisors recommend establishing retirement accounts early to maximize compound growth, Perkins advocates early investment in meaningful experiences to maximize their lifelong impact. His central message emphasizes that accumulating wealth should serve the purpose of financing a life rich in experiences, adventures, and memories—the fundamental reasons people acquire money in the first place.