Live Enough to Die With Zero

Die With Zero by Bill Perkins is one if not the top book of mine read in 2024. As a guy who has spent years coming to grips with finance, retirement, et. al, this one book changed my views of money fundamentally.

I hope Die With Zero will change your views too.

Will You Die With Zero?

The principles of the book are keen, yet they lack a tool to apply them to.

I made one to check if I would or could die with $0 left over in the bank. Cleaning that sheet up, here is a generic copy for you and your friends to check where you are now (money in, money out, net worth), where you are going (interest, growth), and how you too might live a life full enough to die with zero (life expectancy, retirement).

Make a copy to check it out yourself: Die With Zero Example

Remember, the goal is to live a full life so you can die with as close to $0 as possible – you can’t take it with you. Read the book for more excellent insight as regards to inheritance, lifestyles, and health!

Other Finance Heuristics

The above is a pretty plain tool, yet in an afternoon it can give insights to if a person is on the right saving and spending path.

It is certainly better than the over-simple “expenses x 25” (a 4% nest-egg withdraw rate estimate), “expenses x 33” (~3% withdraw), or “expenses x years-to-Social-Security” (an early retirement guess-timate).

That, or the “nothing is as good or bad as it seems, hedge 33%” (though this could shore up some extra security at end of life).

Let’s not forget the survival estimate using SS Social Security, which is “.7 x (years-to-SS x expenses + [end-of-life-age – age-to-start-SS] x SS-estimate)” – kinda icky.

If you really want to get into the weeds, spend a day with Finance Mentor or Projection Lab (I have no affiliation with either – I just like the apps). These go through details and life possibilities with much more advanced simulations, but they will not matter unless you are closer to or just had a major life event (e.g. divorce, lottery win, settlement, child, vast cost-of-living change, etc.).

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Comment what you think about the tool. Do all or most of these calculations show you have secured your future? Great! Count yourself freed from need – these tools exist to work for you, not you to exist to work.

Cheers to you making it through the finish line while making a grand time of it ~