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

In Chapter 3, Perkins presents his third principle: Aim to die with zero. He argues that active decision-making rather than operating on autopilot leads to a more optimized life. The chapter examines the consequences of accumulating wealth beyond what one can meaningfully use during one’s lifetime.

Perkins introduces his friend John Arnold, a successful trader who amassed billions but struggled to stop working despite initially setting much lower financial targets. Despite Arnold’s extraordinary wealth, his leisure time diminished as his fortune grew. When Arnold finally retired at age 38 with over $4 billion, Perkins notes this was actually later than optimal because Arnold missed irreplaceable years with his family and accumulated more money than he could reasonably spend. Perkins identifies this pattern as habit formation rather than rational choice—comparable to addiction—in which making money becomes an end in itself rather than a means to experiences.

The core argument of the chapter centers on the concept of wasted life energy. Perkins presents a hypothetical case study of Elizabeth, a 45-year-old earning $60,000 annually who plans to retire at 65. Through careful calculations, he demonstrates that if Elizabeth dies at 85 with $130,000 remaining, this represents approximately 6,650 hours—equivalent to over two and a half years—of unnecessary labor.