Die with Zero Chapter 9: Be Bold — Not Foolish

Can you imagine a 20 year old with no money? Probably not too hard; that’s most of them! What about a 25 year old? 30? 40? At what point is it concerning that someone is still at a $0 net worth? (Unfortunately, many today are young and have a significant negative net worth, given school and/or consumer debt. But let’s put that aside for the time being). If “all” that you put at risk is all the money/net worth you have, and the worst thing happens — you lose it all — but you’re still in your twenties without a family of your own, have the ability to get a good night’s sleep on a couch, and 40+ years of working years left, it’s a relatively small risk. If the upside is anything to write home about, Perkins would recommend taking that risk all day every day. “The younger you are, the bolder you should be.”

As we get older, have more to lose, and less time to make up any losses, we ought to be more conservative with our life choices. Perkins stopped riding motorcycles and learning to fly a plane once his kids were born. Starting over with a new career in your 40’s isn’t impossible, and many are better for it, but working full time with school-aged children at home and taking classes at night is not for the faint of heart.

So what about those of us here who are past our 20s or 40s or 60s? Perkins acknowledges that “there are ways to be bold as an older person, too. And those have to do with being brave enough to spend your hard-earned money.” It’s important to note that just because you’re not spending as much as Perkins would like you to, this does not mean you’re not being brave. That said, there is a real possibility that it does mean this. It comes down to the reasons your spending habits are what they are. Of those spending less than they’re able, it could be because of contentment, discipline from a lifetime of frugality, fear, miserliness, or merely a lack of thoughtfulness regarding how to align financial ability with values.

I’m reminded of questions we were faced with while reading The Richest Man In Babylon: Who are the people, and what are the activities or causes that are most important to you? What is the most amount of money you could spend to improve the lives of others directly or through those activities and causes?

I may be wrong, but I don’t expect anyone has more money than their answer to the second question above.

Perkins' concern is: “People are more afraid of running out of money than wasting their life, and that’s got to switch. Your biggest fear ought to be wasting your life and time, not Am I going to have x number of dollars when I’m 80?” If people are underspending because of fear, I agree that something ought to change. But my desire first is to have a plan so that we can set our fears aside (as much as possible). From there, a plan that allows us to maintain flexibility while spending as much as we can to improve our and others’ lives would be our next prescription.

Perkins’ recommendations

• Realize that at every moment you have a choice. The choices you make reflect your priorities, so be sure you’re making those choices deliberately.

Let us know

• Who are the people, and what are the activities or causes that are most important to you? What is the most amount of money you could spend to improve the lives of others directly or through those activities and causes?

• Are you afraid of running out of money? Are you afraid of wasting your time and life?

Until next time, happy reading!