Today I listened to a podcast with Bill Perkins who wrote the book “Die With Zero”. Bill is a multimillionaire ($100M net worth?) commodities trader. He writes about maximizing fulfillment in life vs. over-saving only to miss out on life experiences that you could have had before you were old, debilitated, retired and wealthier. He was an early FIRE enthusiast but now is a proponent of spending down your assets before you die vs. missing out on fulfillment opportunity only to die having an accumulated more wealth while foregoing living a fuller life.
My usual reaction to a rich guy giving life advice is, “that’s easy for you to say – you have no money constraints.” But, as I listened to the podcast, I was nodding along with some of his ideas of using money as a tool to do fulfilling things now when you are healthy and able to enjoy them.
He spoke about aging, the chapters of your life, and being intentional about spending your money and time in the appropriate chapter. For example, taking a backpacking trip around the world, staying in hostels and roughing it makes sense for someone in their early 20s. Those who postpone adventures like this this until after we retire will usually discover they aren’t physically capable, interested or motivated enough to do them.
He spoke about the “memory dividend” which he described as memories that you make in earlier chapters of your life that continue to make you feel good in later chapters. I have so many of these and will be adopting the term memory dividend.
The podcast got me thinking, is there anything I’m missing out on today that would make my life better but am not doing because I don’t want to spend the money?
Could I afford this or find an affordable workaround like I did with the pool last year?
One thing stood out – replacing my sliding glass doors in the kitchen and master bedroom. I hate these doors. They are heavy to slide open and worse when it gets cold. They let in lots of bugs. They are not well insulated against heat or cold.
When I moved into this home 5 years ago, I knew I’d want to replace the doors eventually with French doors. At the time though, I was replacing all of the flooring, the fixtures, the lights, and buying furniture so I decided to live here a while first.
Then Covid hit and the housing market and home renovation madness hit. I got a few estimates for doors that were far beyond what I was willing to pay.
So today, I requested a quote from a company that replaced the windows in my former Raleigh house. We’ll see if the price makes sense.
One thing I know for sure – if I do this, every single time I open my new doors it will bring me a little surge of joy. I love having doors that are easy to open and close. I open and close these doors more than a dozen times every day.
Another takeaway from this podcast is that I feel better about having done my off grid road trip experience five years ago. Was it an expensive lesson and a waste of money? Yes. But…in addition to saving my life I also got to experience this adventure at the right time – when I had the flexibility, the money and the stamina to do it. Today, the same trip wouldn’t be possible given my lifestyle and motivations. In 5 years, it wouldn’t be possible due to my age and expected physical limitations.
I have a feeling there are more lessons for me to learn from his book.
I’ve also requested his book from my library. After I read it (and get my door quotes), I’ll update this post.
Update:
The first quote I received was similar to ones I got during the pandemic. I’m not spending nearly $20k for two doors. To me, it’s not worth that much to replace doors that function.
I am waiting for two more quotes and may even consider the Lowe’s or Home Depot route.
I read the book. There was nothing in it that wasn’t covered in the podcast.