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LIVING NOW, PLANNING LATER: LESSONS FROM DIE WITH ZERO

I recently finished reading Die With Zero by Bill Perkins. The central idea is that the only guaranteed moment is the one you are living in right now, so the real question becomes: how do you maximize life, experiences, and finances in a way that still leaves your future self-supported?

It is a provocative idea because the tension between enjoying the present and preparing for the future is real and constant.

Over time, I’ve learned that for me, balance begins with understanding who you are, where you are, what you value, and how those values show up in your financial choices. When those pieces are unclear, any system, even the good ones, starts to crumble.

1. One Person’s Meat Is Another Person’s Poison

Many of us grow up in environments that blend shame, guilt, and unspoken expectations. These forces shape our relationship with money long before we ever earn a paycheque. When the messages around us tell us what we should want, how we should behave, or what a “responsible adult” spends on, it becomes difficult to know what we genuinely like, want, or value. This disconnection breaks our internal compass, leading to misalignment and autopilot habits we would never choose intentionally.

The first step in creating balance is naming without shame what a good life looks like for you. Not the version you think you should want, or the version your family, friends, or social media celebrate, but the one that fits your actual personality and priorities. The next step is accepting the cost of that vision.

Every meaningful life has a cost, financial or otherwise. When you accept those costs, you reduce the likelihood of reaching the end of life filled with regret about the things you never allowed yourself to do.

Ideally, you should look at your bank statement and clearly see your values reflected. Instead, many of us spend and save unintentionally. We follow generic financial scripts—save a million dollars, retire at sixty-five, invest aggressively, deny yourself now and reward yourself later—without pausing to evaluate whether those goals align with the life we want.

Consider:

• How would I live if I had one day left? One month? One year? Twenty years?

Your answers will shift, and the shifts matter.

• What spending brings guilt or shame?

• Does that feeling come from misalignment with your own goals, or from messages inherited from others?

• What trade-offs am I making when I choose to save, spend, or prioritize something?

Your honest answers shape your financial behavior more than anything else.

2. Know your numbers (without obsessing)

My sister once walked into the bank because every month her credit card bill shocked her. She was convinced some digital creature was secretly siphoning her money. The bank representative pulled up her statements, and she was forced to confirm that, yes, she had authorized every single purchase.

She did not even feel guilty about how she spent—she simply was not in control. Many of those purchases were not intentional, so she did not enjoy them.

You need to know where your money goes, but it does not need to be complicated. Start with the basics. List your fixed costs: rent, groceries, insurance, debt payments. Then estimate your variable costs: entertainment, dining, and hobbies.

Pull three to six months of bank and credit card statements and find your averages. This gives you a realistic baseline for what “normal” looks like.

You do not need to track every cent. Once you understand your baseline, you can make calmer and more informed decisions.

3. There are seasons

A major takeaway from Die with Zero is the idea of time buckets, recognizing that life has seasons and each season allows for different types of experiences. As you age, your energy, health, and interests shift. I still enjoy traveling, but the idea of shared bathrooms and cold meals now feels miserable. In my twenties, I tolerated it easily, sometimes even enjoyed it. Instead of traveling frugally with friends during that season, I spent much of that time working toward money goals that ultimately felt hollow.

Money only matters when it’s connected to a purpose. For me, that purpose now includes being in community, helping my family, and making art I love.

If your income barely covers essentials, your priority might be building breathing room, a small emergency fund, paying off a high-interest debt, or creating a side stream of income. If you already have savings, then the question becomes whether your spending aligns with your actual goals or whether it’s driven by fear or habit.

Instead of a lifelong bucket list, create decade lists: experiences and goals for your twenties, thirties, forties, and beyond. This brings clarity and makes financial decisions more meaningful.

4. Time is an important ingredient

This is where my perspective diverges slightly from Perkins. He describes a friend who borrows money to travel in his twenties. Perkins argues that “borrowing from your future self” can enhance early adulthood if the debt is modest and not high interest.

I understand the logic, but my bias is different: for nonessential expenses, if you cannot afford something, you should generally avoid borrowing to make it happen.

Many people already struggle with debt and low savings, and catching up later becomes unrealistic. Time itself is powerful. The earlier you start saving or investing, the less you have to contribute because compounding does most of the work.

For example, someone who saves $200 per month from age 25 to 35 and then stops can end up with more at retirement than someone who starts at thirty-five and saves until 65. Time multiplies effort in a way nothing else can.

5. Once you set your intention, automate it

James Clear’s Atomic Habits emphasizes removing friction. If your goal is to save, automate your transfers so money moves into savings or investments before you can touch it. Automation protects you from indecision, forgetfulness and emotional decision-making. You don’t need to check accounts constantly or react to every market dip. Review your plan once or twice a year, or when major life changes occur, but avoid endless tinkering. Consistency, not perfection, is what makes the difference.

6. Make space for joy

The goal is not money itself but what money allows: time with family, meaningful experiences, generosity, creativity or peace. Plan joy with the same seriousness you plan savings. Budget for dinner, the trip, the celebration. Remove the guilt and the outside opinions. You can live in the present and prepare for the future if you define what “enough” looks like for both.

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