From a super-saver to embracing 'die with zero'

After a lifetime of saving for the future, I recently opened up to the idea that maybe one should use up one's wealth before one dies.

- Chua Mui Hoong

I went shopping for a new mobile phone last month. This was after my three-year-old Samsung Galaxy Ultra S22 fell out of my pocket, bounced off a rock, cracked its screen and became unresponsive.

I almost always choose the second-newest model in the market - new enough to be up to date with all the latest technology, but not as pricey as the latest model with all its bells and whistles. As a longtime Samsung user, this meant I was choosing between variants of the latest Galaxy S25 model: or as the electronics superstore JB Hi-Fi's website put it - "the S25 for daily smarts, S25+ for more screen, S25 Ultra for all-out grunt, or S25 Edge for that iconic curve".

I liked the Ultra, because it was similar in size to my old phone - the Ultra S22. But it was the costliest at A$2,337 (S$1,989). The regular S25 was A$1,887. I told my husband I was getting the cheaper model. D smiled and shook his head. "Go for the latest model. You deserve it. Die with zero," he said with a grin.

"Yes, die with zero," I muttered. If not now, when? And so, for the first time in many years, I now own the latest model of a smartphone.

Musing over the purchase later, I was struck by the irony of up-spending on phone, at a time when my earning capacity is on a distinct down trend.

MAXIMISE FULFILMENT, NOT SAVINGS

The idea of "dying with zero" was made popular by the book Die With Zero: Getting All You Can From Your Money And Your Life, by American energy trader Bill Perkins. Published in 2020, it has challenged the way finance planners and many individuals, myself included, think about money, life and time.

The idea is to spend money, time and energy in a balanced way so that over your lifetime, as your time and energy run out, so does your money.