Sept. 13, 2026
Die With Zero: Holding Your Money Too Tightly, Can Be Just As Risky As Spending Too Freely
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RSS Feed Most of us spend more than half of our lives trying to accumulate wealth, and then the last half we try to save what we have either to ensure we won’t run out or to leave all that earned income to our children. And while it still remains controversial, the push to “die with zero” money in your account is gaining steam, but experts say it’s harder than you may think. The concept is ideal: after working hard your entire life, you retire, and then you spend and enjoy that money until you last check bounces on the day you die. The problem, most people are too afraid of running out of money, they keep hoarding it and deny themselves the upgrades, travel experiences and ultimately, “under-living” their golden years.
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00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks.
00:00:10
Speaker 2: It is Sunday, September 17th, and whatever you do, die broke. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ that I already am taking issues with because of the last statement you said before we started. You said we're doing it all wrong. People over-save and under-spend. That sounds like the opposite of what most people preach about how we handle our finances. We spend too much. We go too much in debt. You're saying there's a whole new problem out there we need to pay attention to.
00:00:42
Speaker 3: Well, there are several folks who have spent their lives either in fund management or studying this. And they say, yes, we're always telling people save, save, save. And obviously that's a good thing. Save, invest. But the reality is that most people who have financial planning... You know, I understand that there are plenty of people out there who don't have the luxury of having this problem. We'll start with that. Obviously, fully understand that. But for folks who do have investment accounts, for folks who do plan for their retirements, those people, most of them, the majority of those people die with a full bank account and very few memories and experiences to show for their money.
00:01:21
Speaker 2: A full bank account is one thing. How are they able to, or what do they mean when they say they die without full experiences, if you will, of the money that they save?
00:01:32
Speaker 3: Because everyone spends, well, most people spend half their life at least busting their butts, saving, investing, planning for the future, right? Then you get to the point where you can retire or you're close to it. And what do you do? you start, you continue to invest and you scrimp and you save. And maybe a lot of these folks, they say live in big houses. So they've got some show of their wealth, but now they're worried because now I'm not bringing in the money. And so you get worried about what's going to be left. And so then you stop spending, you actually drastically reduce your spending and you end up not going on those vacations, not spending money on those experiences. And some people advocate not spending actually spreading your wealth to your children while you can actually enjoy the fruits of your labor by seeing other people enjoy it. Whether you're giving it to charity, giving it to your family, people are saving because they're so afraid they're not going to have enough that they end up with too much money and not enough experience.
00:02:31
Speaker 1: That's a fine balance though, ain't it?
00:02:34
Speaker 2: Isn't that what everybody does as soon as you retire? you got to sit down and you got to do some spreadsheets. You got to do some numbers and how long it'll be alive and how many will go to this kid and who's got to go to college and this grandkid. That does make sense though, right? So you're saying we're getting the equation wrong.
00:02:47
Speaker 3: Correct. So they say it's generally what's accepted. I didn't realize this, but this has been fascinating to look into. It's called the 4% rule. This is the rule that a lot of financial advisors will give their clients saying this helps seniors or folks who have retired safely draw down their retirement funds without running out of money. over a 30 year span or spoke. So the rule is to withdraw 4% of your investment portfolio each year, but most retirees don't even come close to the 4%. This is according to plenty of folks who have, I can read the nonpartisan nonprofit groups that have studied this. They say about one third of retirees have a hundred percent or more of their initial retirement assets in their mid eighties.
00:03:34
Speaker 2: Some would say that was success. Wouldn't those 80-year-olds go, man, I nailed that. Here I am, 85, still.
00:03:43
Speaker 1: Got all that money.
00:03:46
Speaker 3: All right. But then what do you have to show for it?
00:03:49
Speaker 1: But that's what I'm saying.
00:03:50
Speaker 2: In our minds, it's like we're trying to get closer and closer to death day.
00:03:55
Speaker 1: And still have the money.
00:03:57
Speaker 3: It's called hoarding. And the sad thing about that is you don't actually enjoy the money that you spent your whole life making. You're not living your life to the fullest. You're not getting those experiences. And they talked about thinking about it as a memory dividend instead of a financial one.
00:04:13
Speaker 1: I like that line. Memory dividend. That's pretty good.
00:04:16
Speaker 3: Think about all the joy. You get an amazing emotional return. Every time you recall or share your memories of vacations that you spent, even when things went bad, you did them together and you were enjoying it. And people always say, oh, yeah, I'm going to take that. We do this ourselves. We're going to take that African safari or that trip to Southeast Asia in a couple of years. And then it always is a couple of years down the road because either it's too expensive or you don't have enough time. But the problem is you get to a point and all of a sudden you're 75, you're 80, you're 85. You don't have the mobility that you had. They said, think about it. When you're in your 50s, that's the time to start spending because you've still got physical, you know, you can go anywhere, you can do anything. Most people have the stamina and the excitement to go actually live your life. Bring your kids with you. Bring your grandkids with you. Once you start getting into your 70s and your 80s, you don't know physically how you're going to be. And we all think we're going to be one way, but we don't know. And that is why several, several folks are, and there's a book called die with zero, um, authored by Bill Perkins. He was a Skylar capital founder, brilliant guy, but he authored this book in 2020, but more and more people are getting on board with this notion. Why are we trying to hoard money for what? It doesn't make a lot of sense. If the whole purpose of making money is to enjoy your money, Why are we only saving it and we're not spending it?
00:05:42
Speaker 2: How much of this has to do also with trying to leave it for family members?
00:05:46
Speaker 3: Yes, but they said, actually, you're missing out on the most beautiful thing of all. How awesome would it be while you're still alive to create a fund for your grandchild to go to school, to give your children a down payment on their first home, to give them that beautiful wedding that they wanted?
00:06:00
Speaker 1: Oh, you're saying they're not doing that?
00:06:02
Speaker 3: Right, because they're saving it for when I die, you'll inherit this.
00:06:06
Speaker 1: Ah, got you.
00:06:06
Speaker 3: It's so much more enjoyable to actually... Give your children the money while you can see them enjoy it.
00:06:13
Speaker 1: Okay, I like that.
00:06:14
Speaker 3: You're missing out on that joy that's right there. And yes, you can make it so. Graduation gifts. Give them a down payment. Give them a trip of the lifetime. And then get to watch them enjoy it. That gives you so much more pleasure. That means you've made your money actually bring joy instead of create worry. And when people hoard, it's never enough. You need more.
00:06:37
Speaker 1: You need more.
00:06:38
Speaker 3: You need more.
00:06:39
Speaker 1: Well, they call it hoarding.
00:06:40
Speaker 3: Exactly. But I don't want, I think my mom, I've heard her say this, like, I don't want to die sitting on a mountain of gold protecting it. From what? From myself? From my children? And they say COVID-19 actually shifted a lot of people's planning. And that's why we're seeing this trend in die with zero. Because people realized things happen. And all of a sudden, you don't get to do the things you want. You can't spend the money you have. And so all of a sudden, people started valuing experiences, started valuing working less because they realized that the world can change in a split second. What are we doing?
00:07:17
Speaker 2: We are starting to shift to trim back the right direction or the other direction.
00:07:20
Speaker 3: And that is the point. But listen to some of these studies. And this is actually concerning. A 2026 Alliance survey said nearly half of Americans, 48% of Americans... do not have a written financial plan. What's the percentage? 48%. And they're saying, if you don't plan, you won't do this. Like you actually have to be intentional about saying, I am going to strategically spend and enjoy my money either on myself. or on my children, or on my grandchildren, or on the charity that I love, but I am going to experience the joy of spending that money while I'm still alive and still capable of experiencing it. But if you don't have a plan, you're not gonna do it. You're just gonna save. You're not going to actually be intentional. So they are encouraging folks to actually sit down and say, what are we doing this year? How are we spending our money this year? How are we spending our money next year? I love that. How about this? A 2025 study in a financial planning review said 65-year-olds in married households with at least $ 100, 000 in assets only withdrew 2% annually from their retirement savings. So the 4% rule, most people are only drawing out 2%. And if you're a single, it's even less. It's 1 point something percent. So it's significantly below this 4% rule.
00:08:42
Speaker 2: But isn't there, I just think about a fear. You just said we don't know what's going to happen. which means I might need this money.
00:08:49
Speaker 3: That's why people do it. But the other way to look at it is that fear is stopping you from living your life, from enjoying your life. And the truth is they say if you've got $ 100, 000 or more and you stick to even the 4%, and that's doubling what most people do, you will be able to have so many more experiences and so much more freedom and joy if you just spend more than you think you should. And they said it's counterintuitive, but most people are not crazy with their money. If they spent their whole life building it, They're not going to be like, you actually have to encourage people to spend money. They're not going out and buying yachts. And they're even saying assets are one thing. It's more about the experiences. That's what they're saying is the more value, either in the giving of the money or in the traveling. And the memories that you create, it's less about they even said some people will buy these big houses and then they live in fear that they can't pay their bills. And so they don't go on vacation. So they like create their own jail, like their beautiful prison with some of the money. But then they're afraid to go anywhere and spend any more because, oh, what if I can't pay my mortgage? And you end up trapping yourself in a prison.
00:09:55
Speaker 1: Well, it's a nice house.
00:09:56
Speaker 3: It's a nice house, but it's still a prison. I think that's so interesting. And look, there are some drawbacks, but the big question is, will die with zero make you happy? The experts say it will.
00:10:12
Speaker 1: It will? Okay. Well, you're going to tell me about it when we come back?
00:10:17
Speaker 3: I'm going to tell you all about it after the break.
00:10:19
Speaker 1: You have to be clear with the commercials, baby. I don't know when to roll the music here.
00:10:23
Speaker 4: We're back now from that ill-advised break.
00:10:36
Speaker 1: I'll be more clear next time.
00:10:38
Speaker 3: Sorry.
00:10:38
Speaker 2: You know, that was the first time we've done, who knows how many podcasts. That was the first time we ever had a hiccup on a commercial.
00:10:44
Speaker 3: You looked at me, I was like, Yeah, I just threw it a break, I thought.
00:10:47
Speaker 1: I'm concerned. Or so I thought. See, I'm concerned.
00:10:49
Speaker 2: What was that beige flag you were talking about the other day?
00:10:52
Speaker 1: Now I'm concerned. We're all off. Oh, my God, we're now on the same page now. Should we really get married?
00:10:57
Speaker 3: We're leaning into each other's quirks, and mine apparently is ambiguously throwing to a break. No, but so a lot of people are asking, will die with zero make you happy? Look, haven't you heard people say, I want my last check to bounce? People say this idealistically, but then in the reality of things, they don't do it. They're too afraid to. But look, the reality is experiences over things. That is the number one way to enjoy your money. That is what makes you happy. Things don't necessarily things break. They get scratched. They get lost. It just that's not where the joy is. The joy is in the experiences. And so the dream folks say is to die.
00:11:40
Speaker 1: At 99 broke.
00:11:42
Speaker 3: With the big life insurance policy. If you're worried about leaving people with nothing, they say get a big life insurance policy. And that is how you can ease your fear about maybe not leaving anything to your children. So get a big old life insurance policy and then spend all your money. They said that way, if you think it's selfish to spend all your money, the life insurance will make it guilt-free. I love that idea.
00:12:06
Speaker 1: Okay, let's do that Monday.
00:12:08
Speaker 3: I think that is so smart. And they say life insurance policies... paid over the years, will provide a tax-free death benefit for your heirs. I think that's so cool. So if you're worried about not leaving some sort of legacy for your family, friends, or even charities, do it through a life insurance policy. And all of your investments and your portfolios, spend them. Spend them all. Enjoy them. And just get that life insurance policy. Now, there are a few financial drawbacks that they say by spending all your money while you're alive, you may lose some tax efficiency. Like you might have been able to avoid some taxes if you were more measured with There are some tax minimizing strategies and all of that. But they said at the end of the day, it's peanuts compared to what you lose if you don't enjoy your money. Like the emotional loss is far greater than any tax benefit you might lose. And they just say that, look, people, that would be the argument people would push back. oh, well, I'm going to have to pay more taxes and it's not going to be tax efficient for me to take my money out. Okay, if you want to focus on that, you're focused on the wrong thing. This is about.
00:13:14
Speaker 1: This is the point of this whole thing. Yes, exactly.
00:13:16
Speaker 3: And those are the people who end up dying with 100% in their bank account. I mean, think about that. I understand why we... We act out of fear instead of out of faith and out of just the whole reason why we're here. I believe we're here to be of service. We're here to learn and grow, and we're here to love and to enjoy our lives and our physical bodies while they're still healthy and fit. It's a reminder every day. We're getting older, but right now, you and I can still run a half marathon, run a marathon while we're still in that kind of physical shape. Shouldn't we be enjoying all the hard work we've put in in the past 30 years in our professional lives.
00:13:55
Speaker 1: Let's go, baby.
00:13:56
Speaker 3: All right.
00:13:56
Speaker 1: Let's do it. We've been talking about Southeast Asia for a long time.
00:13:59
Speaker 3: We have.
00:14:00
Speaker 1: You know how I get. Every once in a while, I just look at you and say, book whatever.
00:14:03
Speaker 3: It's my favorite moment when you say, I'm in a mood. Just go ahead. Book us on a trip. And I'm like, really? You're like, just do it. And I didn't believe you, I think, the first time. And I think that was when we went to Nice. And I thought, okay, he's telling me that I have the green light to do this. I'm just going to do it. And I believe the next day you looked at me and you said, did you actually book that trip? And I said, I absolutely did. And then we went on it. And what are your thoughts about that?
00:14:27
Speaker 1: Favorite trip we've ever had.
00:14:28
Speaker 3: Best money we ever spent.
00:14:30
Speaker 1: Best trip ever to the point we want to move there. It's niece is the best.
00:14:35
Speaker 3: But yeah, I just think sometimes we all need a little reminder. We need a little nudge. And especially when you just remember how hard you worked, how much you've saved. And yes, you'll still keep going. getting interest on your assets and all the folks. So you've got all your investment. You're, you're, you're, you're doing the work. You don't have to live in such fear. And I do like that idea about the life insurance. I absolutely want to do that on Monday.
00:15:02
Speaker 1: We got a lot to do Monday. Life insurance, booking trips. My goodness, we got so much going on.
00:15:06
Speaker 3: You know what we're doing? We're getting busy living. And that's the whole point. So we hope you do the same. Have those conversations and start making some changes. And with that, everyone, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes. We'll talk soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks.
00:00:10
Speaker 2: It is Sunday, September 17th, and whatever you do, die broke. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ that I already am taking issues with because of the last statement you said before we started. You said we're doing it all wrong. People over-save and under-spend. That sounds like the opposite of what most people preach about how we handle our finances. We spend too much. We go too much in debt. You're saying there's a whole new problem out there we need to pay attention to.
00:00:42
Speaker 3: Well, there are several folks who have spent their lives either in fund management or studying this. And they say, yes, we're always telling people save, save, save. And obviously that's a good thing. Save, invest. But the reality is that most people who have financial planning... You know, I understand that there are plenty of people out there who don't have the luxury of having this problem. We'll start with that. Obviously, fully understand that. But for folks who do have investment accounts, for folks who do plan for their retirements, those people, most of them, the majority of those people die with a full bank account and very few memories and experiences to show for their money.
00:01:21
Speaker 2: A full bank account is one thing. How are they able to, or what do they mean when they say they die without full experiences, if you will, of the money that they save?
00:01:32
Speaker 3: Because everyone spends, well, most people spend half their life at least busting their butts, saving, investing, planning for the future, right? Then you get to the point where you can retire or you're close to it. And what do you do? you start, you continue to invest and you scrimp and you save. And maybe a lot of these folks, they say live in big houses. So they've got some show of their wealth, but now they're worried because now I'm not bringing in the money. And so you get worried about what's going to be left. And so then you stop spending, you actually drastically reduce your spending and you end up not going on those vacations, not spending money on those experiences. And some people advocate not spending actually spreading your wealth to your children while you can actually enjoy the fruits of your labor by seeing other people enjoy it. Whether you're giving it to charity, giving it to your family, people are saving because they're so afraid they're not going to have enough that they end up with too much money and not enough experience.
00:02:31
Speaker 1: That's a fine balance though, ain't it?
00:02:34
Speaker 2: Isn't that what everybody does as soon as you retire? you got to sit down and you got to do some spreadsheets. You got to do some numbers and how long it'll be alive and how many will go to this kid and who's got to go to college and this grandkid. That does make sense though, right? So you're saying we're getting the equation wrong.
00:02:47
Speaker 3: Correct. So they say it's generally what's accepted. I didn't realize this, but this has been fascinating to look into. It's called the 4% rule. This is the rule that a lot of financial advisors will give their clients saying this helps seniors or folks who have retired safely draw down their retirement funds without running out of money. over a 30 year span or spoke. So the rule is to withdraw 4% of your investment portfolio each year, but most retirees don't even come close to the 4%. This is according to plenty of folks who have, I can read the nonpartisan nonprofit groups that have studied this. They say about one third of retirees have a hundred percent or more of their initial retirement assets in their mid eighties.
00:03:34
Speaker 2: Some would say that was success. Wouldn't those 80-year-olds go, man, I nailed that. Here I am, 85, still.
00:03:43
Speaker 1: Got all that money.
00:03:46
Speaker 3: All right. But then what do you have to show for it?
00:03:49
Speaker 1: But that's what I'm saying.
00:03:50
Speaker 2: In our minds, it's like we're trying to get closer and closer to death day.
00:03:55
Speaker 1: And still have the money.
00:03:57
Speaker 3: It's called hoarding. And the sad thing about that is you don't actually enjoy the money that you spent your whole life making. You're not living your life to the fullest. You're not getting those experiences. And they talked about thinking about it as a memory dividend instead of a financial one.
00:04:13
Speaker 1: I like that line. Memory dividend. That's pretty good.
00:04:16
Speaker 3: Think about all the joy. You get an amazing emotional return. Every time you recall or share your memories of vacations that you spent, even when things went bad, you did them together and you were enjoying it. And people always say, oh, yeah, I'm going to take that. We do this ourselves. We're going to take that African safari or that trip to Southeast Asia in a couple of years. And then it always is a couple of years down the road because either it's too expensive or you don't have enough time. But the problem is you get to a point and all of a sudden you're 75, you're 80, you're 85. You don't have the mobility that you had. They said, think about it. When you're in your 50s, that's the time to start spending because you've still got physical, you know, you can go anywhere, you can do anything. Most people have the stamina and the excitement to go actually live your life. Bring your kids with you. Bring your grandkids with you. Once you start getting into your 70s and your 80s, you don't know physically how you're going to be. And we all think we're going to be one way, but we don't know. And that is why several, several folks are, and there's a book called die with zero, um, authored by Bill Perkins. He was a Skylar capital founder, brilliant guy, but he authored this book in 2020, but more and more people are getting on board with this notion. Why are we trying to hoard money for what? It doesn't make a lot of sense. If the whole purpose of making money is to enjoy your money, Why are we only saving it and we're not spending it?
00:05:42
Speaker 2: How much of this has to do also with trying to leave it for family members?
00:05:46
Speaker 3: Yes, but they said, actually, you're missing out on the most beautiful thing of all. How awesome would it be while you're still alive to create a fund for your grandchild to go to school, to give your children a down payment on their first home, to give them that beautiful wedding that they wanted?
00:06:00
Speaker 1: Oh, you're saying they're not doing that?
00:06:02
Speaker 3: Right, because they're saving it for when I die, you'll inherit this.
00:06:06
Speaker 1: Ah, got you.
00:06:06
Speaker 3: It's so much more enjoyable to actually... Give your children the money while you can see them enjoy it.
00:06:13
Speaker 1: Okay, I like that.
00:06:14
Speaker 3: You're missing out on that joy that's right there. And yes, you can make it so. Graduation gifts. Give them a down payment. Give them a trip of the lifetime. And then get to watch them enjoy it. That gives you so much more pleasure. That means you've made your money actually bring joy instead of create worry. And when people hoard, it's never enough. You need more.
00:06:37
Speaker 1: You need more.
00:06:38
Speaker 3: You need more.
00:06:39
Speaker 1: Well, they call it hoarding.
00:06:40
Speaker 3: Exactly. But I don't want, I think my mom, I've heard her say this, like, I don't want to die sitting on a mountain of gold protecting it. From what? From myself? From my children? And they say COVID-19 actually shifted a lot of people's planning. And that's why we're seeing this trend in die with zero. Because people realized things happen. And all of a sudden, you don't get to do the things you want. You can't spend the money you have. And so all of a sudden, people started valuing experiences, started valuing working less because they realized that the world can change in a split second. What are we doing?
00:07:17
Speaker 2: We are starting to shift to trim back the right direction or the other direction.
00:07:20
Speaker 3: And that is the point. But listen to some of these studies. And this is actually concerning. A 2026 Alliance survey said nearly half of Americans, 48% of Americans... do not have a written financial plan. What's the percentage? 48%. And they're saying, if you don't plan, you won't do this. Like you actually have to be intentional about saying, I am going to strategically spend and enjoy my money either on myself. or on my children, or on my grandchildren, or on the charity that I love, but I am going to experience the joy of spending that money while I'm still alive and still capable of experiencing it. But if you don't have a plan, you're not gonna do it. You're just gonna save. You're not going to actually be intentional. So they are encouraging folks to actually sit down and say, what are we doing this year? How are we spending our money this year? How are we spending our money next year? I love that. How about this? A 2025 study in a financial planning review said 65-year-olds in married households with at least $ 100, 000 in assets only withdrew 2% annually from their retirement savings. So the 4% rule, most people are only drawing out 2%. And if you're a single, it's even less. It's 1 point something percent. So it's significantly below this 4% rule.
00:08:42
Speaker 2: But isn't there, I just think about a fear. You just said we don't know what's going to happen. which means I might need this money.
00:08:49
Speaker 3: That's why people do it. But the other way to look at it is that fear is stopping you from living your life, from enjoying your life. And the truth is they say if you've got $ 100, 000 or more and you stick to even the 4%, and that's doubling what most people do, you will be able to have so many more experiences and so much more freedom and joy if you just spend more than you think you should. And they said it's counterintuitive, but most people are not crazy with their money. If they spent their whole life building it, They're not going to be like, you actually have to encourage people to spend money. They're not going out and buying yachts. And they're even saying assets are one thing. It's more about the experiences. That's what they're saying is the more value, either in the giving of the money or in the traveling. And the memories that you create, it's less about they even said some people will buy these big houses and then they live in fear that they can't pay their bills. And so they don't go on vacation. So they like create their own jail, like their beautiful prison with some of the money. But then they're afraid to go anywhere and spend any more because, oh, what if I can't pay my mortgage? And you end up trapping yourself in a prison.
00:09:55
Speaker 1: Well, it's a nice house.
00:09:56
Speaker 3: It's a nice house, but it's still a prison. I think that's so interesting. And look, there are some drawbacks, but the big question is, will die with zero make you happy? The experts say it will.
00:10:12
Speaker 1: It will? Okay. Well, you're going to tell me about it when we come back?
00:10:17
Speaker 3: I'm going to tell you all about it after the break.
00:10:19
Speaker 1: You have to be clear with the commercials, baby. I don't know when to roll the music here.
00:10:23
Speaker 4: We're back now from that ill-advised break.
00:10:36
Speaker 1: I'll be more clear next time.
00:10:38
Speaker 3: Sorry.
00:10:38
Speaker 2: You know, that was the first time we've done, who knows how many podcasts. That was the first time we ever had a hiccup on a commercial.
00:10:44
Speaker 3: You looked at me, I was like, Yeah, I just threw it a break, I thought.
00:10:47
Speaker 1: I'm concerned. Or so I thought. See, I'm concerned.
00:10:49
Speaker 2: What was that beige flag you were talking about the other day?
00:10:52
Speaker 1: Now I'm concerned. We're all off. Oh, my God, we're now on the same page now. Should we really get married?
00:10:57
Speaker 3: We're leaning into each other's quirks, and mine apparently is ambiguously throwing to a break. No, but so a lot of people are asking, will die with zero make you happy? Look, haven't you heard people say, I want my last check to bounce? People say this idealistically, but then in the reality of things, they don't do it. They're too afraid to. But look, the reality is experiences over things. That is the number one way to enjoy your money. That is what makes you happy. Things don't necessarily things break. They get scratched. They get lost. It just that's not where the joy is. The joy is in the experiences. And so the dream folks say is to die.
00:11:40
Speaker 1: At 99 broke.
00:11:42
Speaker 3: With the big life insurance policy. If you're worried about leaving people with nothing, they say get a big life insurance policy. And that is how you can ease your fear about maybe not leaving anything to your children. So get a big old life insurance policy and then spend all your money. They said that way, if you think it's selfish to spend all your money, the life insurance will make it guilt-free. I love that idea.
00:12:06
Speaker 1: Okay, let's do that Monday.
00:12:08
Speaker 3: I think that is so smart. And they say life insurance policies... paid over the years, will provide a tax-free death benefit for your heirs. I think that's so cool. So if you're worried about not leaving some sort of legacy for your family, friends, or even charities, do it through a life insurance policy. And all of your investments and your portfolios, spend them. Spend them all. Enjoy them. And just get that life insurance policy. Now, there are a few financial drawbacks that they say by spending all your money while you're alive, you may lose some tax efficiency. Like you might have been able to avoid some taxes if you were more measured with There are some tax minimizing strategies and all of that. But they said at the end of the day, it's peanuts compared to what you lose if you don't enjoy your money. Like the emotional loss is far greater than any tax benefit you might lose. And they just say that, look, people, that would be the argument people would push back. oh, well, I'm going to have to pay more taxes and it's not going to be tax efficient for me to take my money out. Okay, if you want to focus on that, you're focused on the wrong thing. This is about.
00:13:14
Speaker 1: This is the point of this whole thing. Yes, exactly.
00:13:16
Speaker 3: And those are the people who end up dying with 100% in their bank account. I mean, think about that. I understand why we... We act out of fear instead of out of faith and out of just the whole reason why we're here. I believe we're here to be of service. We're here to learn and grow, and we're here to love and to enjoy our lives and our physical bodies while they're still healthy and fit. It's a reminder every day. We're getting older, but right now, you and I can still run a half marathon, run a marathon while we're still in that kind of physical shape. Shouldn't we be enjoying all the hard work we've put in in the past 30 years in our professional lives.
00:13:55
Speaker 1: Let's go, baby.
00:13:56
Speaker 3: All right.
00:13:56
Speaker 1: Let's do it. We've been talking about Southeast Asia for a long time.
00:13:59
Speaker 3: We have.
00:14:00
Speaker 1: You know how I get. Every once in a while, I just look at you and say, book whatever.
00:14:03
Speaker 3: It's my favorite moment when you say, I'm in a mood. Just go ahead. Book us on a trip. And I'm like, really? You're like, just do it. And I didn't believe you, I think, the first time. And I think that was when we went to Nice. And I thought, okay, he's telling me that I have the green light to do this. I'm just going to do it. And I believe the next day you looked at me and you said, did you actually book that trip? And I said, I absolutely did. And then we went on it. And what are your thoughts about that?
00:14:27
Speaker 1: Favorite trip we've ever had.
00:14:28
Speaker 3: Best money we ever spent.
00:14:30
Speaker 1: Best trip ever to the point we want to move there. It's niece is the best.
00:14:35
Speaker 3: But yeah, I just think sometimes we all need a little reminder. We need a little nudge. And especially when you just remember how hard you worked, how much you've saved. And yes, you'll still keep going. getting interest on your assets and all the folks. So you've got all your investment. You're, you're, you're, you're doing the work. You don't have to live in such fear. And I do like that idea about the life insurance. I absolutely want to do that on Monday.
00:15:02
Speaker 1: We got a lot to do Monday. Life insurance, booking trips. My goodness, we got so much going on.
00:15:06
Speaker 3: You know what we're doing? We're getting busy living. And that's the whole point. So we hope you do the same. Have those conversations and start making some changes. And with that, everyone, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes. We'll talk soon.