INTERVIEW | Make Money by Living Fully with Bill Perkins

Bill Perkins, hedge fund manager and author of *Die With Zero*, challenges the conventional obsession with accumulating wealth for its own sake, arguing instead that money is merely a tool to build a fulfilling life. He reveals that his first emotional high wasn't from earning a large sum, but from a $200 weekly raise that signaled he was no longer a 'peon'—a moment that sparked his belief in upward mobility. Perkins reframes financial success not as a number, but as a date: the day your net worth peaks, just before you die. His core philosophy? Live fully now, because money loses utility with age, and the real return on life isn’t in savings, but in memory dividends—those lasting joys from experiences you recall, share, and pass on. He warns against the 'hamster wheel' of endless wealth-building without purpose, urging listeners to map their life’s chapters and spend intentionally, not just for retirement, but for the moments that matter—like taking your family on a trip before the kids leave home. The book’s most powerful pushback? 'I can’t afford to retire early.' Perkins counters: if you’re not living your best life now, you’re not really living at all. The episode becomes a manifesto for intentional living. Perkins doesn’t reject financial discipline—he calls it essential—but insists it must serve a higher purpose: the life you want to live.