What does Bill Perkins mean by Die With Zero on My First Million?

Bill Perkins told My First Million that Die With Zero means using all your resources during your life and leaving nothing unspent on the field. Money is something you trade hours of your life for, and the body's ability to convert it into fulfilling experiences shrinks with age, so piling up more late in life adds little. He says the title also means dying with zero regrets, which for him means doing his best.

• Perkins says the team brainstormed 10 to 20 titles, including descriptive ones, before Die With Zero stuck.
• Perkins says publishers worried a book with 'die' on the cover would be a hard sell in airports, but kept it because it was provocative.

▸In their words

“all my regrets are a version of when I didn't do my best” Bill Perkins · at 43:57 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on My First Million (2026-11-02). Read the whole episode summary →

▸More from this episode