Wealth ≠ being rich in money.

Wealth = being rich in life experiences.

CONTEXT

Bill Perkins is a hedge fund manager and author of the book, Die With Zero.

His equations don’t solve for net worth (i.e. the amount of money you have).

They solve for net fulfillment (i.e. the amount of joyful experiences you have).

Here are 3 of his money rules to design your “rich life”:

THE METHOD

1. Get clear on what your rich life is.

It could be sailing a yacht around the south of France (or just buying anything at Whole Foods without thinking twice).

But your “dream life” has to be authentic to what you really want (not what society determines success is).

Write it out. Get specific. The crisper your vision is for your rich life, the more momentum you’ll have to build it.

2. Earn “memory dividends.”

When you experience something extraordinary (like a vacation), you get joy from it in the moment.

But it doesn’t end there. You continue to experience joy every time you recall it or tell someone about it.

These are called memory dividends.

Invest in experiences that you’ll be likely to recall thousands of times in the future.

Another way of putting this?

“In your 20s, do three fascinating things that job interviewers and dinner companions will want to ask you about for the rest of your life.”– New York Times

Ride a motorcycle across Morocco for 2 weeks. Try to build a startup. Learn to scuba dive in the Galapagos.

3. Plan for money to become less useful.

Most people in their 30s and 40s assume that their ability to have active experiences is a constant line.

But it drastically declines as you age.

Let’s say you’re 38, and you ski once a year? You’ll probably ski 15 more times in your life. Total.

Take a second. Let that sink in.

Now, start planning this out:

• Which experiences do you want in your lifetime? (Take your parents on a vacation? Learn to kitesurf? Take your kids camping while they’re young?)

• How many times would you like to do each of those?

• At what age will you probably no longer be able to do them?

Here’s the important part. Decide exactly when (in the next few years) you will prioritize those.

WHY IT WORKS

While most of us are taught to optimize for net worth, we should really be optimizing for net fulfillment.

(Do you want the most money possible at age 90? Or do you want a lifetime of fulfilling experiences?)

“Yes, you need money to survive in retirement, but the main thing you'll be retiring on will be your memories—so make sure you invest enough in those.” —Bill Perkins, Die With Zero

TL;DR—

1. Get clear on what your rich life specifically looks like.

2. Invest in things that give you the highest memory dividends.

3. Plan the time-constrained experiences you want (and when you’ll have them).

“Your life is the sum of your experiences. When you look back on your life, the richness of those experiences will determine how full a life you’ve led.” —Bill Perkins

Until next week,

Jade

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