But no, John wasn’t making a calculated choice between work and family, or between working for money and the millions of other things he could have been doing with his wealth, time, and talent. No, he was continuing to work because he had formed the habit of working, much like a smoker who had picked up cigarettes as a teenage boy because he wanted

the conclusion you reach might be somewhat radical: That is, once you have enough money to take care of your family’s basic needs, then by going to work to earn more money, you might actually be depleting your kids’ inheritance because you are spending less time with them! And the richer you already are, the more likely this is to be true.

What I’m saying is that dying with zero is not only about money: It’s also about time. Start thinking more about how you use your limited time, your life energy, and you’ll be well on your way to living the fullest life you possibly can.

and trying to plan out all the various activities, events, and experiences you’d like to have. Time buckets are proactive and let you plan your life; a bucket list, on the other hand, is a much more reactive effort in a sudden race against time.

Most people forget those costs of acquiring more money, so they focus mainly on the gains. So, for example, $2.5 million does buy you a better quality of life than $2 million, all other things being equal—but all other things are usually not equal!

Unfortunately, in real life you rarely get an exact date for when you will no longer be able to do something—these things just seem to fade away. And until they’re gone, you don’t give their gradual demise much thought, if any. You just kind of assume that some things will last forever. But of course, they don’t.

Think about how you can actively enhance your memory dividends. Would it help you to take more photos of your experiences? To plan reunions with people you’ve shared good times with in the past? Compile a video or a photo album?

reasonably good shape in both health and wealth—between 45 and 60—than people usually do, because most people who save money for the future save for too late in life.

Making deliberate choices about how to spend your money and your time is the essence of making the most of your life energy.