Die Broke

A Radical Four-Part Financial Plan

HarperBusiness, October 1997

From America’s most trusted financial advisor comes a comprehensive guide to a new and utterly sane financial choice. In Die Broke, you’ll learn that life is a game where the loser gives his money to Uncle Sam at the end. There are four steps to the process:

Quit Today

No, don’t tell your boss to shove it…at least not out loud. But in your head accept that from this day on you’re a free agent whose number one workplace priority is your personal bottom line.

Pay Cash

You should be as conscious of spending as you are of saving. Credit should be a rarely used tool for those few times (buying homes and cars) when paying cash is impossible.

Don’t Retire

Your work life should be a journey up and down hills, rather than a climb up a sheer cliff that ends with a jump into the abyss.

Die Broke

It sounds terrifying, the one intolerable outcome to your financial life. And yet, in truth, dying broke might be your best option for a life without fear: fear of failure and privation now, fear of impoverishment in the long run.