The Number – a book review

The Number, a completely different way to think about the Rest of Your Life, by Lee Eisenberg is an excellent book that covers a topic we all need to think about. I can’t remember how I heard about it but, without thinking, felt it was probably about how mathematics influences our lives. Being a sometime mathematician, it sounded like a book I might enjoy. I found that the Sacramento Public Library had it in their catalog so I placed a request for it. (I love the way I can order any book in the whole Sacramento County library system as easily or more easily than finding it in my local library.)

Well, it turns out that The Number refers to the amount of money that each of us feels we need to be “set” for life, to not have to worry about where our next meal is coming from or whether we’ll be homeless come the first of the month. Of course, for most of us, for most of our lives, The Number is a theoretical figure, far beyond what we currently have in the bank. But according to Eisenberg, we think about the number if only in a “take this job and shove it” sort of way. The Number is the reason that millions play the state lotteries, hoping to hit The Number the “easy” way.

This book is no lightweight commentary, though. Eisenberg talks seriously about how we compute and how we should compute this number, how it tends to increase if we should actually reach it, and what happens during our mature years when we find ourselves un- or under-employed without having reached The Number. I won’t divulge all Eisenberg’s secrets (except for a small fee when I’m an independent consultant). It is interesting to read about his journey of discovery about them.

In spite of the title, the book is not all about numbers either. Eisenberg recognizes that life is so much more fulfilling if we can retire TO something and not just FROM something. He spills a lot of ink describing how to develop whole life plans not just health and wealth plans. In fact, given our longer, healthier aging years, that may turn out to be the more important aspect once we’ve dealt with The Number. As part of this analysis, Eisenberg quotes George Kinder who recommends that each of us ask ourselves three questions:

1. Assume you have all the money you need for the rest of your life. What would do? How would you live? Let your imagination go.

2. You've been diagnosed with a rare disease. You will live perfectly healthy until sometime between 5 and 10 years from now. You will then die suddenly and painlessly. How would you live? What would you do with the next 5 years?

3. The doctor tells you you have 24 hours to live. What did you miss doing? What did you not get to do or be?

The answers to these three questions will tell you how important The Number is for you and what you'll do for The Rest of Your Life once you have accumulated your Number.