My opinions only...
The whole "spend it all before you die" attitude is unconscionably selfish and short-sighted. It provides little to no benefit to society as a whole, certainly none past the end of your own life. Some of the same people who espouse things like that will kvetch and whine about how things aren't like they used to be, country's gone to hell along with the economy, people can't get ahead, and so on. While I am not in favor of creating idle rich heirs who will piddle away your fortune along with their lives, most of us aren't going to leave behind that kind of money anyway. My goal is not to leave a big pile of windfall bucks to my kids. My goal is to leave behind a legacy that will help to make the world a better place for my descendants and everyone else.
Yeah, even as we take time to enjoy some of what we've earned, we're working to try and amass some actual money before we die. Not to be divvied up and probably wasted on new toys or "donated" to the casinos, but to be used to provide some ongoing support for our grandkids and their children. Ideally I want to leave behind a foundation or trust that not only looks after our money, but encourages our kids and their kids and their kids to contribute as well. Something that will encourage, both by example and by incentive, sound long term investing and some degree of charitable giving, building a long term legacy of "family money". It won't ever be a financial empire, but maybe a hundred years from now our family will still be seeing some benefit from our work, and hopefully learning from it and doing some good for our family and the rest of the world.
I believe strongly enough in this that I'm going to keep working pas the point when I could retire and be comfortable for the rest of my life. I just wish I'd started many years earlier. Hell, I wish it had started a few generations back, but better late than never.