• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Mental time travel and retirement savings
  • Contributor: Blake, David [Author]; Pickles, John [Author]
  • Published: Basel: MDPI, 2021
  • Language: English
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm14120581
  • ISSN: 1911-8074
  • Keywords: lifecycle model ; retirement savings ; time perception ; asymmetric ; exponential growth bias ; projecting ; discounting ; financial investment valuation ; symmetric ; valuation ; G04 ; mental time travel ; G51 ; present bias
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  • Description: We portray the valuation of retirement savings in terms of a mental time travel journey in which a proposed contribution to a pension plan is projected forward to the plan member's retirement date and this projected value is then discounted back to today, thereby giving a present or personal value. We set this within a broader framework of pension planning, which seeks to smooth consumption over the lifecycle. We explain how two psychological biases-exponential growth bias and present bias-can lead to a difference between the initial value of a pension contribution and its present value, such a difference reflecting an asymmetry between projection and discounting, and how such a difference might lead to inadequate retirement savings and hence to a lower than desired standard of living in retirement. We consider how the two biases might be mitigated.
  • Access State: Open Access
  • Rights information: Attribution (CC BY)