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Hyperbolic discounting and life-cycle portfolio choice

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  • LOVE, DAVID
  • PHELAN, GREGORY

Abstract

This paper studies how hyperbolic discounting affects stock market participation, asset allocation, and saving decisions over the life cycle in an economy with Epstein–Zin preferences. Hyperbolic discounting affects saving and portfolio decisions through at least two channels: (1) it lowers desired saving, which decreases financial wealth relative to future earnings; and (2) it lowers the incentive to pay a fixed cost to enter the stock market. We find that hyperbolic discounters accumulate less wealth relative to their geometric counterparts and that they participate in the stock market at a later age. Because they have lower levels of financial wealth relative to future earnings, hyperbolic discounters who do participate in the stock market tend to hold a higher share of equities, particularly in the retirement years. We find that increasing the elasticity of intertemporal substitution, holding risk aversion constant, greatly magnifies the impact of hyperbolic discounting on all of the model's decision rules and simulated levels of participation, allocation, and wealth. Finally, we introduce endogenous financial knowledge accumulation and find that hyperbolic discounting leads to lower financial literacy and inefficient stock market investment.

Suggested Citation

  • Love, David & Phelan, Gregory, 2015. "Hyperbolic discounting and life-cycle portfolio choice," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(4), pages 492-524, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:jpenef:v:14:y:2015:i:04:p:492-524_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Love, David A., 2017. "Countercyclical retirement accounts," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 32-48.
    2. Francisco J. Oliver-Márquez & Almudena Guarnido-Rueda & Ignacio Amate-Fortes & Diego Martínez-Navarro, 2024. "Regional Comparative Analysis on the Determinants of the Spaniards’ Financial Knowledge," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 4203-4238, March.
    3. Seth Neumuller & Casey Rothschild, 2017. "Financial Sophistication and Portfolio Choice over the Life Cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 26, pages 243-262, October.
    4. Ferraz, Eduardo & Mantilla, Cesar, 2022. "A trade-off from the future: How risk aversion may explain the demand for illiquid assets," OSF Preprints xbsn8, Center for Open Science.
    5. Yushi Hamaguchi & Alex S. L. Tse, 2024. "Periodic portfolio selection with quasi-hyperbolic discounting," Papers 2410.18240, arXiv.org.
    6. Ivanov, Katerina & Tian, Weidong, 2024. "Optimal early retirement with target wealth," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    7. Briggs, Joseph & Cesarini, David & Lindqvist, Erik & Östling, Robert, 2021. "Windfall gains and stock market participation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(1), pages 57-83.
    8. Edouard Ribes, 2022. "Financial planning & optimal retirement timing for physically intensive occupations," Working Papers hal-03219182, HAL.
    9. Shigeta, Yuki, 2022. "Quasi-hyperbolic discounting under recursive utility and consumption–investment decisions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    10. Edouard A. Ribes, 2022. "Financial planning and optimal retirement timing for physically intensive occupations," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(8), pages 1-28, August.
    11. Honoka Nabeshima & Sumeet Lal & Haruka Izumi & Yuzuha Himeno & Mostafa Saidur Rahim Khan & Yoshihiko Kadoya, 2025. "The Impact of Hyperbolic Discounting on Asset Accumulation for Later Life: A Study of Active Investors Aged 65 Years and over in Japan," Risks, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-23, January.
    12. Ferraz, Eduardo & Mantilla, Cesar, 2022. "A trade-off from the future: How risk aversion may explain the demand for illiquid assets," OSF Preprints xbsn8_v1, Center for Open Science.
    13. Huang, Tiancheng & Khemka, Gaurav & Chong, Wing Fung, 2024. "Monotonicity of savings function in Endogenous Gridpoint Method with stochastic portfolio returns," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).

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