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army1987 comments on Why is it rational to invest in retirement? I don't get it. - Less Wrong Discussion

20 Post author: diegocaleiro 16 May 2013 01:28AM

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Comment author: drethelin 16 May 2013 06:15:29PM 2 points [-]

Saving for retirement is the traditional conscientious young person thing to do. It doesn't make any sense if you believe in radical life extension or uploading or the singularity (assuming it's within your lifetime). As medicine and technology increase, retirement age will stop even being a thing, because it won't make sense to stop working at 65 and then live 65-650 more years.

On the other hand, investing to maximize your long-term income and wealth potential makes a LOT more sense than saving for retirement. Basically: saving for retirement is like taking the sure 450 instead of flipping the coin for 1000.

Comment author: [deleted] 17 May 2013 11:09:37PM 2 points [-]

taking the sure 450 instead of flipping the coin for 1000

Assuming logarithmic utility, that's the right thing to do if you have less than about 2000 to start from -- and that's without even considering the possibility that the person offering you the bet may have loaded the coin.