Karolina Lempert

Given the choice between a smaller immediate payout or a larger future payout, people generally prefer rewards sooner rather than later, a tendency called temporal discounting.

Given the choice between a smaller immediate payout or a larger future payout, people generally prefer rewards sooner rather than later, a tendency called temporal discounting.

As older Americans tap into their retirement funds, they often face a choice between receiving a smaller, immediate payout and a larger, future payout. How does memory affect these “intertemporal” choices?