"At time of retirement people are increasingly faced with the decision to take out a lump sum of money from their retirement account or to opt for an annuity payment. Based on standard theoretical analysis people should opt for the annuity payment to maximize expected utility. However, empirically people by a vast majority opt for the lump sum ... [S]imple calculation shows that older people will prefer the lump sum over the annuity. The effect reverses for younger people where hyperbolic discounting leads to a preference for annuity payments. This is true for the immediate and the deferred decision."

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