#149 - How The Temptation of Hyperbolic Discounting Can Bite You In the End.

You may not even know what “hyperbolic discounting” is. But it’s something we all fall prey to numerous times, at least weekly. It’s the temptation to do something now that you know is not the best long-term. On this episode, I tell the story of how I bought a set of noise canceling headphones even though I knew that the money spent on them could have been invested more wisely in other ways. It’s an example of hyperbolic discounting that I use to show you how you and I need to be careful that we’re not making decisions today that will come back to bite us tomorrow. Is your retirement fund really going to be there when you need it? 

As human beings we have this amazing capacity to convince ourselves that the decisions we’re making are the best decisions we could make, when in fact, they simply aren’t. It’s called self-deception and it’s part of being human. One of the ways we do that is by giving in to the temptation of hyperbolic discounting - justifying a choice that’s a short-term gain at the expense of a bigger long-term payoff. It’s why we eat the cookie now rather than “being good” for the sake of reaching that ideal level of fitness that we really want. On this episode, I’m talking about the role that hyperbolic discounting plays in retirement planning and why it’s important to have the outside perspective and help of a qualified advisor. I hope you’ll take the time to listen - for the sake of your long-term goals. My 3rd annual Retirement Plan LIVE will begin in February. Do you want in? 

One of the most popular and helpful things that I do on The Retirement Answer Man podcast is the annual Retirement Plan LIVE. It’s where I take a real-life person (maybe you) and work through their financial situation alongside them to devise a plan toward the things they want to have in place when they reach retirement. But I can’t do it alone. I need someone who’s willing to be the subject of the plan. Is that you? You can find out who I’m looking for and whether you’d be a good fit on this episode of The Retirement Answer Man! Anytime an advisor makes recommendations before he understands your situation, you should run! 

A listener wrote to me to ask what the difference is between annuities and a whole life insurance policy. It turns out her questions stem from a conversation she’s been having with an insurance advisor who’s encouraging her to look into the possibility of whole life insurance instead of annuities. I don’t know enough about her situation to say that he’s giving her bad advice but I do know this: Anytime and advisor begins to point you in a certain direction without having assessed the entire situation, you need to be very, very careful. Find out why I’m so cautious, on this episode. One way you can avoid hyperbolic discounting is by taking a small step of immediate action. 

Hyperbolic discounting is when you choose a small benefit today at the expense of a larger benefit later. It’s the opposite of practicing delayed gratification. On my smart sprint segment of this podcast episode I give you a simple, easy plan to increase your retirement contributions that you won’t even feel month to month but that will enable you to avoid the temptation of doing nothing at all to increase your retirement. You can find out what it is on this episode. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN 

• [0:27] The struggle with temptation we all face and the cost they can have on life..

HOT TOPIC SEGMENT 

• [3:00] Beginning 2/1/2017 - The 3rd annual Retirement Plan LIVE begins!
• [5:00] What it takes for YOU to be my RPL subject for this year!

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? SEGMENT 

• [8:30] What is Hyperbolic discounting?

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT 

• [12:37] How should you evaluate your insurance needs in light of current insurance plans?
• [17:05] Why a second opinion on issues is important.
• [19:40] QUESTION: How should you evaluate annuities VS insurance solutions?
• [21:38] QUESTION: What should I do with extra money each month?

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT 

• [25:33] Go to your retirement accounts and review your allocations, then increase your contributions by 1%.

THE HAPPY LAB SEGMENT 

• [26:21] The importance of having little conversations all through life - and why you need more positive things to keep you on track.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Roger’s email: Roger(at)wwkllc.com - submit yourself for Retirement Plan LIVE
Contact Roger: http://www.rogerwhitney.com/retirementanswers/
Roger’s retirement learning center: www.RogerWhitney.com/learn
The Retirement Answer Man Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/RetirementAnswerMan
TWEETS YOU CAN USE TO SPREAD THE WORD 
#149 - How The #Temptation of #HyperbolicDiscounting Can Bite You In the End
Is your #RetirementFund really going to be there when you need it?
My 3rd annual #RetirementPlan LIVE will begin in February. Do you want in?
Anytime an #advisor makes recommendations before he understands, you should run!
One way you can avoid #HyperbolicDiscounting is by taking a small step of immediate #action