According to an article entitled “3 misunderstood factors affect pre-decision in retirement planning,” behavioral finance is providing new insights into client behavior and how people generally make financial decisions. Essentially, behavioral finance researchers claim that how alternatives are framed, or presented, greatly influences how a person will view choices.
Sue me, but I’m just not enamored with the tenets of behavioral finance when it comes to planning your retirement income. I happen to believe it’s now in vogue because the options offered to consumers are simply not attractive. So, they need to be presented differently to make them more palatable to the consumer.
Personally, I think it’s more important to improve the choices than to sugarcoat the options. Then let’s see what happens.
Another article that caught my eye was in USA Today. It’s bold headline declared, “For your retirement planning, count on living until age 95.”
The article makes the point that if you knew your date of death, retirement planning would be a breeze.
Since we don’t, though, retirement planning has some risks associated with it. What if you live longer than you anticipated? Or die younger than you’d planned for?
Here’s what I keep coming back to: Actuarial risks are most effectively addressed using actuarial solutions – called insurance or annuities.