How should someone think about the costs and benefits of the amount they save for etirement? Specifically, take my family as an example: Suppose my wife and I are considering increasing our monthly retirement contributions from $1000/month to $1750 /month. We care about ourselves and our children, both now and in the future. Consider the following 4 "groups" of people that will probably be affected by this decision. - Group 1 - Short-term us: Me and my wife over the next 20 years - Group 2 - Short-term kids: Our kids over the next 20 years - Group 3 - Future us: Me and my wife 30 to 50 years from now (assuming we retire in about 30 years) - Group 4 - Really far future kids: Our kids 50+ years from now (or whenever we die). Then, answer the following questions. 1. For each of these groups, will they be better or worse off if my wife and I decide to increase our monthly retirement contributions? - Be sure to explain why/how. - You can and should indicate the financial impact (-Group will have more/less money because...'), but also briefly explain how this change might affect the relevant people's lives 2. Are there any groups where it's not clear whether increasing the retirement contributions makes them better off or worse off? 3. If we do decide to make the increase, what other choices (financial or otherwise) might affect how the increased retirement contributions affect one or more of the groups? Explain why/how. 4. Given your answers and the tradeoffs above, what values, ideas, beliefs, desires, fears, rules, notions, or other considerations will be important for making this decision? (Note: you don't need to address every single thing on that list - I'm just trying to give you room to incorporate anything that you think should come into play here) How should someone think about the costs and benefits of the amount they save for etirement? Specifically, take my family as an example: Suppose my wife and I are considering increasing our monthly retirement contributions from $1000/month to $1750 /month. We care about ourselves and our children, both now and in the future. Consider the following 4 "groups" of people that will probably be affected by this decision. - Group 1 - Short-term us: Me and my wife over the next 20 years - Group 2 - Short-term kids: Our kids over the next 20 years - Group 3 - Future us: Me and my wife 30 to 50 years from now (assuming we retire in about 30 years) - Group 4 - Really far future kids: Our kids 50+ years from now (or whenever we die). Then, answer the following questions. 1. For each of these groups, will they be better or worse off if my wife and I decide to increase our monthly retirement contributions? - Be sure to explain why/how. - You can and should indicate the financial impact (-Group will have more/less money because...'), but also briefly explain how this change might affect the relevant people's lives 2. Are there any groups where it's not clear whether increasing the retirement contributions makes them better off or worse off? 3. If we do decide to make the increase, what other choices (financial or otherwise) might affect how the increased retirement contributions affect one or more of the groups? Explain why/how. 4. Given your answers and the tradeoffs above, what values, ideas, beliefs, desires, fears, rules, notions, or other considerations will be important for making this decision? (Note: you don't need to address every single thing on that list - I'm just trying to give you room to incorporate anything that you think should come into play here)
