Sometimes I talk to people who don't use retirement accounts because they think the world will change enormously between now and when they're older. Something like, the most likely outcomes are that things go super well and they won't need the money, or things go super poorly and we're all dead. So they keep savings in unrestricted accounts for maximum flexibility. Which I think is often a bad decision, at least in the US:

Even if you're especially optimistic or pessimistic, the chance that you'll want money at retirement is large enough to be worth planning for.
The money is less restricted than it sounds: there are several options for using the money before retirement age.
The money is more protected than if you save it normally.

I think the cleanest comparison [...]

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First published:
February 19th, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/CcqaJFf7TvAjuZFCx/retirement-accounts-and-short-timelines

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“Retirement Accounts and Short Timelines” by jefftk

LessWrong (30+ Karma)