Question

2. Let’s work out a simple example where a person smooths her consumption over time. Gwen is a real estate agent, and she knows that she will have some good years and some bad years. She figures that half the time she’ll earn $90,000 per year, and half the time she’ll earn $20,000 per year. These numbers are after taxes and after saving for retirement. These numbers are all she has to worry about. a. If we ignore interest costs just to keep things simple, how much should Gwen consume in the average year? b. How many dollars will she save during the good years? c. How many dollars will she borrow during the bad years? (Note: "Borrowing," in this context, is basically the same as "pulling money out of savings.")

Answer 1

Answer:

A) How much should Gwen consume in the average year?

Gwen should consume the average money she earns taking into account the good and bad years.

In the good years, she is earning $90,000, and in the bad years she is earning $20,000. We simply obtain the average:

$90,000 + $20,000 = $110,000/2 = $55,000

B) How many dollars will she save during the good years?

Personal saving equals disposable income minus consumption. As stated above, during the good years she will consume $55,000, while having a disposable income of $90,000. Her personal saving will then be:

$90,000 - $55,000 = $35,000

C) How many dollars will she borrow during the bad years?

During the bad years, Gwen is making $20,000, while consuming an average of $55,000 per year. Therefore, her total borrowing during the bad yeras is:

$55,000 - $20,000 = $35,000

In other words, for every bad year, she will exhaust a total good year's savings.