How Age Affects Risk and Time Preferences : Evidence From a Representative Sample

We explore the relationships between age, risk tolerance, and impatience in a large sample representative of the French population (n = 1154). We combine elicited preferences data based on an incentivized web experiment and stated preferences data based on self-reported survey measures. Concerning stated preferences, risk tolerance and impatience tend to decline with age. In contrast, our elicited measures reveal that risk tolerance increases with age, but that age has an insignificant effect on impatience. In addition, we observe that individuals who are more risk-tolerant are less impatient in the experimental tasks and that this relationship is independent of age. However, the stated preferences data reveals that higher risk tolerance is associated with higher impatience and that this relationship strengthens with age in the financial domain. We also discuss the issues raised by these contradictory findings across methods