38Case Study 3: Retirement Study
38.1 The Process and Analysis
This is an optimization application, which has had strong practical relevance to me. I think it will have strong relevance to any professional. The question is simple: “While working, how much of my income should I invest in retirement plans; and at what age should I retire?”
This case study reveals several aspects of the process of a human defining the optimization and also several problems that the surface presents to optimizers. Hopefully, this case study is also of personal interest to you as well as it brings a practical reveal of some issues related to optimization.
Whether the models I use match those you would use, or not, the procedure represents a classic optimization application. Don’t read this as my teaching the “way” to live a life. Look at this as a guide to creating an optimization application. Feel free to change the basis and equations to better suit you.
This analysis is for a person who works as an employee (such as a scientist, engineer, manager, or professor) for a career, invests in retirement accounts (such as stocks, mutual funds, or IRAs), then retires, and does not continue to earn money after retirement. Not everyone follows that path. Some start their own business, sell it for millions, and then “retire” to pursue the joys of starting another business. Some inherit a fortune or play the lottery so that they can have that fortune (but more probably lose a fortune). Some invest in rental ...
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