• April 25, 2024

Years of research have produced contradictory findings about the effects of aging in the power of the brain. Now, a new study suggests that people between 65 and 90 years of age are significantly less likely than their younger counterparts to take what researchers define as rational financial decisions.

Not surprisingly, they are also more risk-averse in their financial decisions compared to middle-aged people, but not in all situations, the researchers found.

Running financial risks

Families, doctors and other caregivers "must know these profound differences" in the way older people make decisions compared to younger ones, he said. Ifat Levy, co-author of the study.

However, he warned that the tests used in the study have limitations, and that "more research is needed to directly relate these measures to behaviors in real life." The problem is the ability of seniors to consider risk when it comes to money.

There is some evidence that some types of decisions actually improve with age. "It seems that older adults could be better at decisions that depend mostly on past experience and knowledge," he explained. Levy, assistant professor of comparative medicine and neurobiology at Yale University.

More time to make decisions

In fact, another study published recently in the September issue of the journal Psychology and Aging, shows that older people can make better decisions than younger ones, because they know more.

However, their brains also work more slowly and need more time to clarify complex financial situations, according to the study. "Although their brains were in good condition, older people made worse decisions than younger ones," Levy said.

Older people did not like the risk much compared to young people and middle-aged people, but neither did adolescents, he said. Older people were willing to take a greater risk when they had to choose between two levels of financial loss.

What happen? Levy pointed to one possibility: a loss in thinking skills related to brain deterioration due to aging. In addition, he said, the study shows that older adults were less able to understand numbers than younger people.

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