Mental discounting and financial strategies

Subjective discount rates have been used as measures of time preference to explain saving behavior, with varying results. There is also a lack of agreement between different explanatory models of subjective discount rates. In this paper, it is argued that a better understanding of subjective discount rates can be reached by using groups with different financial strategies as domains. It is shown by PLS and regression analyses that the mental discounting process differs between groups practicing different financial strategies and that the explained variance of subjective discount rates and thus the understanding of such rates are improved by using financial strategy groups as domains.