Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal investment, heterogeneous consumption
and the best time for retirement
XU, Zuo Quan
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Stochastic Control in Finance, 22 - 26 July 2019, Singapore
Based on joint work with Harry Zheng, Imperial College London
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Background
Optimal investment and consumption
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Background
Optimal investment and consumption
PDE/viscosity solution approach
• Merton (1969 RES, 1971 JET, 1975 JFQA): lifetime portfolio
selection
• Fleming & Zariphopoulou (1991 MOR): borrowing constraint
• Zariphopoulou (1994 SICON): πt 6 f (Xt) and Xt > 0
• Vila & Zariphopoulou (1997 JET): borrowing constraint
• Oksendal & Sulem (2002 SICON): (fixed and proportional)
transaction costs
• Xu & Yi (2016 MCRF): ct 6 kXt + `
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Background
Optimal investment and consumption
Probabilistic/martingale method
• Brennan (1971 JFQA): different borrowing and lending rates
• Cvitanic & Karatzas (1992 AAP, 1993 AAP): portfolio con-
straint
• Bardhan (1994 JEDC): ct > ` and Xt > 0
• Cvitanic & Karatzas (1996 MF): transaction costs
• Karoui, Peng & Quenez (1997 MF): Backward stochastic
differential equations in finance
• Elie & Touzi (2008 FS): Xt > ϑ sups6t Xs
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Background
Optimal investment and consumption
Monograph
• Yong & Zhou (1999): Stochastic controls: Hamiltonian sys-
tems and HJB equations
• Fleming & Soner (2006): Controlled Markov processes and
viscosity solutions
• Pham (2009): Continuous-time stochastic control and opti-
mization with financial applications
• Karatzas & Shreve (2016): Methods of mathematical finance
(stochastic modelling and applied probability)
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Model formulation
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Features
Model features
• Heterogeneous consumptions: basic goods and luxury goods
• Utility function: two factors, non-concave
• Income: non-monotone, time-dependent, defer retirement
• Labor cost: non-monotone, time-dependent, prevent younger
to retire, encourage older to retire
• Mandatory retirement age
• Mixed controls: portfolio, retirement time, consumptions for
basic goods and luxury goods
• Complete market setup, also hold for convex constrained
trading strategies
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Features
Model features
• Heterogeneous consumptions: basic goods and luxury goods
• Utility function: two factors, non-concave
• Income: non-monotone, time-dependent, defer retirement
• Labor cost: non-monotone, time-dependent, prevent younger
to retire, encourage older to retire
• Mandatory retirement age
• Mixed controls: portfolio, retirement time, consumptions for
basic goods and luxury goods
• Complete market setup, also hold for convex constrained
trading strategies
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Features
Model features
• Heterogeneous consumptions: basic goods and luxury goods
• Utility function: two factors, non-concave
• Income: non-monotone, time-dependent, defer retirement
• Labor cost: non-monotone, time-dependent, prevent younger
to retire, encourage older to retire
• Mandatory retirement age
• Mixed controls: portfolio, retirement time, consumptions for
basic goods and luxury goods
• Complete market setup, also hold for convex constrained
trading strategies
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Features
Model features
• Heterogeneous consumptions: basic goods and luxury goods
• Utility function: two factors, non-concave
• Income: non-monotone, time-dependent, defer retirement
• Labor cost: non-monotone, time-dependent, prevent younger
to retire, encourage older to retire
• Mandatory retirement age
• Mixed controls: portfolio, retirement time, consumptions for
basic goods and luxury goods
• Complete market setup, also hold for convex constrained
trading strategies
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Features
Model features
• Heterogeneous consumptions: basic goods and luxury goods
• Utility function: two factors, non-concave
• Income: non-monotone, time-dependent, defer retirement
• Labor cost: non-monotone, time-dependent, prevent younger
to retire, encourage older to retire
• Mandatory retirement age
• Mixed controls: portfolio, retirement time, consumptions for
basic goods and luxury goods
• Complete market setup, also hold for convex constrained
trading strategies
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Features
Model features
• Heterogeneous consumptions: basic goods and luxury goods
• Utility function: two factors, non-concave
• Income: non-monotone, time-dependent, defer retirement
• Labor cost: non-monotone, time-dependent, prevent younger
to retire, encourage older to retire
• Mandatory retirement age
• Mixed controls: portfolio, retirement time, consumptions for
basic goods and luxury goods
• Complete market setup, also hold for convex constrained
trading strategies
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Features
Model features
• Heterogeneous consumptions: basic goods and luxury goods
• Utility function: two factors, non-concave
• Income: non-monotone, time-dependent, defer retirement
• Labor cost: non-monotone, time-dependent, prevent younger
to retire, encourage older to retire
• Mandatory retirement age
• Mixed controls: portfolio, retirement time, consumptions for
basic goods and luxury goods
• Complete market setup, also hold for convex constrained
trading strategies
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Mathematical formulation
Financial assets
• One bond dS0(t) = rS0(t) dt, t > 0,
S0(0) = s0 > 0.
• n stocksdSi (t) = Si (t)
(bi dt +
n∑j=1
σij dB j(t)
), t > 0,
Si (0) = si > 0.
The parameters r , µ and σ are all constant and σ is nonsingular.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Mathematical formulation
Wealth process and controls
dX (t) = (rX (t) + π(t) · µ+ I (t)1{t6τ}−c(t)− g(t)) dt
+π(t) · σ dB(t),
X0 = x0.
• I (·): the income process (given)
• π(·): the investment strategy
• τ : the retirement time, no later than the mandatory retire-
ment age T
• c(·): the consumption rate on the basic goods
• g(·): the consumption rate on the luxury goods
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Mathematical formulation
Target
Find a feasible strategy (π, c , g , τ) to maximize
E[∫ +∞
0e−ρtu(c(t), g(t)) dt −
∫ τ
0e−ρtL(t) dt
]
• u(·, ·): the heterogeneous utility function, non-concave for
luxury goods
• ρ: the discount factor
• L(·): the labor cost process (given, deterministic)
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Related work
Non-concave utility maximisation
• Carpenter (2002 JF): Does option compensation increase
managerial risk appetite?
• Guan, Li, Xu and & Yi (2017 MCRF): A stochastic control
problem and related free boundaries in finance
• Bian, Chen & Xu (2019 SIFIN): Utility maximization under
trading constraints with discontinuous utility
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Related work
Multi-consumption goods
• Breeden (1979 JFE): An intertemporal asset pricing model
with stochastic consumption and investment opportunities
• Madan (1988 JET): Risk measurement in semimartingale
models with multiple consumption goods
• Lakner (1989 PhD thesis): Consumption/investment and equi-
librium in the presence of several commodities
• Ait-Sahalia, Parker and Yogo (2004 JF): Luxury goods and
the equity premium
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Related work
Multi-consumption goods (cont’d)
• Wachter & Yogo (2010 RFS): Why do household portfolio
shares rise in wealth?
• Koo, Roh & Shin (2017 JIA): An optimal consumption, gift,
investment, and voluntary retirement choice problem with
quadratic and HARA utility
• Campanale (2018 B.E.JM): Luxury consumption, precaution-
ary savings and wealth inequality
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Related work
Data from Ait-Sahalia, Parker and Yogo (2004 JF)
Luxury Goods and the Equity Premium 2961
-25
-15
-5
5
15
25
-35 -25 -15 -5 5 15 25 35Excess Returns (%)
Con
sum
ptio
n G
row
th (%
)
PCE nondurables & services Luxury retail sales(A)
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
1961 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001Year
Perc
ent
PCE nondurables & services Luxury retail sales Excess returns
1974
1990
1995
1970
(B)
Figure 1. Response of basic and luxury consumption to stock returns. Panel A is a scatterplot of the growth rate for PCE nondurables and services and sales of luxury retailers againstexcess stock returns (CRSP NYSE-AMEX portfolio over 3-month T-bills). The thin (thick) line isthe least squares regression line for PCE nondurables and services (sales of luxury retailers). PanelB is a time series plot of the growth rate for PCE nondurables and services, the growth rate forsales of luxury retailers, and excess stock returns. All series are normalized to have zero mean andare reported in percent.
is a time series plot of these series. For comparison, we include the growthrate of PCE nondurables and services in both plots. PCE is relatively smoothand almost nonresponsive to excess returns. By contrast, the consumption ofluxuries is both more volatile and more correlated with excess returns. Luxury
Figure: The growth rate for PCE nondurables and services and sales of
luxury retailers against excess stock returns
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Related work
Data from Ait-Sahalia, Parker and Yogo (2004 JF) (Cont’d)
Luxury Goods and the Equity Premium 2961
-25
-15
-5
5
15
25
-35 -25 -15 -5 5 15 25 35Excess Returns (%)
Con
sum
ptio
n G
row
th (%
)
PCE nondurables & services Luxury retail sales(A)
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
1961 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001Year
Perc
ent
PCE nondurables & services Luxury retail sales Excess returns
1974
1990
1995
1970
(B)
Figure 1. Response of basic and luxury consumption to stock returns. Panel A is a scatterplot of the growth rate for PCE nondurables and services and sales of luxury retailers againstexcess stock returns (CRSP NYSE-AMEX portfolio over 3-month T-bills). The thin (thick) line isthe least squares regression line for PCE nondurables and services (sales of luxury retailers). PanelB is a time series plot of the growth rate for PCE nondurables and services, the growth rate forsales of luxury retailers, and excess stock returns. All series are normalized to have zero mean andare reported in percent.
is a time series plot of these series. For comparison, we include the growthrate of PCE nondurables and services in both plots. PCE is relatively smoothand almost nonresponsive to excess returns. By contrast, the consumption ofluxuries is both more volatile and more correlated with excess returns. Luxury
Figure: The growth rate for PCE nondurables and services, the growth
rate for sales of luxury retailers, and excess stock returns
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Related work
Mixed control with PDE
• Choi & Shim (2006 MF): Disutility, optimal retirement, and
portfolio selection
• Choi, Shim & Shin (2008 MF): Optimal portfolio, consumption-
leisure and retirement choice problem with CES utility
• Lim & Shin (2008 QF): Optimal investment, consumption
and retirement decision with disutility and borrowing con-
straints
• Guan, Li, Xu & Yi (2017 MCRF): A stochastic control prob-
lem and related free boundaries in finance
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Related work
Mixed control with RBSDE
• Buckdahn & Li (2011 AMAS): Stochastic differential games
with reflection and related obstacle problems for Isaacs equa-
tions
• Karatzas & Wang (2000 SICON): Utility maximization with
discretionary stopping
• Hamadene & Lepeltier (2000 SPTA): Reflected BSDEs and
mixed game problem
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Solution
Methods
• Combine heterogeneous consumptions to a single total con-
sumption
• Turn the non-concave utility into a concave utility
• Post-retirement problem: stationary life-time problem, ex-
plicit solution
• Pre-retirement problem: a nonlinear variational inequality
• Dual method: turn nonlinear variational inequalities into lin-
ear ones
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Solution
Dual approach in probability
• Bismut (1973 JMAA): Conjugate convex functions in optimal
stochastic control
• Karatzas, Lehoczky, Shreve & Xu (1991 SICON): Martingale
and duality methods for utility maximization in an incomplete
market
• Shreve & Xu (1992 AAP): A duality method for optimal con-
sumption and investment under short-selling prohibition. I.
general market coefficients; and II. constant market coeffi-
cients
• Cvitanic & Karatzas (1992 AAP): Convex duality in con-
strained portfolio optimization
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Solution
Dual approach in probability/PDE
• Hugonnier & Kramkov (2004 AAP): Optimal investment with
random endowments in incomplete markets
• Hugonnier, Kramkov & Schachermayer (2005 MF): On utility-
based pricing of contingent claims in incomplete markets
• Xu & Yi (2016 MCRF): An optimal consumption-investment
model with constraint on consumption
• Guan, Li, Xu and & Yi (2017 MCRF): A stochastic control
problem and related free boundaries in finance
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model
Solution
Optimal stopping
• Shiryaev (1978): Optimal stopping rules
• Barndorff-Nielsen & Shiryaev (2010): Change of time and
change of measure
• Dai & Xu (2011 MF): Optimal redeeming strategy of stock
loans with finite maturity
• Xu & Zhou (2013 AAP): Optimal stopping under probability
distortion
• Xu & Yi (2019 MOR): Optimal redeeming strategy of stock
loans under drift uncertainty
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model reformulation
Model reformulation
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model reformulation
Overall utility
Definition
The overall utility is
u(k) = supc, g>0,c+g=k
u(c, g).
Assume it satisfies the Inada conditions with power growth rate
• limk→+∞ u(k) = +∞
• limk→0+ u′(k) = +∞
• u(k)� kp with 0 < p < 1
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model reformulation
Overall utility
Example 1: u(c , g ) = u1(c) + u2(g )
• If u(c , g) = u1(c) + u2(g) is increasing and strictly concave
in both c and g , and
limc→0+
u′1(c) = limg→0+
u′2(g) = +∞.
Then u(·) is globally concave.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model reformulation
Overall utility
Example 2: u(c , g ) =√c +
√(g − a)+
• If u(c , g) =√c +
√(g − a)+ for some a > 0. Then
u(k) = supc,g>0,c+g=k
u(c , g) =
√k, 0 6 k 6 2a;√
2k − 2a, k > 2a.
• The concave envelope of u(·) is given by
u(k) =
√k, 0 6 k < a;
12√a
(k + a), a 6 k 6 3a;√
2k − 2a, k > 3a.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model reformulation
Overall utility
Example 2: u(c , g ) =√c +
√(g − a)+
• If u(c , g) =√c +
√(g − a)+ for some a > 0. Then
u(k) = supc,g>0,c+g=k
u(c , g) =
√k, 0 6 k 6 2a;√
2k − 2a, k > 2a.
• The concave envelope of u(·) is given by
u(k) =
√k, 0 6 k < a;
12√a
(k + a), a 6 k 6 3a;√
2k − 2a, k > 3a.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model reformulation
Overall utility
Example 2: u(c , g ) =√c +
√(g − a)+ (cont’d)
-
6
0
u(k)
a 2a 3a k
u(k)
Figure: Non-concave u(·) and its concave envelope u(·).
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Model reformulation
Model reformulation
New formulation
• The new wealth process followsdX (t) = (rX (t) + π(t) · µ+ I (t)1{t6τ}−k(t)) dt
+π(t) · σ dB(t),
X0 = x0,
• k(·) = c(·) + g(·): the total consumption process
• The new target is
supτ,k,π
E[∫ +∞
0e−ρt u(k(t)) dt −
∫ τ
0e−ρtL(t) dt
]• u: the overall utility, non-concave in general
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Post-retirement problem
Post-retirement problem
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Post-retirement problem
Problem formulation
Value function
• The wealth process after retirement t > τ follows
dX (t) = (rX (t) + π(t) · µ− k(t)) dt + π(t) · σ dB(t).
• Define the value function for the post-retirement problem
V (x) = supk,π
E[∫ +∞
τe−ρ(t−τ)u(k(t)) dt
∣∣∣ X (τ) = x
]. (1)
• Difficulty: non-concave utility
• Approach: dual method
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Post-retirement problem
Solution
Dual utility
• Define
h(y) = supk>0
(u(k)− ky
), y > 0.
• Then
h(y) = supk>0
(u(k)− ky
),
u(k) = infy>0
(h(y) + ky).
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Post-retirement problem
Solution
Example 2: u(c , g ) =√c +
√(g − a)+ (cont’d)
• h(y) = 14y + ( 1
4y − ay)+.
• The supreme is attained at
(c∗(y), g∗(y)) =
( 14y2 , a + 1
4y2 ), 0 < y < 12√a
;
( 14y2 , 0), y > 1
2√a.
• Either c∗(y) + g∗(y) 6 a or > 3a.
• Never optimal to consume a < c∗(y) + g∗(y) < 3a.
• Either g∗(y) = 0 or g∗(y) > 2a.
• Never optimal to consume 0 < g∗(y) < 2a for luxury goods.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Post-retirement problem
Solution
Data from Ait-Sahalia, Parker and Yogo (2004 JF) (Cont’d)2966 The Journal of Finance
Figure 2. Consumption of basic and luxury goods under nonhomothetic utility. Thefigure plots the consumption of basic and luxury goods as a function of total expenditure.
two conditional Euler equations,
Et
!β(Ct+1 − a)−φ
(Ct − a)−φ
"Rt+1 − R f
t+1
#$= 0, (9)
Et
!β(Lt+1 + b)−ψ
(Lt + b)−ψ
Pt
Pt+1
"Rt+1 − R f
t+1
#$= 0. (10)
The law of iterated expectations implies the unconditional versions of theseequations.
The focus of the previous literature is on the unconditional version of equa-tion (5), or if one takes the view that luxuries are not contained in NIPA non-durables consumption, of equation (9). We instead focus on the estimation andtesting of equation (10). Equation (10) provides a test of whether the consump-tion Euler equation holds for wealthy households.
Our choice of utility function implies that the relevant curvature parame-ter that determines a household’s attitude toward risk depends on the levelof its total expenditures X.3 Consider the Arrow–Pratt definition of relativerisk aversion γ (X) = −Xu′′(X)/u′(X). The coefficient of relative risk aversionwith respect to gambles over C is γC(C ) = φC/(C − a), which falls with C andasymptotically approaches φ. Hence, for households with sufficiently low lev-els of X that only consume C, γ (X) = γC(C ), so φ is the curvature parameterthat controls risk aversion. Risk aversion with respect to gambles over L is
3 Risk aversion that varies with wealth is an inherent feature of any nonhomothetic intra-periodutility function. There is no utility function that admits nonhomothetic Engel curves and deliv-ers constant relative risk aversion (see Stiglitz (1969), Hanoch (1977), and the discussion of theelasticity of intertemporal substitution in Browning and Crossley (2000)).
Figure: Consumption of basic and luxury goods under nonhomothetic
utility
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Post-retirement problem
Solution
Dual value function
• Define
V(y) = E[∫ ∞
0e−ρth(Y (t)) dt
∣∣∣∣ Y (0) = y
], (2)
where
dY (t) = Y (t)((ρ− r) dt + ϑ · dB(t)).
• Define the concave conjugate function of V by
V(x) = infy>0
(V(y) + xy), x > 0. (3)
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Post-retirement problem
Solution
Verification theorem for the post-retirement problem
Theorem 1
The function V is the same as the value function V of the post-
retirement problem.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Post-retirement problem
Solution
Example 3: u(c , g ) =(c−a)1−φ+
1−φ + (g+b)1−ψ
1−ψ (Ait-Sahalia et al.)
• The utility function is
u(c , g) =(c − a)1−φ+
1− φ+
(g + b)1−ψ
1− ψ.
• Then
h(y) = φ1−φy
1− 1φ − ay + 1
1−ψb1−ψ
+( ψ1−ψy
1− 1ψ + by − 1
1−ψb1−ψ)1{y<b−ψ} .
• The dual value function is
V(y) = C1y1− 1
φ +C2y +C3 + (C4y1− 1
ψ +C5y +C6)1{y<b−ψ} .
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Pre-retirement problem
Pre-retirement problem
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Pre-retirement problem
Problem formulation
Value function
• The wealth process before retirement t 6 τ follows
dX (t) = (rX (t) + π(t) · µ+ I (t)− k(t)) dt + π(t) · σ dB(t).
• The pre-retirement problem is
supk,π,τ
E[∫ τ
0e−ρt(u(k(t))− L(t)) dt + e−ρτV (X (τ))
].
• Difficulty: non-concave utility, mixed controls
• Approach: dual method
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Pre-retirement problem
Solution
Verification theorem for the pre-retirement problem
Theorem 2
If w is a classical solution of the variational inequality (VI)min
{− sup
k,π{(∂t + L)W − ρW + u(k)− L(t)} ,W − V
}= 0,
W (T , x) = V (x), (t, x) ∈ S := [0,T )× (0,∞);(4)
where
L = 12‖π · σ‖
2∂xx + (rx + π · µ+ I (t)− k)∂x .
Then w is the value function of the pre-retirement problem.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Pre-retirement problem
Solution
Dual value function
Consider the following dual variational inequalitymin
{− ∂tW − 1
2‖ϑ‖2y2∂yyW − (ρ− r)y∂yW + ρW
−yI (t)− h(y) + L(t), W − V}
= 0,
W(T , y) = V(y). (t, y) ∈ S;
(5)
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Pre-retirement problem
Solution
Dual value function
Related optimal stopping problem
W(t, y) = supt6τ6T
E{∫ τ
te−ρ(s−t)
(I (s)Y (s)+h(Y (s))−L(s)
)ds
+ e−ρ(τ−t)V(Y (τ))∣∣∣ Y (t) = y
},
where the underlying process Y (·) follows a GBM
dY (t) = Y (t)((ρ− r) dt + ϑ · dB(t)).
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Pre-retirement problem
Solution
Dual value function: Existence
Theorem 3 (Existence)
The problem (5) has a solution W, which is convex and decreas-
ing in y . Moreover, W, ∂yW are continuous in S, ∂tW, ∂yyWare bounded in any bounded subdomain of S; the free boundary,
defined by the boundary of {W = V}, is Lipschitz in both time
and space variable.
Idea to prove: The existence of the solution can be proved by
standard penalty method. For the proof of the Lipschitz continuity
of the free boundary, we refer to Nystrom (2007).
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Pre-retirement problem
Solution
Dual value function: Uniqueness
Theorem 4 (Comparison principle)
Let ui (t, y), i = 1, 2, be the solutions of the following VIsmin{− (∂t +M)ui − fi (t, y), ui − gi (t, y)
}= 0,
ui (T , y) = hi (y), (t, y) ∈ S,
where M is a linear elliptic operator on y . If f1 > f2, g1 > g2,
h1 > h2, and |u1(t, y)|+|u2(t, y)| 6 CeCy2
in S, for some C > 0,
then
u1(t, y) > u2(t, y), (t, y) ∈ S.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Pre-retirement problem
Solution
Value function of the pre-retirement problem
As a consequence, we have
Corollary 5
The dual variational inequality (5) has a unique solution W.
Theorem 6
Let
W(t, x) = infy>0
(W(t, y) + xy), (t, x) ∈ S.
Then W is the value function of the pre-retirement problem.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Pre-retirement problem
Solution
Value function of the pre-retirement problem
As a consequence, we have
Corollary 5
The dual variational inequality (5) has a unique solution W.
Theorem 6
Let
W(t, x) = infy>0
(W(t, y) + xy), (t, x) ∈ S.
Then W is the value function of the pre-retirement problem.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal retirement region
Optimal retirement region
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal retirement region
Free boundary problem
Variational inequality
• Define
W(t, y) := e−ρt(W(t, y)− V(y)), (t, y) ∈ S.
• Thenmin {−(∂t + L)W− e−ρt(yI (t)− L(t)), W} = 0,
W(T , y) = 0, (t, y) ∈ S;(6)
where
L := 12‖ϑ‖
2y2∂yy + (ρ− r)y∂y .
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal retirement region
Free boundary problem
Retirement region and working region
• Define the retirement region
R = {(t, y) ∈ S |W(t, y) = 0},
and the working region
C = {(t, y) ∈ S |W(t, y) > 0}.
• Then
R = {(t, y) ∈ S | y 6 b(t)},
C = {(t, y) ∈ S | y > b(t)},
where the free boundary b(t) = inf{y > 0 |W(t, y) > 0}.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal retirement region
Free boundary problem
Properties of the free boundary
• We have b(t) 6 L(t)I (t) for all t ∈ [0,T ].
• Because W is independent of u(·), the free boundary b(·) is
irrelevant to the individual’s utility function! It is universal.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal retirement region
Free boundary problem
Properties of the free boundary
• We have b(t) 6 L(t)I (t) for all t ∈ [0,T ].
• Because W is independent of u(·), the free boundary b(·) is
irrelevant to the individual’s utility function! It is universal.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal retirement region
Free boundary problem
Hypothesis on growth condition
Hypothesis 1
We have L′(t)L(t) > ρ > I ′(t)
I (t) for t ∈ [T − `,T ] with ` a positive
constant 6 T .
• For a young person, his marginal labor cost is decreasing as
he gets more skilled.
• For an older one, his marginal labor cost is increasing as he
becomes ageing with less energy and more burdens such as
illness, family issue, child care.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal retirement region
Free boundary problem
Hypothesis on growth condition
Hypothesis 1
We have L′(t)L(t) > ρ > I ′(t)
I (t) for t ∈ [T − `,T ] with ` a positive
constant 6 T .
• For a young person, his marginal labor cost is decreasing as
he gets more skilled.
• For an older one, his marginal labor cost is increasing as he
becomes ageing with less energy and more burdens such as
illness, family issue, child care.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal retirement region
Free boundary problem
Hypothesis: income process, labor cost process
-
6
0
L(t)
T − ` tT
I (t)
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal retirement region
Free boundary problem
Monotonicity of the free boundary
Theorem 7
Assume Hypothesis 1 holds. Then b(t) is increasing for t ∈ [T −`,T ] with the terminal value
b(T−) := limt→T
b(t) =L(T )
I (T ).
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal retirement region
Free boundary problem
Monotonicity of the free boundary
-
6 L(T )I (T )•
b(t)� y = L(t)I (t)
�
y0
T
T − `
t
R C
Figure: The two regions R and C under Hypothesis 1
.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal retirement region
Free boundary problem
A numerical example
• Define
L(t) =
a0 + a1t + 12a2t
2, if t 6 T − `;
eKt , if t > T − `,
where
a0 = eK(T−`) (1− K (T − `) + 12K
2(T − `)2),
a1 = KeK(T−`) (1− K (T − `)) ,
a2 = K 2eK(T−`).
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal retirement region
Free boundary problem
A numerical example (cont’d)
• Choose 1/K < T − ` so that L(·) is first decreasing and then
increasing.
• Set I (t) = CeK′t .
• Choose the following parameters
K = 2, K ′ = 0.4, C = 8, ` = 0.7, T = 2, ρ = 0.5.
They satisfy all the requirements and Hypothesis 1.
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal retirement region
Free boundary problem
A numerical example (cont’d)
Figure: The functions L(·) and I (·).
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Optimal retirement region
Free boundary problem
A numerical example (cont’d)
Figure: The non-monotone free boundary b(·).
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Conclusion
Optimal consumption
• Consume only basic goods when the wealth is small
• Consume basic goods and make savings when the wealth is
intermediate
• Consume small portion in basic goods and large portion in
luxury goods when the wealth is large
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Conclusion
Optimal consumption
• Consume only basic goods when the wealth is small
• Consume basic goods and make savings when the wealth is
intermediate
• Consume small portion in basic goods and large portion in
luxury goods when the wealth is large
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Conclusion
Optimal consumption
• Consume only basic goods when the wealth is small
• Consume basic goods and make savings when the wealth is
intermediate
• Consume small portion in basic goods and large portion in
luxury goods when the wealth is large
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Conclusion
Optimal retirement time
• Prefer to work for young people
• Prefer to retire near mandatory retirement age
• Not universal: different wealth levels for individuals with dif-
ferent preferences
• Universal: same level marginal consumption utilities for dif-
ferent individuals, determined only by market parameters and
income process and labor cost process
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Conclusion
Optimal retirement time
• Prefer to work for young people
• Prefer to retire near mandatory retirement age
• Not universal: different wealth levels for individuals with dif-
ferent preferences
• Universal: same level marginal consumption utilities for dif-
ferent individuals, determined only by market parameters and
income process and labor cost process
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Conclusion
Optimal retirement time
• Prefer to work for young people
• Prefer to retire near mandatory retirement age
• Not universal: different wealth levels for individuals with dif-
ferent preferences
• Universal: same level marginal consumption utilities for dif-
ferent individuals, determined only by market parameters and
income process and labor cost process
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Conclusion
Optimal retirement time
• Prefer to work for young people
• Prefer to retire near mandatory retirement age
• Not universal: different wealth levels for individuals with dif-
ferent preferences
• Universal: same level marginal consumption utilities for dif-
ferent individuals, determined only by market parameters and
income process and labor cost process
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Investment, consumption and best retirement time
Conclusion
Thank you for your attention!
XU Zuo Quan, Hong Kong PolyU, [email protected] Investment, consumption and best retirement time