Suppose everyone were rational in their saving decisions. Now assume that a social scientist decides to interview 10,000 people, to see if they regret how much they had saved when young. Of this group, 8000 are old people who are still alive, 650 are in heaven, and 1350 are in hell. The average person expresses no regret—they saved the right amount. However, there is an interesting pattern. On average, the 8000 living interviewees express regret for not saving more, while the 2000 who are dead express regret for saving too much when young.
