Articles published in January, 1999

I often share a taxi home with friends, and wonder how best to split the bill. When dropping a friend off first, I have received contributions varying from nothing to the full fare. If I get out first, what should I pay? As a woman with a large collection of frivolous shoes, walking home is a last resort. Frances, Brussels

Last week I mused about whether people in general were saving enough for retirement. (The answer: as far as we can tell, most people are.) This week I have decided to take on a far more important question: am I saving enough for retirement? Apparently this activity is called “retirement planning”, which strikes me as a silly phrase given the imponderables involved. Saving for retirement is usually posed as a problem of willpower: foolish, impatient people save too little and doom themselves to an old age devoid of Caribbean cruises. The real problem is not lack of willpower but lack of omniscience...