£500 today or £1,000 in two years?

catflea

Personal circumstances win out.

I can take £500 now, use that as a deposit to move out of my folks place or wait another 6 months and drive myself even more mental.

No brainer really

antonia1

I'd take the £500 now, but I wouldn't take the £5000 now.

Basically, if I take the £500 now I'd lose £500 over two years, so it would cost me approx £22 per month to take the £500 now. That £500 would mean that I could clear £500 off my overdraft and I would have access to that money at fairly low interest rates in case of emergencies (such as car falling apart, unexpected moving flats etc). I would pay £22 per month for the peace of mind, so I would take the £500.

Taking the £5000 now would cost me £5000 over two years, approximately £220 per month. Again, this would be used to clear debts and as a safety net. However, I am not prepared to pay £220 per month for the peace of mind, so I wouldn't take the £5000.

Sublime_2

I'd take the £500 now, because I haven't finished decorating my new place. Who knows what can happen in two years, it might never materialise.

If my place was decorated properly, I would wait though.

chattychappy

Just shows how financially illiterate people are in the UK.

Joe_Bloggs

If it sounds too good to be true then more than likely it is false.
It is too good to be true, as the original premise, was just an idea created by MSE Martin.

The OFT have 'launched' Scamnesty without creating a ripple. I hope they did not pay anything for media consultants to think up that title.
Scamnasty would have cost them £1.21p. Scamathon,Scam Month,Scammed United were not worthy of consideration.

J_B.

camaj

Joe_Bloggs wrote: »

If the 'double your money in two years' was offered to me I would think it's a 'Ponzi' scheme or maybe worse.

It's not a pyramid (or ponzi) scheme at all. The question doesn't offer to double your money, so there's absolutely no risk, you'll either end up with £500 or £1000, you're doubling there money not yours.

I'm astonished by anyone who would take £500. Even if you say "I'm only gaining £500" in two years, it's still double and you'd be unlikely to double it yourself

That said, I might be tempted because £500 might make a huge difference to me now, if I got a good job and more then doubled my salaray, sometime in the next two years then £1000 would be a relatively small. It would still be the best choice but I wouldn't neccessarily be happier.

autumnflower

This is a talk by Dan Gilbert about the very same thing. It also talks about stuff like if you lost a £20 ticket for the theater would you buy another one, vs. if you lost £20 on the way there. It also explains the differences why people make these decisions, its such an excellent watch!

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_gilbert_researches_happiness.html

Money_Saving_Dude

1k in two years is obviously better. But then I'm on mse.com, of an age when HP was a stigma, over 45, a relatively high earner and (I like to think) good with money.

So my question is what is the age split? If, as I would hypothesise, many of the 80% are young (eg < 30) then this could reflect changing attitudes of society.

Plus if it's on Facebook then that is another indicator of that the sample may be biased towards the young. I refuse to use Facebook or Twitter (or PayPal come to that). But again I like to think I'm Internet (with a Capital, please!) savvy -- or I'm just Billy No-Mates!

But a good quiz to generate a discussion, so top marks for that!

skylight

I would take £500 now; but that is because I am due to move house in a few weeks and need the money for things!

But if it were £5000 or £10,000 - I would take the £10,000 in two years. I can do a lot with £10k and don't mind waiting!

tgroom57

http://linkd.in/hgCB0U

Don't know if you can see this link - 42 votes - two thirds (64%) figure they can get good value from £500 up front.
This is from Linked In, professional networking site.