MINIMIZING THE PROBABILITY OF LIFETIME RUIN: TWO RISKLESS ASSETS WITH TRANSACTION COSTS

Abstract

AbstractWe compute the optimal investment strategy for an individual who wishes to minimize her probability of lifetime ruin. The financial market in which she invests consists of two riskless assets. One riskless asset is a money market, and she consumes from that account. The other riskless asset is a bond that earns a higher interest rate than the money market, but buying and selling bonds are subject to proportional transaction costs. We consider the following three cases. (1) The individual is allowed to borrow from both riskless assets; ruin occurs if total imputed wealth reaches zero. Under the optimal strategy, the individual does not sell short the bond. However, she might wish to borrow from the money market to fund her consumption. Thus, in the next two cases, we seek to limit borrowing from that account. (2) We assume that the individual pays a higher rate to borrow than she earns on the money market. (3) The individual is not allowed to borrow from either asset; ruin occurs if both the money market and bond accounts reach zero wealth. We prove that the borrowing rate in case (2) acts as a parameter connecting the two seemingly unrelated cases (1) and (3).