Abstract
Some financial decisions that improve with age reflect age-related increases in domain-general experience. Here, we took a domain-specific approach to investigate age differences in monetary sequences preferences. Participants recruited through MTurk (n = 830, aged 20–88, Mage = 45.60, SD = 14.99) read vignettes about receiving and paying money, and rated preferences for monetary sequences from 1 (start with larger amounts first, end with the smaller) to 6 (start with smaller amounts first, end with the larger). Participants then completed measures of financial literacy and experience. Older age was significantly associated with preferences for receiving larger amounts of money sooner than smaller amounts and greater financial literacy and experience. Age was not associated with preferences for paying money. Older adults’ greater financial literacy, but not their financial experience, statistically accounted for part of the age-related variance in preferences for receiving money. Implications for financial decision making interventions are discussed.