Would you rather receive $5 a day for the rest of your life or $50,000 right here, right now?

Fistful of Abes

receive $5 a day for the rest of your life

Over an average lifetime, five dollars a day totals roughly one hundred fifty thousand dollars — about three times the lump sum
You only need to live about twenty-seven more years for the daily payments to surpass the fifty thousand dollars
A steady daily stream cannot be wiped out by a single bad investment or financial decision

receive $50,000 right here, right now

Fifty thousand dollars invested at a modest four percent annual return outpaces the daily stream's lifetime total well before average life expectancy
The break-even annual return rate is only three point six five percent — well below typical long-term market returns
Inflation steadily erodes the real value of five dollars a day, while a lump sum invested today compounds in today's stronger dollars
If you die earlier than expected the daily payments stop; the lump sum is already fully in your hands