A society could accomplish something similar by agreeing that older people should donate or give gifts to younger people, moreso than the other way around. This also smooths spending, but without the risks involved with spending money you don’t have yet. The tricky part is that the generation that starts it won’t get the benefits, and there has to be something to keep later generations from defecting.
There does appear to be a social norm of doing this within families—parents are more likely to buy expensive gifts for their children than vice versa, and often help them pay their expenses while they have no income (students, mainly). It varies by degree in different circles, though. (I suspect there’s more smoothing when the parents’ income is higher, but I’m not very confident of that.)
Social pressures are probably also a major reason why parents don’t smooth childrens’ incomes more, and people don’t smooth their own incomes. Spending money you haven’t earned yourself (yet) is looked down upon.
A society could accomplish something similar by agreeing that older people should donate or give gifts to younger people, moreso than the other way around. This also smooths spending, but without the risks involved with spending money you don’t have yet. The tricky part is that the generation that starts it won’t get the benefits, and there has to be something to keep later generations from defecting.
There does appear to be a social norm of doing this within families—parents are more likely to buy expensive gifts for their children than vice versa, and often help them pay their expenses while they have no income (students, mainly). It varies by degree in different circles, though. (I suspect there’s more smoothing when the parents’ income is higher, but I’m not very confident of that.)
Social pressures are probably also a major reason why parents don’t smooth childrens’ incomes more, and people don’t smooth their own incomes. Spending money you haven’t earned yourself (yet) is looked down upon.