Estimating Personal Consumption with and Without Savings in Wrongful Death Cases

In wrongful death cases, forensic economists consider personal consumption costs of a decedent when determining economic damages. Many previous consumption studies have ignored savings as delayed consumption in their figures. As a result, the economist’s deductions for a decedent’s consumption will be too low. This study presents consumption tables and regression equations which both include and exclude various forms of savings. The data used are taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Surveys. Results indicate that in households with $40,000 or more income, consumption figures are higher when savings are considered.