Also applied to consumed assets, such as gas, and termed "depletion".
Using outside money for the taxes keeps the balance in the sheltered account high, and it also consumes assets that would themselves get damaged over the next 25 years by income and estate taxes.
Finally, Japan's population is aging fast, faster than any other G-7 country, and these old folks dissave as they consume their assets to live in retirement.
Even comfortably well-off Americans know that years of in-home care, a critical illness or extended institutional care for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease can consume their assets, leaving little, if any money, for their spouses, heirs, philanthropic efforts or even their own living expenses.
For retirees trading from home, the odds are far worse; computers, commissions, taxes, accounting and other necessities can easily consume 2% of assets annually (even before putting a value on the retiree's time).
We need to be smarter about the way we consume and leverage the assets that we have already and make better use [of them]," he says.
These same capital assets also consume the goods and services produced by that economy.
Such disposals wouldn't be for "short-term" gains, says Baladi, but for "optimizing profits long term" by shedding nonessential assets that consume capital.
With boomers' parents living into their 90s and beyond, and facing unknown medical and long-term care costs, they might consume more of their assets than expected.
The cost of running buildings and the resources they consume can be reduced, asset utilization can be increased -- as can the revenue they generate -- and asset maintenance costs can be reduced through condition repairs instead of time-based maintenance.
Moreover, negotiations – especially those "without precondition" as Mr. Obama has specifically advocated – consume time, another precious asset that terrorists and rogue leaders prize.
