Time preference

In economics, time preference (or time discounting, delay discounting, temporal discounting) is the relative valuation placed on a good at an earlier date compared with its valuation at a later date.

There is no absolute distinction that separates "high" and "low" time preference, only comparisons with others either individually or in aggregate. Someone with a high time preference is focused substantially on his well-being in the present and the immediate future relative to the average person, while someone with low time preference places more emphasis than average on their well-being in the further future.