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The Global Insight

Which type of future costs is not relevant to future decision making?

Author

John Johnson

Updated on February 21, 2026

Irrelevant costs are those that will not change in the future when you make one decision versus another. Examples of irrelevant costs are sunk costs, committed costs, or overheads as these cannot be avoided.

Which is relevant for decision making is?

Decision-making involves choosing between alternatives. A critical step in the decision-making process is identification of all the relevant information for each alternative. Relevant information is any information that would have an impact on the decision.

What is a future cost?

Future costs (also referred to as ‘survivor costs’) are the costs that arise during the life-years that would not have been lived without a life-extending intervention. These costs are typically classified into future related medical costs, future unrelated medical costs, and future non-medical costs.

Why opportunity cost is relevant in decision-making?

In business, opportunity costs play a major role in decision-making. If you decide to purchase a new piece of equipment, your opportunity cost is the money spent elsewhere. Companies must take both explicit and implicit costs into account when making rational business decisions.

Are sunk costs relevant in decision-making?

A sunk cost is a cost that cannot be recovered or changed and is independent of any future costs a business might incur. Because a decision made today can only impact the future course of business, sunk costs stemming from earlier decisions should be irrelevant to the decision-making process.

Is fixed cost relevant in decision-making?

Generally speaking, variable costs are more relevant to production decisions than fixed costs. Therefore, in most straightforward instances, fixed costs are not relevant for production decision, and incremental costs, or variable costs, are relevant for these decisions.