In each of the past 30 years, Sam has deposited $4,500 in his savings account at the beginning of each year

First we calculate Future Value using FV Function in Excel:

=fv(rate,nper,-pmt,pv,type)

For Sam:

Here,

FV = Future Value = ?

Rate = 4.65%

Nper = 30 years 

PMT = 4500

PV = 0

Type = 1 (at the beginning) 

Substituting the values in formula:

=fv(4.65%,30,-4500,0,1)

FV or Future Value = 294,708.11

For Hugo:

Here,

FV = Future Value = ?

Rate = 6.12%

Nper = 30 years 

PMT = 4500

PV = 0

Type = 1 (at the beginning) 

Substituting the values in formula:

=fv(6.12%,30,-4500,0,1)

FV or Future Value = 385,604.90

As we can see, Sam account has lower future value compared to Hugo. It is because of Lower rate of return for Sam's account.

High expected returns in the market are almost always accompanied by a lot of risk. So, Sam seems to have less tolerance for risk than Hugo does. But we can not say that Sam made a poor choice.