Looking back, how do you view the “self” that you once were? You might look back fondly at the teenage you and your complete conviction that you knew everything. Or wince as you remember a time you put your foot in your mouth, and wish you could rewrite the script.
But while we can look on our past selves as a work in progress, an evolution into who we are today, our future selves are much more mysterious.
What’s done is done, and no matter if you wish otherwise, there’s no turning back the clock. However, you can work on your “future” script if you start viewing this later version of yourself as a friend, rather than a stranger.
And in turn, this can have positive impacts on your financial future and wellbeing. Read on to discover how connecting with your future self has been shown to help you make more rewarding decisions.
Decisions we make in the present aren’t always in our best future interests
Psychologist Hal Hershfield has a statement on his professional profile at UCLA which reads: “How can we help move people from who they are now to who they’ll be in the future in a way that maximises wellbeing?”
His research focuses on our propensity for “mental time travel” and how, in spite of this, we don’t always make the most beneficial decisions. This is because, for many of us, the future is such an abstract concept that we have a sense of disconnect and see this version of “us” as a stranger.
Essentially, the future is any time ahead of our present. So, it could be five seconds away or five years, or 50 years. Hershfield explains that those who think of the future as closer tend to make more constructive decisions. However, the more distant future can still often feel like just that: distant.
These decisions could relate to your health, such as choosing nutritious foods or taking regular exercise. Engaging more with your future self is likely to encourage you to make these positive choices, rather than taking the more reckless options.
In the same way, connecting better with your future selves can help you to make forward-looking decisions about your wealth.
Research from Aegon found that the ability to contribute to pensions or long-term savings isn’t just about income, it’s also dependent on how we connect meaningfully to a vision of our future selves.
They discovered that those with a concrete connection to their future selves were far more likely to:
- Have a high level of emergency savings
- Own a property
- Have lower levels of debt.
These are all good reasons to look at how to get closer to your future self. Here are four ways you could start to engage better with “future you”.
1. Visualise your goals
Think about what you want for your future, in terms of when you’d like to retire, where you’d like to live, and how you want to spend your days.
When you work with a financial planner, this is what we’ll use to form the basis of your plan. And having clearly defined goals and aspirations is more likely to help you stick to them.
2. Take it incrementally
If your idea of the future is very fuzzy and unfocused, you could try breaking it down into shorter time frames. Start with visualising three months ahead, working your way up to six months, 12 months and then onto three years, five years and so on.
3. Write yourself a letter
If you write to your future self, outlining how things are in the here and now, and how you’d like them to be, you’ll feel a connection with this self as a “person”, rather than an intangible stranger. This also has the benefit of setting out your goals and aims in writing, which can help to cement them.
4. Age yourself
There are plenty of apps out there, such as FaceApp, which can digitally age your picture so you can see what you might look like in the future. It’s not just a fun exercise, though. The New York Times cites research conducted by Hershfield, which found that people who saw “aged” photos of themselves were more likely to put money into a savings account, as they felt a better connection with their future self once they became visual.
Get in touch
Making this sense of connection can help to change your mindset in terms of your long-term financial planning.
Importantly, it can also have a positive effect in the here and now. You’re more likely to feel relaxed, with a sense of financial security, which can help you enjoy the present while also looking to the future.
If you’d like to talk to us about any aspect of your present or future financial planning, please get in touch by emailing hello@fingerprintfp.co.uk or calling 03452 100 100.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.