For some of us, financial decisions are the easiest to delay. You may have the best of intentions, but the pressures and activities of daily life take over, and increasing your 401(k) contribution or rolling over that IRA never rises to the level of action. In fact, 58 percent of Americans aged 50-70 agreed with the statement, “I could save more money for retirement if I wanted to,” according to the 2013 Ameriprise Financial Retirement Check-In® survey.
What prevents people from taking action in their own self-interest? “Short-term thinking is inherent in being human,” according to David DiSalvo, author of the new book, Brain changer: How harnessing your brain’s power to adapt can change your life. “Our brains seem to be wired to grab immediate rewards and handicapped when it comes to envisioning long-term payoffs.”
With financial issues, short-term thinking can lead to denial; we pretend the future will take care of itself, even if we know that’s not true. People in their fifties, for example, have a hard time accepting that their high-paying careers won’t last forever and that retirement is only a decade or so away. Or, they may receive sound financial advice but then never act on it because it seems complicated or time-consuming. “We feel overwhelmed chiefly because we are fearful, and we frequently get lost in distractions to avoid facing our fear,” says DiSalvo.
But, here’s the good news — you can become unstuck. According to DiSalvo, the best thing we can do to override our brain’s short-term bias is to develop a more consistent discipline to stop and intentionally take a long-term view. “The hardest part is becoming more comfortable with short-term sacrifices,” he says, but practice does help.
For some of us, financial decisions are the easiest to delay. You may have the best of intentions, but the pressures and activities of daily life take over, and increasing your 401(k) contribution or rolling over that IRA never rises to the level of action. In fact, 58 percent of Americans aged 50-70 agreed with the statement, “I could save more money for retirement if I wanted to,” according to the 2013 Ameriprise Financial Retirement Check-In® survey.What prevents people from taking action in their own self-interest? “Short-term thinking is inherent in being human,” according to David DiSalvo, author of the new book, Brain changer: How harnessing your brain’s power to adapt can change your life. “Our brains seem to be wired to grab immediate rewards and handicapped when it comes to envisioning long-term payoffs.”With financial issues, short-term thinking can lead to denial; we pretend the future will take care of itself, even if we know that’s not true. People in their fifties, for example, have a hard time accepting that their high-paying careers won’t last forever and that retirement is only a decade or so away. Or, they may receive sound financial advice but then never act on it because it seems complicated or time-consuming. “We feel overwhelmed chiefly because we are fearful, and we frequently get lost in distractions to avoid facing our fear,” says DiSalvo.But, here’s the good news — you can become unstuck. According to DiSalvo, the best thing we can do to override our brain’s short-term bias is to develop a more consistent discipline to stop and intentionally take a long-term view. “The hardest part is becoming more comfortable with short-term sacrifices,” he says, but practice does help.
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