Have you been putting your suncream on? Have you?

 

 36% of Brits don’t use suncream regularly in the summer. Half of the population get sunburnt at least once a year – for younger people (18-32) it’s two thirds …*

 

And yet, everyone knows they should be wearing it.

 

So why does the lotion stay in the drawer?

 

Well, academically, the reason is “intertemporal discounting.” But Homer says it better:

Source: The Simpsons

 

When you’re thinking about the future, you’re considering two versions of yourself. But one of them is a vague, fuzzy person you haven’t met, while the other is RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW!

 

Which means that the benefits of putting on suncream (reduced likelihood of melanoma) are often outweighed by the temptation to simply close your eyes and not get up from the lounger.

 

And of course, we see the same behaviour with investing.

 

Saving for your pension is difficult to think about – and the younger you are, the harder it is (as with suncream).

 

But! If you can somehow make the future more visible/concrete/tangible, you can trick your brain a little bit.

 

In an experiment in 2011**, psychologists offered people the chance to choose a savings amount for retirement.

 

The trick was that some of them saw an aged photo of themselves at retirement age (see below with Ben Kumar).

Those who saw themselves in a few decades time allocated twice as much to their retirement account. Suddenly, “future Homer” was more real and easier to think about.

 

A study in 2026*** pushed it even further, getting participants to write a diary about their future self for a week, using the aged photo for inspiration. Those who had done so were still thinking about retirement planning six MONTHS later …

 

So while most of the planning industry thinks the chart below is all the evidence you need to start saving …

Source: 7IM. For illustrative purposes only. The return assumptions used are not guaranteed, and actual outcomes may be higher or lower

 

… it might be better to start by taking a picture of the person you’re with and adding some grey hairs before talking about the maths!