Aegon has launched The Aegon Future Self Tool to assist people in thinking about, creating, and visualising a concrete picture of their future self in retirement.
The tool was developed in response to the findings of Aegon’s Financial Wellbeing Index, which measures the health of people’s financial positions as well as the critical role that mindset plays in influencing financial wellbeing.
It found that only about one-third of people have a clear vision of their future self, which includes knowing where they want to live in ten years, who they want to spend time with, and what kind of lifestyle they want to live.
According to the study, the more concrete a picture of your future self you have, the more likely you are to be a top contributor to long-term savings such as a private pension or a stocks and shares ISA. The ability to envision the future was also a stronger determinant of whether people had created a financial plan than income level, and it was these insights that prompted the development of the tool says Aegon.
Aegon says that having a vision of your future self has a strong positive correlation with good saving habits and having a financial plan. According to Aegon, 38 per cent of people only have a vague idea of where they want to be financially in 10 years’ time, compared to 29 per cent who have a specific idea, 28 per cent have only a vague sense of what gives them joy or purpose, which are key elements of happiness, and 87 per cent do not have a financial plan to achieve long-term goals.
The tool asks nine questions about how someone might live in the future, such as who they’ll spend time with and what activities will bring them joy and purpose. Participants in the survey can choose an answer for each question from a gallery of photos or upload their own image to create a truly personalised vision. The image selections are then used to create a ‘gallery wall,’ which provides them with an inspirational vision of what their retirement could look like, which they can download, share on social media, or print and display as a motivational reminder to keep them on track. The tool also offers helpful nudges and additional information to help users gain a better understanding of their financial wellbeing.
Aegon pensions director Steven Cameron says: “The more clearly we can picture what we want for our future selves, the more likely we are to be able to plan to achieve this. Our research shows that people who can imagine how they want their future to look are better at working out a long-term financial plan to propel them to achieve it.
“A simple shift in mindset from thinking about today to thinking beyond tomorrow could make all the difference to the actions people take to make plans and provisions for retirement, such as taking more interest in their workplace pension and whether they should contribute more.
“This new tool combines two of the essentials of financial wellbeing – turning aspirations we have for our future into pictures we can relate to and then suggesting steps for working out a long-term financial plan.”