Encouraging People to save for their Future: Augmenting Current Efforts with Positive Visions of the Future

Abstract

Despite significant policy efforts to encourage Americans to save for retirement, the U.S. retirement savings rates have declined for more than two decades. Current policies and programs are largely driven by three implicit theories of why people do and do not save: trait theory, life cycle, and education. The authors’ purpose is not to identify a singular best theory but rather to demonstrate the need to expand the theories used to address the retirement savings problem. Toward that end, they empirically examine each traditional theory and simultaneously explore the additional power of complementary theories: future-self theory and imagery. The results show that variables grounded in trait theory, life cycle, and education are significantly related to retirement planning. Moreover, people who reported greater and more vivid imagery of a positive future retired self had engaged in more retirement preparation, accounting for a significant amount of variance beyond the traditional theories.