How Your Future Self Can Save You From Today’s Money Mistakes
Think about a time you faced an expense—and wished you had more savings to pay for it.
In a moment like that, you wish you could talk to your former self. You would urge your past self to forgo certain spending in favor of the upcoming expense.
You would persuade yourself: "It will absolutely be worth it!"
You can’t travel through time, but you can harness some of the psychological power of time travel.
You can strengthen your money life by cultivating a sense of connection to your future self.
Empathy for My Future Self
I make mistakes with money when I put a burden on my future self that's so heavy it's unloving. I don’t want to create problems for my future self to solve, messes for her to clean up!
I want to make choices that benefit us both.
If I could visit my former self, I wouldn’t want to overwhelm or shame her. I also wouldn’t want to discount her spending needs.
And I’d hope to see her return my kindness. I’d hope she would feel compassion and respect toward the me of today.
My past self with her future husband
If I gave her advice, I’d want her to trust that I’m keeping our best interest in mind. I’d want her to feel empathy for me.
After all, empathy is putting herself in another’s shoes, allowing herself to feel what another feels. Who better to imagine herself as than… me?
The Problem
Even if you’re a compassionate person, you face obstacles cultivating empathy for your future self.
It’s easy to care about people in your real life, in part because they are real, not hypothetical. Future you feels like a stranger. And you don’t normally prioritize a stranger!
In her book Loaded: Money, Psychology, and How to Get Ahead Without Leaving Your Values Behind, behavioral economist Dr. Sarah Newcomb explains:
“When something is psychologically close, we put a higher value on it than something that is psychologically distant.”
“Psychological distance primarily affects the way we handle our money by affecting our mental picture of the future and how we feel about our future self.”
Every time I leave my annual dermatology checkup, the receptionist asks me what time would work for my next appointment—in 12 months.
8:30am on a Tuesday? Sure! That sounds perfect.
I don’t yet know my future self well enough to visualize everything she’ll be dealing with that day.
But she needs me to schedule the appointment, or else it might not happen. She’ll thank me for doing my part. She can concern herself with details like filling the gas tank on the way to the appointment.
In our everyday lives, we envision events in greater detail as they get closer.
Dr. Newcomb continues:
“We naturally adjust our thinking depending on psychological distance, and our brains are so used to this process that if you force yourself to think about the distant future in fine detail, you can trick your mind into shrinking the psychological distance so that it feels closer. Doing that will make that future feel more likely, and therefore more emotionally charged, and it can make the needs of your future self feel more immediately important.”
Instead of treating your future self like a stranger, you can learn to make the future you feel more real.
How to Strengthen Your Connection With Future You
You can take actions to build a stronger psychological connection with your future self.
Here are a few to try:
Visualize your future. Imagine yourself 5, 10, or 20 years from now. What does life look like? What does money make possible?
Write a letter. Write to your future self—or imagine them writing back. What advice would they give? What gratitude would they express?
Create accountability. Talk with a friend, a group of friends, or me (a financial coach who loves these conversations!) about your intentions. Tell them how you picture your future. When someone else hears your vision, and when you hear yourself articulate that vision, it feels more real.
Use tools. Learn to use tools like a compound growth calculator, a net worth tracker, my free Money Strength Assessment, a savings goal tracker, or the Money-Strong Dashboard I share with clients. These allow you to see your financial progress over time, so the future benefits of today’s choices feel tangible.
The Bottom Line
Your future self isn’t a stranger—it’s you, just waiting to benefit from the choices you make today!
When you cultivate empathy for your future self, you can make money decisions with that person in mind.
As you become your future self, you’ll benefit from those decisions, and you’ll feel the love!
