We all know that we have lofty goals and good intentions, whether in diet, exercise, or finance.

But somehow life seems to get in the way and stall our progress toward those goals.

Now a series of experiments in behavioral economics has led researchers to believe that four strategies can help companies “leverage human nature to make it easier for low- to moderate-income households improve financial decision-making and their own well-being.”

So says a report in TechCrunch. It highlights the work done by researchers in working with fintech companies, credit unions and nonprofits to test assumptions on whether/how behavioral science can help improve financial well-being.

Two years of experiments have led to findings that there are indeed strategies that can help people work against their worst instincts when it comes to finance. Read on to see the four strategies researchers say can benefit workers in making better financial decisions:

4. Remove the environmental barriers surrounding financial decisionmaking.

When the decisions on how to surmount financial hurdles are left to the individual, it’s tough for that individual to manage variable income and expenses. What results is pressure on the individual to do complex mathematical balancing acts.

But if the decision-making burden is moved from the consumer to the company, say researchers, “it becomes a win-win for everyone involved. The company gets to enhance their value proposition by offering helpful products and features, and the consumer’s life becomes dramatically easier when financial decisions are taken off their shoulders.”

Some of the real-life examples researchers offer are a credit union’s retirement savings product that automatically deducts money from new members’ paychecks. Known as a “transparent default,” it opts people in automatically but immediately gives them the option to close it.

Another is a scheduling app for small businesses that helps employers give employees more advanced schedule notice as well as creating more consistent, reliable schedules. “This shifts the burden off the employee and onto the employer,” the report says, “providing greater visibility to the employee and helping them maximize attendance and earnings.”

Another is a credit union savings product attached to a loan product that takes a single payment from the member and applies part of it to the loan and part of it to creating a financial safety net.

3. Make the right financial decisions dramatically easier.

Taking away the constant pressure to consume and spend, spend, spend is tough, with few tools to combat spending impulses, say researchers.

But new developments in the field include a tracker for food stamp use that breaks the food stamp budget into weekly segments to help people budget and save money; applications that change the timing of payments and saving to make financial management easier; and another app that asks people how much they want to save out of a coming tax refund—before the refund arrives.

Then the app automatically saves that amount. By getting them to think about it in advance, it’s helped double the amount of savings for participating customers.

2. Help people take advantage of resources they already have.

Work in this area is all about helping people to realize what options and resources are already open to them, and then helping them take full advantage of them rather than ignoring them.

One app makes discount redemption easier, so that people actually get to realize savings that they often fail to use, while another sends reminders to parents to make deposits into their child’s college savings account—thereby countering people’s normal procrastination about doing so.

1. Increase motivation for people to make the right financial decisions.

Even though people know what they have to do, trying to decide how to do it—such as choosing between paying down debt or saving for an emergency fund—can be tough.

They also may simply not be motivated enough to take action without a little prodding.

Among the strategies researchers find effective to spur people on to the right decisions are a change by a payment company in how wages are displayed for hourly workers.

In focusing workers’ attention on their projected annual wage, the change creates “a long-term mindset and improve[es] their motivation to engage in long-term positive behaviors, like saving for retirement,” researchers find.

And another organization simply provides people with punch cards that track their savings progress, thus making it easier for them to see how well they’re doing or to improve their savings rates.

Instant Insights /

4 behavioral strategies to boost financial wellness

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