Financial experts have long known that various “nudges”—techniques and policies that influence people while still leaving them with freedom of choice—can induce people to save more of their income. One such technique uses visualization: technology can create imagined images or avatars of our older selves, leading to a stronger commitment to prepare for an eventual retirement. Hopkins (2019) gives an overview of how this concrete anticipation of our future selves resulted in a doubling of retirement savings.
