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Old Age
Believe it or not, you are a stranger to yourself. That’s the finding of Hal Ersner-Hershfield et al. in their published research detailed in Social Cognitive and Affective Neural Science.
This unconscious assumption of a different self in the future is demonstrated graphically by brain scans. In their study, Ersner-Hershfield et al. found that when people think about their future selves, the same brain region lights up as when they think about strangers. The implication for saving behavior? Saving for the future instinctively feels like giving money away to a stranger. No wonder only 9% of Americans are saving enough for their retirement.
The Investment Scientist 