The financial promises you should be making to your future self

Promises can come in many forms. From appointments to acts of kindness, creating and quitting habits, agreements and resolutions.

Due to life’s unpredictability, we make and break promises all the time. But there’s value to being individuals of our word – especially to ourselves.

So with October upon us, consider making and keeping one financial promise to your future self for the last quarter of the year.

I’ve spent the past week reflecting on my quarter three goals. I asked myself what went well, what didn’t go so well, what I’d do differently.

I then used this information to set my quarter four goals – aka what do I want to achieve, as well as why and how.

Which got me thinking about my future self.

Research has found that thinking of your future self can motivate people to take better care of themselves now.

Psychologist and marketing professor Hal Hershfield and his colleagues at UCLA Anderson in America found that people who consciously consider their future selves take better care of their present selves, from saving money to eating healthily and exercising.

One way we can make financial promises that serve our future self is to bring our future self closer to us.

Think about your future self on 31 December, 2024. What do they look like? What do need? What do they want? What’s important to them?

This may seem odd, I know. Especially because the end of the year is only 12 weeks away. But a lot can change in three months. So, surreal as it sounds, put yourself in your future self’s shoes and speak to current you.

Start a conversation between the two of you, where your future self discusses their needs and wants with your current self and see if you can agree on anything.

Again, it may sound strange, but it can work! It might help to think about it as goal setting, but made better.

In terms of financial promises, this is what my future self, on NYE 2024, is saying to me:

Professionally: My future self thanks me for having my tax return done and dusted well ahead of the 31 January deadline – instead of leaving it until the New Year, as is often the case.

Personally: My future self thanks me for having booked my 2025 holiday. A week (at least) abroad, in the sun. Because my future self feels my frustration that I never made it to Ibiza in October 2024 as I originally wanted.

I never made it because I never booked it. I never booked it because I didn’t plan in advance. And by the time October came round, other commitments ruled out a last-minute holiday booking.

So, no watching the sun go down from Ibiza’s famous sunset strip in 20+ degree weather for me this year. Instead, it’s crisp, autumnal walks in “big coat” weather in the UK.

I asked people to share their financial promises to their future self with me. Prioritising savings and pensions came out on top, with responses including:

·       My financial promise to my future self is to make sure I have enough money – around £400 – saved for Christmas.

·       Make my money work harder through saving and investing instead of leaving it lying in my current account. That’s my financial promise to my future self!

·       My future self is telling me to start a pension.

·       I’m going to finally make a start on tracking down my old workplace pensions and then seeing if I can merge them.

·       My future self needs me to set up automated saving – instead of getting to the end of the month and wondering why I haven’t saved anything.

·       My financial promise to my future self is to pay into my ISA every month… but for real this time!

·       I’m self-employed and my future self needs me to charge enough to live, not survive.

·       I’ve put a recurring date for the 1st of the month in my calendar to check my finances.

·       I’ve started tracking my spending and it’s made an incredible difference. My future self needs me to keep it up so I can stay on top of my finances.

·       Future me has a beautiful kitchen and the time to spend long, slow evenings cooking.

How about you? What’s your financial promise to your future self?