We all know that saving is important and is something that we should be doing. And yet, overall, we're doing less and less of it.
Svi znamo da je važno štedjeti i da je to nešto što trebamo činiti. A ipak, općenito, to radimo sve manje.
[The Way We Work]
[Način na koji radimo]
We know what we need to do. The question is: How do we do it? And that's what I'm here to teach you.
Znamo što trebamo učiniti. Pitanje je: kako to učiniti? Ovdje sam kako bih vas tome naučila.
Your savings behavior isn't a question of how smart you are or how much willpower you have. The amount we save depends on the environmental cues around us. Let me give you an example.
Vaša štedljivost nije pitanje toga koliko ste pametni niti koliko imate snažnu volju. Iznos koji uštedimo ovisi o čimbenicima iz naše okoline. Dat ću vam primjer.
We ran a study in which, in one group, we showed people their income on a monthly basis. In another group, we showed people their income on a weekly basis. And what we found was that people who saw their income on a weekly basis were able to budget better throughout the month. Now, it's important to know that we didn't change how much money people were receiving, we just changed the environment in which they understood their income. And environmental cues like this have an impact.
Proveli smo istraživanje u kojem smo u jednoj grupi pokazivali ljudima njihov prihod na mjesečnoj bazi. U drugoj grupi smo ljudima prikazali njihov prihod na tjednoj bazi. Otkrili smo da je ljudima kojima je prikazan njihov tjedni prihod, bolje išlo planiranje budžeta tijekom mjeseca. Važan podatak je da nismo promijenili koliko su novca dobivali, samo smo promijenili okolinu u kojoj su razumjeli svoj prihod. Ovakvi čimbenici okoline imaju svoj utjecaj.
So I'm not going to share tricks with you that you already know. I'm not going to tell you how to open up a savings account or how to start saving for your retirement. What I am going to share with you is how to bridge this gap from your intentions to save and your actions. Are you ready?
Neću s vama podijeliti trikove koje već znate. Neću vam pričati kako otvoriti štedni račun, niti kako da počnete štedjeti za mirovinu. Ono što ću podijeliti s vama je kako premostiti jaz između svojih namjera da uštedite i svojih postupaka. Jeste li spremni?
Here's number one: harness the power of pre-commitment. Fundamentally, we think about ourselves in two different ways: our present self and our future self. In the future, we're perfect. In the future, we're going to save for retirement, we're going to lose weight, we're going to call our parents more. But we oftentimes forget that our future self is exactly the same person as our present self. We know that one of the best times to save is when you get your tax return.
Prvo: koristiti snagu obvezivanja. U osnovi, razmišljamo o sebi na dva različita načina: naše sadašnje i buduće ja. U budućnosti smo savršeni. U budućnosti ćemo štedjeti za mirovinu, smršaviti, češće ćemo zvati roditelje. Ali često zaboravljamo da je naše buduće ja upravo ista osoba kao i naše sadašnje ja. Znamo da je jedan od najboljih trenutaka za štednju kada dobijete povrat poreza.
So we tried an A/B test. In the first group, we texted people in early February, hopefully before they even filed for their taxes. And we asked them, "If you get a tax refund, what percentage would you like to save?" Now this is a really hard question. They didn't know if they would receive a tax refund or how much. But we asked the question anyway. In the second group, we asked people right after they received their refund, "What percentage would you like to save?"
Zato smo probali test A/B. U prvoj grupi smo poslali poruku ljudima početkom veljače, nadajući se da još nisu podnijeli zahtjev. Pitali smo ih: „Ako dobijete povrat poreza, koji postotak biste voljeli staviti na stranu?“ To je vrlo teško pitanje. Nisu znali hoće li dobiti povrat niti koji iznos. Ali postavili smo pitanje bez obzira na to. U drugoj grupi smo pitali ljude odmah nakon što su dobili povrat novca: „Koliki postotak biste voljeli uštedjeti?“
Now, here's what happened. In that second condition, when people just received their tax refund, they wanted to save about 17 percent of their tax refund. But in the condition when we asked people before they even filed their taxes, savings rates increased from 17 percent to 27 percent when we asked in February. Why? Because you're committing for your future self, and of course your future self can save 27 percent. These large changes in savings behavior came from the fact that we changed the decision-making environment. We want you to be able to harness that same power. So take a moment and think about the ways in which you can sign up your future self for something that you know today will be a little bit hard. Sign up for an app that lets you make savings decisions in advance. The trick is, you have to have that binding contract.
Evo što se dogodilo. U drugoj situaciji, kada su ljudi upravo dobili povrat poreza, željeli su sačuvati oko 17 posto tog novca. Ali u situaciji kada smo pitali ljude prije nego što su uopće podnijeli zahtjev, stopa štednje se povećala sa 17 na 27 posto kada smo ih pitali u veljači. Zašto? Zato što se obvezujete za svoje buduće ja, i naravno da vaše buduće ja može uštedjeti 27 posto. Ove velike promjene u ponašanju vezanom za štednju proizlaze iz činjenice da smo promijenili okolinu za donošenje odluke. Htjeli bismo da uspijete iskoristiti tu istu moć. Na trenutak razmislite o načinima na koje možete uključiti svoje buduće ja, za nešto za što danas znate da će biti pomalo teško. Registrirajte se na aplikaciju pomoću koje možete unaprijed odlučivati o uštedi. Trik je u tome da morate imati obvezujući ugovor.
Number two: use transition moments to your advantage. We did an experiment with a website that helps older adults share their housing. We ran two ads on social media, targeted to the same population of 64-year-olds. In one group, we said, "Hey, you're getting older. Are you ready for retirement? House sharing can help." In the second group, we got a little bit more specific and said, "You're 64 turning 65. Are you ready for retirement? House sharing can help." What we're doing in that second group is highlighting that a transition is happening.
Drugo: upotrijebite prijelazne trenutke u svoju korist. Radili smo eksperiment s web stranicom koja pomaže starijima da dijele smještaj s drugima. Stavili smo dva oglasa na društvene mreže, usmjerene na istu populaciju 64-godišnjaka. U jednoj grupi smo rekli: „Hej, sve ste stariji. Jeste li spremni za mirovinu? Dijeljenje smještaja može pomoći.“ U drugoj grupi smo bili malo konkretniji i rekli: „Imate 64 godine, ulazite u 65. Jeste li spremni za mirovinu? Dijeljenje smještaja može pomoći.“ U drugoj grupi postižemo naglašavanje da je nastupio prijelazni period.
All of a sudden, we saw click-through rates, and ultimately sign-up rates, increase when we highlight that. In psychology, we call this the "fresh start effect." Whether it's the start of a new year or even a new season, your motivation to act increases. So right now, put a meeting request on your calendar for the day before your next birthday. Identify the one financial thing you most want to do. And commit yourself to it.
Iznenada, vidjeli smo da je broj klikova, a na kraju i broj prijavljenih, porastao kada smo to naglasili. U psihologiji to nazivamo „efektom novog početka“. Bilo da je u pitanju početak nove godine ili čak godišnjeg doba, povećava se vaša motivacija da se aktivirate. Zato sada odmah unesite oznaku u svoj kalendar za dan prije sljedećeg rođendana. Odredite jednu stvar vezanu za financije koju najviše želite i posvetite joj se.
The third and final trick: get a handle on small, frequent purchases. We've run a few different studies and found that the number one purchase people say they regret, after bank fees, is eating out. It's a frequent purchase we make almost every day, and it's death by a thousand cuts. A coffee here, a burrito there ... It adds up and decreases our ability to save.
Treći i posljednji trik: kontrolirajte male, česte kupovine. Proveli smo nekoliko različitih istraživanja i otkrili da su glavni trošak zbog kojeg ljudi žale, uz bankarske naknade, obroci izvan kuće. To je česta potrošnja koju obavljamo skoro svaki dan i predstavlja sporu smrt. Ovdje kava, tamo sendvič ... Sve se to skuplja i smanjuje našu sposobnost da uštedimo.
Back when I lived in New York City, I looked at my expenses and saw that I spent over 2,000 dollars on ride-sharing apps. It was more than my New York City rent. I vowed to make a change. And the next month, I spent 2,000 dollars again -- no change, because the information alone didn't change my behavior. I didn't change my environment.
Kada sam živjela u New Yorku, pogledala sam svoje troškove i vidjela da sam potrošila preko 2 000 dolara na aplikacije za prijevoz. To je bilo više od moje stanarine u New Yorku. Obećala sam sebi da ću to promijeniti. Sljedeći mjesec sam opet potrošila 2 000 dolara. Nije bilo promjene jer sama ta informacija nije promijenila moje ponašanje. Nisam promijenila okolinu.
So now that I was 4,000 dollars in the hole, I did two things. The first is that I unlinked my credit card from my car-sharing apps. Instead, I linked a debit card that only had 300 dollars a month. If I needed more, I had to go through the whole process of adding a new card, and we know that every click, every barrier, changes our behavior.
Nakon što sam bila 4 000 dolara u minusu, napravila sam dvije stvari. Prvo sam odjavila kreditnu karticu s aplikacije za prijevoz. Umjesto toga sam stavila debitnu karticu na kojoj je bilo samo 300 dolara mjesečno. Ako bi mi trebalo više, morala bih proći kroz čitav proces dodavanja nove kartice, a znamo da svaki klik, svaka prepreka, mijenja naše ponašanje.
We aren't machines. We don't carry around an abacus every day, adding up what we're spending, in comparison to what we wanted. But what our brains are very good at is counting up the number of times we've done something. So I gave myself a limit. I can only use ride-sharing apps three times a week. It forced me to ration my travels. I got a handle on my car-sharing expenses to the benefit of my husband, because of the environmental changes that I did. So get a handle on whatever that purchase is for you, and change your environment to make it harder to do so.
Nismo strojevi. Ne nosimo abakus sa sobom svaki dan kako bismo računali koliko trošimo u odnosu na ono što želimo. Ali našem mozgu vrlo dobro ide računanje koliko puta smo učinili nešto. Stoga sam si postavila ograničenje. Mogu koristiti aplikaciju za prijevoz samo tri puta tjedno. To me je prisililo da ograničim putovanja. Izašla sam na kraj s troškovima prijevoza, na zadovoljstvo mog supruga, zbog promjene u okolini koje sam unijela. Dakle, ustanovite koji je to trošak u vašem slučaju i promijenite okolinu tako da vam otežava trošenje.
Those are my tips for you. But I want you to remember one thing. As human beings, we can be irrational when it comes to saving and spending and budgeting. But luckily, we know this about ourselves, and we can predict how we'll act under certain environments. Let's do that with saving. Let's change our environment to help our future selves.
To su moji savjeti za vas. Ali htjela bih da upamtite jednu stvar. Kao ljudska bića, znamo biti iracionalni kada je u pitanju štednja, trošenje i planiranje budžeta. Ali srećom, znamo za tu činjenicu o sebi i možemo predvidjeti kako ćemo postupiti u određenim situacijama. Učinimo to i sa štednjom. Promijenimo svoju okolinu kako bismo pomogli svojem budućem ja.