Poor money savers likely to be overeaters, smokers, love cheats

Washington, Sept 4 (ANI): People who are poor at saving money are likely to have impulsive behaviour such as overeating, smoking and infidelity, according to a new study.

The study conducted through the BBC website measured people's financial impulsivity by asking whether they would they prefer to receive 45 pounds in three days or 70 pounds in three months.

The findings revealed that nearly half of those who preferred the smaller-sooner sum of money were more likely to show a raft of other impulsive behaviours.

"One of the big questions about people's financial planning is whether decisions to spend or save come from personal knowledge and experience of money matters or whether they reflect someone's personality more generally," said Dr Stian Reimers, ESRC Centre for Economic Learning and Social Evolution at UCL.

"Our research shows that people with an impulsive money-today attitude ignore the future in other ways.

"For example, they are more likely to smoke and more likely to be overweight, which may reflect a preference for immediate pleasure of nicotine and food over long-term good health," Reimers added.

Moreover, people who chose to take the smaller-sooner amount of money were also more likely to admit to having had an affair in recent years.

The study also showed that those most likely to make impulsive financial choices were young, poorly educated, and on lower incomes.

"Learning to make decisions that lead to long-term happiness, not just instantaneous gratification, could benefit us all. Simple techniques can help reduce impulsivity: like imagining how you'd feel about your decision in a year's time, or trying to avoid making decisions in the heat of the moment," Reimers added.

The study appears in journal Personality and Individual Differences. (ANI)