Bruce Helmer and Peg Webb

Have you ever taken a road trip to a new place and felt like the drive there dragged on forever — only to be surprised at how quickly the return trip seemed to fly by?

That feeling has a name. Behavioral scientists call it the “going home effect.” It’s the phenomenon where the return leg of a journey feels shorter, even though it takes just as long. The reason, researchers say, is rooted in familiarity: when we’ve already seen the route, the uncertainty fades, and time seems to compress.

Now apply that same logic to your financial future — especially retirement.

Uncertainty is distancing

Recent research from the University of Indiana shows that uncertainty doesn’t just slow down how we perceive time, it creates psychological distance. People tend to see the future as farther away when it’s unfamiliar, vague or emotionally disconnected from their present-day lives. In other words, if retirement feels unclear, it also feels unreachable.

This “mental distance” may help explain why so many people put off saving for the future. But here’s the rub: the reverse is also true. When people take time to visualize their future selves, they are significantly more likely to start saving for that future. Seeing yourself in the next chapter of life makes it real — and when something is real, it’s worth planning for.

So how do we shrink the distance between now and then?

Flip your thinking. Instead of starting in the present and trying to stretch your mind toward the future, start in the future and rewind back. Picture where you want to be and then ask what it would take to get there.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the Indiana researchers conducted a series of experiments where participants were prompted to imagine a future year (say, 2034) and visualize what their life looked like. Only afterward were they asked to think about what financial decisions in the present would support that vision. This reversal in mental framing — starting with the future, then rewinding back — had a noticeable effect. Participants were 14% more likely to invest in a long-term savings product when asked to plan this way.

A sample prompt quoted in the study precisely illustrates the concept: “The year is 2034 … rewind back to 2024 and consider saving for the 2034 you.”

Most of us are used to doing the opposite. We look around at our current expenses, salaries or anxieties, and then try to stretch that frame of reference into something that resembles a retirement plan. The problem is, present-day constraints rarely inspire future-oriented action. The better way is to make the future vivid — and then translate it back into the steps we can take today.

So what does that look like in practice?

Visualize your future self, then work backwards

Begin by picturing a day in your retired life. Not in abstract terms, but in sensory, specific detail. Imagine it’s a morning in the year 2035 or 2045. Where are you waking up? What kind of home are you in? What’s your morning routine? Are you traveling? Volunteering? Spending time with grandkids? Having coffee with old friends?

Then take 15 minutes to write a letter from your future self to your present self. What are you grateful you did when you were younger? What financial habits paid off? What regrets did you avoid? This simple exercise creates an emotional and cognitive bridge between today and tomorrow. It helps bring your future self out of the shadows and into focus.

From there, you can rewind. Ask yourself: “What would have to happen between now and then to make this day real?” Break it down. What kind of income would you need to support this lifestyle? How much would you need to have saved? What kind of monthly contributions would get you there?

By starting with a destination and then planning the route, you replicate the clarity of that return trip — the “going home” effect — but in reverse. The future becomes a place you know. That makes it easier to believe in, and easier to act on.

To stay grounded, create visual cues for yourself — a vision board. This might be a sticky note on your mirror with a retirement mantra, photos of the people with whom you want to share your lifetime, or even a few short phrases that describe your vision for later life. These reminders keep your long-term self front and center in your everyday life.

It can also help to make this a recurring habit. Try setting a weekly or monthly “Future Friday” check-in, a brief moment each week where you reflect on your goals and progress or re-read your future-self letter. Ask yourself again: “The year is 2035 … what does the 2025 version of me need to do today to stay on track?”

Reversals are not always bad

What behavioral science reveals is that we’re not bad at saving because we don’t care. We’re bad at saving because we rarely feel the future. But by reversing the order of thought — starting with a vivid picture of life ahead and rewinding back to the present — we collapse the mental distance that holds us back.

The truth is, you’re already on your way to your future. You can drift there or design it. And the person you become in 2035 or 2045 isn’t a stranger — it’s you. Your future you is just waiting to see what decisions you’ll make next to meet you there.

So start with that image. Then rewind. That’s where your smartest moves begin.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Bruce Helmer and Peg Webb are financial advisers at Wealth Enhancement Group and co-hosts of “Your Money” on WCCO 830 AM on Sunday mornings. Email Bruce and Peg at yourmoney@wealthenhancement.com. Securities offered through LPL Financial, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, LLC, a registered investment advisor. Wealth Enhancement Group and Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services are separate entities from LPL Financial.