PROMOTION: The Marshmallow Experiment – Instant Gratification and Your Retirement

The Wealth Ski Bum–10 Steps To A Successful Retirement. eBook giveaway details are below.

In the 1960s, a Stanford University scientist named Walter Mischel developed a test involving 4-year-olds and marshmallows. Mischel sat each kid alone in a room in front of a table with a marshmallow on it. He told them they could eat one marshmallow right away or wait until he came back and eat two. What would you have done as a kid? And as an adult would you resist grabbing a stack of cash and the temptation to spend it all immediately—or wait and double it? 

Years later, researchers checked back to gauge the development of the kids. They found that those who had waited—delayed gratification—went on to greater success in life: higher SAT scores and better physical health, for example. The conclusion: Learning to delay gratification may lead to positive decisions throughout life.

Mischel’s marshmallow test is one of the most well-known social science experiments in history. Since then, there have been numerous studies measuring the impact of delayed gratification, many of which concluded that education and wealth had more to do with long-term success than delayed gratification. Mischel was quick to identify one important detail these studies had left out. Some of the subjects in his study were given strategies to help them resist the marshmallow, like closing their eyes, while others were not. Those who were best at deploying the strategies went on to have more success in life. “People can use their wonderful brains to think differently about situations, to reframe them, to reconstrue them, to even reconstrue themselves,” Mischel said. 

And like in the marshmallow test, you can deploy simple strategies to build a successful retirement, such as reducing small expenses and saving more.

Find out how in Chapter Two–Reduce Debt and Expenses– of Sandro Rossini’s new book, The Wealthy Ski Bum (ebook giveaway).

Sandro is a retirement planning expert. As a special offer to my Ask The Expert readers, he is giving away a digital copy of his new book, The Wealthy Ski Bum–for free!

You’ll want to read this book if:

• You have started your first job and know nothing about retirement accounts, budgeting, and personal finance and you want an easy-to-read guide.
• You have a retirement account but don’t feel confident in your knowledge of investing and personal finance—and don’t know if you’re on track.
• You’re not new to personal finance and may even have an advisor—but you find all the jargon used by the professionals confusing and intimidating.
• You don’t like the topic and tend to zone out when you should be paying attention.

You will be redirected to empowermentcafe.com for download details.