Latest news with #futureplanning
The Guardian
a day ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Optimists share similar brain patterns when thinking about the future, scans show
Whether it's an exam, flight or health check, some people take a sunny view of the future while others plan for catastrophes. Now researchers have found that people with an upbeat outlook show similar patterns of brain activity when they mull over future scenarios. 'Optimists seem to use a shared neural framework for organising thoughts about the future, which likely reflects a similar style of mental processing rather than identical ideas,' said Kuniaki Yanagisawa, first author of the research from Kobe University in Japan. He said the results could shed light on previous findings that showed optimists tended to be more socially successful. 'What this [new study] tells us is that the foundation of their social success might be this shared reality,' he added. 'It's not just about having a positive attitude; it's that their brains are literally on the same wavelength, which may allow for a deeper, more intuitive kind of connection.' In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers said they asked 87 participants to complete a questionnaire to reveal how optimistic they were. Each participant also underwent an MRI brain scan, during which they were asked to imagine various different possible future life events, some of which were positive – such as taking an 'epic trip around the world' – while others were neutral or negative, such as being fired. A subset of the participants were asked to imagine scenarios related to death. The team found participants who were more optimistic showed greater similarities in the patterns of their brain activity in a region involved in future-oriented thinking, called the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) Yanagisawa said one possibility was that the more diverse brain activity among pessimists reflected a more varied set of concerns when thinking about negative scenarios. However, he said another possibility was that optimists viewed their futures within a shared framework of socially accepted goals which pessimists might feel disconnected from for personal reasons, meaning they each had a different way of thinking about the future. The researchers said the results had parallels with the first line of Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina: 'Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' 'On the basis of this principle, we propose that optimistic individuals are all alike, but each less optimistic individual imagines the future in their own way,' the team wrote. The researchers also found patterns of brain activity in the MPFC showed clearer differences for positive and negative future events in optimists. 'This suggests that optimists not only 'think alike' in a structural sense, but they also process emotional information about the future differently with a greater ability to separate what's good from what's bad, which may help them stay resilient,' said Yanagisawa. He said previous work had associated this kind of clearer separation with a more abstract, psychologically distant way of thinking about negative events. 'We're not saying that optimists have identical thoughts about the future, or that they imagine the exact same scenarios,' said Yanadisawa. 'Rather, what we found is that their brains represent future events in a similar way, especially in how they distinguish between positive and negative possibilities. So while we wouldn't say they have the same thoughts, we can say that they appear to think in the same way – structurally.' Prof Lisa Bortolotti of the University of Birmingham, in the UK, who was not involved in the work, said the study suggested optimists pictured future negative events in less vivid and concrete detail than positive ones, meaning such potential scenarios affected them less. 'These findings might suggest that optimism does not amount to a form of irrationality or reality distortion because it does not change how we see things out there but how those things impact us,' she added. Bortolotti said assuming things won't go wrong brought no benefits if it left us unprepared for challenges, but noted that optimism worked when it motivated us to pursue goals. 'Picturing a positive outcome in detail as feasible and desirable makes us value it and work for it, ultimately making it more likely that we will achieve it,' she said.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Optimists share similar brain patterns when thinking about the future, scans show
Whether it's an exam, flight or health check, some people take a sunny view of the future while others plan for catastrophes. Now researchers have found that people with an upbeat outlook show similar patterns of brain activity when they mull over future scenarios. 'Optimists seem to use a shared neural framework for organising thoughts about the future, which likely reflects a similar style of mental processing rather than identical ideas,' said Kuniaki Yanagisawa, first author of the research from Kobe University in Japan. He said the results could shed light on previous findings that showed optimists tended to be more socially successful. 'What this [new study] tells us is that the foundation of their social success might be this shared reality,' he added. 'It's not just about having a positive attitude; it's that their brains are literally on the same wavelength, which may allow for a deeper, more intuitive kind of connection.' In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers said they asked 87 participants to complete a questionnaire to reveal how optimistic they were. Each participant also underwent an MRI brain scan, during which they were asked to imagine various different possible future life events, some of which were positive – such as taking an 'epic trip around the world' – while others were neutral or negative, such as being fired. A subset of the participants were asked to imagine scenarios related to death. The team found participants who were more optimistic showed greater similarities in the patterns of their brain activity in a region involved in future-oriented thinking, called the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) Yanagisawa said one possibility was that the more diverse brain activity among pessimists reflected a more varied set of concerns when thinking about negative scenarios. However, he said another possibility was that optimists viewed their futures within a shared framework of socially accepted goals which pessimists might feel disconnected from for personal reasons, meaning they each had a different way of thinking about the future. The researchers said the results had parallels with the first line of Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina: 'Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' 'On the basis of this principle, we propose that optimistic individuals are all alike, but each less optimistic individual imagines the future in their own way,' the team wrote. The researchers also found patterns of brain activity in the MPFC showed clearer differences for positive and negative future events in optimists. 'This suggests that optimists not only 'think alike' in a structural sense, but they also process emotional information about the future differently with a greater ability to separate what's good from what's bad, which may help them stay resilient,' said Yanagisawa. He said previous work had associated this kind of clearer separation with a more abstract, psychologically distant way of thinking about negative events. 'We're not saying that optimists have identical thoughts about the future, or that they imagine the exact same scenarios,' said Yanadisawa. 'Rather, what we found is that their brains represent future events in a similar way, especially in how they distinguish between positive and negative possibilities. So while we wouldn't say they have the same thoughts, we can say that they appear to think in the same way – structurally.' Prof Lisa Bortolotti of the University of Birmingham, in the UK, who was not involved in the work, said the study suggested optimists pictured future negative events in less vivid and concrete detail than positive ones, meaning such potential scenarios affected them less. 'These findings might suggest that optimism does not amount to a form of irrationality or reality distortion because it does not change how we see things out there but how those things impact us,' she added. Bortolotti said assuming things won't go wrong brought no benefits if it left us unprepared for challenges, but noted that optimism worked when it motivated us to pursue goals. 'Picturing a positive outcome in detail as feasible and desirable makes us value it and work for it, ultimately making it more likely that we will achieve it,' she said.
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Boy, 8, sets up stall in Market Harborough to save for house deposit
"If you get to like 18 or 20, and you haven't started saving any money, it takes a while to get there so I wanted to start early."Archie is just eight years old, but he is already planning for his future and saving money for a deposit on his first he is not just putting his pocket money aside, the entrepreneurial schoolboy set up a market stall selling jewellery, fidget toys, sweets and other items a year efforts have paid off and Archie, from Market Harborough in Leicestershire, said he had already saved £3,000 towards his future. Property prices in the area are growing faster than in neighbouring districts in the East Midlands. Provisional data from the Office for National Statistics shows the average house price in Harborough in April 2025 was £355,000, while the average for first-time buyers in the area stood at £286, mum Jodie said: "He was always driven by wanting a shop and then interested in looking for premises and locations so he could live above it.""Whenever he saw empty shops in town he wanted to know how much they're worth."She said his passion for trading began when they were on a holiday."He collected loads of stones and shells and then washed them, lined them up meticulously on a tray outside the house and made £6.50," she explained."After that, he wanted to be somewhere busier and went on and on and on."He pestered and pestered and pestered and set about it happening." Archie buys old and new stock at car boot sales or from other traders to sell on his stall at Harborough Indoor Market in Northampton Road, run by the other traders, he has to pay rent for his stall and have market traders' insurance, which was taken out by once a month, Archie gets to the market hall for about 06:00, and sets up alongside other stallholders, carefully arranging his stock in colour co-ordinated rows."I absolutely love trading and the other traders like having me there too," he said. "They come and talk to me and some of them come and buy things from me too." Andy Friess and his wife Katrina run a stall called PictureMyPast, which aims to help people trace their ancestors. Mr Friess said: "As soon as I met Archie, I could see he was a livewire. "He was insistent that mum and dad didn't help him arrange his stock. He's a little superstar."He added: "I advised him about the height of his displays and about clear pricing."I even advised him about how to present himself so you look like you mean business.""His mum would say 'listen to the advice, because it won't always be free'."Jodie said: "He's so organised, he knows how much he's bought things for and how much he's selling for."Archie's dad Lee added: "They like having him there, it's like the next generation."There are very few young people, so getting them in this young to carry it on, it's all good and good for the town."
Forbes
08-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
When Should You Start Saving for Retirement?
It's never too late to start saving for retirement! If you're looking for the essential easy-to-understand basics of starting to save for retirement, you've come to the right place. Your future self will thank you for saving for retirement, since it will substantially increase your financial security and independence in your retirement years. You'll also build a financial resource you can tap if you have a financial emergency. Let's look at the answers to some common questions about saving for retirement. Anybody who relies on income from working should save for retirement. Most people will find that it's inevitable that you'll reach an age when you're no longer able to work for income or you no longer want to work. At that time, you'll need to piece together sources of retirement income to replace your work paycheck. You can use your retirement savings to generate a lifetime retirement paycheck that will supplement any other retirement paycheck you might receive, such as Social Security. The only people who might not need to save for retirement are those who are independently wealthy with enough money to be sufficient to pay for their living expenses for the rest of their lives. If you haven't already started, then the best time to start saving for retirement is now, provided you can afford set aside some money for your later years. Of course, if you're truly spending your entire paycheck on basic living needs, you might need to wait to start saving for retirement. The fact is, many people have competing needs for their paychecks. For example, some people are incurring expenses to establish a household or are raising families. If possible, it's best to set something aside on a regular basis, even a small amount, to establish the savings habit. Then, when you can afford it, you can increase the amount you're saving to help your retirement savings grow. One more suggestion: It's advisable to establish an emergency fund before you start saving for retirement. This will give you access to money you can spend quickly if you need it, without having to tap into your retirement savings. It's best to save for retirement using an account with tax advantages, such as an IRA or a savings plan at work (see below for information about these plans). These accounts have significant tax advantages: All the accounts described above have annual limits on the contribution amounts you can make. If you're fortunate enough to have more money to save for retirement, you can always put money aside in a regular savings or investment account. The very best place to save for retirement is through a retirement savings plan at work, if you're eligible. Examples include 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, or 457 plans, which all refer to the section of the IRS code that describes these plans. These accounts have significant advantages: If you're eligible for such a plan, learn as much as you can about it before signing up. Your HR department should be able to provide details. If you're not eligible for a savings plan at work, then you can open an IRA with a reputable financial institution. Another possibility is opening a retirement savings plan for beginning savers which is offered by many states. Here are some suggestions for how much to save for retirement. To help you decide, choose the amount that best fits your circumstances: You might need help determining how much to save, either from a qualified retirement advisor or an online retirement savings program. Many savings plans at work host online retirement savings calculators that can help do the math for you. If you're an unsophisticated investor and just getting started, here are a few straightforward ways to start investing your savings: As soon as possible, you'll want to learn more about investment concepts, so you can tailor your investments to your situation and your feelings about stock and bond investments. Most IRAs and employer-sponsored savings plans have 'catch-up contributions' that allow you to set aside additional money if you're age 50 or more. Of course, you can always save more money through a regular savings or investment account. Whatever you do, don't beat yourself up if you're starting late. There's no shame in starting late, and you have a lot of company (almost half of Americnans according to one study). Understand, however, that there's much more to learn than what's in this post, so go on a crash learning course to discover as much as you can. You can always adjust your plans as you learn more. It's never too early or too late to get started! No matter how old you are, you'll feel better knowing that you're saving for your future.
