“What we’re seeing in the marketplace right now is a combination of those behavioural nudges, which consider the different aspects of where a person is in their life,” he says.
“Somebody who’s just getting married may need certain behavioural nudges – a reminder to start a spousal RRSP, for example. And someone who just had their first child might have different behavioural nudges,” he adds. “So you might get notified to set up an RESP, or collect certain government grants, or invest in more fixed-income instruments, depending on your age and where you are in your life.”
Over the last five years, Madej has seen growing interest in having behavioural scientists support and train financial advisors on how they should coach and encourage clients. And in the future, he imagines automated financial plans that can guide clients even with mundane money decisions such as budgeting or limiting expenses that, over time, could drastically alter the trajectory of a person’s financial life.
“Today, you might be wondering whether you should take a nicer apartment for $2,000 a month, or go with a simpler apartment for $1,000 a month over a two-year period,” he says. “Right now, a lot of people are just guessing without much information. But eventually, we could have an app that shows you how huge the impact of that decision could be when you’re 65 years old.”
Beyond that, Madej says software could also potentially influence people’s behaviour through gamification.
