Are you a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty kind of planner? Whether you see the financial road ahead as full of opportunity or lined with potholes, that mindset—your natural bias toward optimism or pessimism—can shape how much you save, when you retire, and even how secure you feel along the way. Let’s explore bias and why financial optimism (especially optimistic realism) pays off.
Where Your Bias Toward Optimism or Pessimism Comes From
Researchers suggest that optimism and pessimism are partly hardwired (about 25% genetic), but also shaped by early experiences: your family dynamics, school challenges, and whether life rewarded your risk-taking or reinforced caution. And it shifts with age. One large study found that optimism increases steadily through early adulthood, plateaus between ages 55–70, and gradually declines from there—a curve that happens to mirror overall life satisfaction. (Yes, your most optimistic time roughly corresponds with the ages when you are happiest.)
Wherever you fall on the spectrum, one thing is clear: your biases influence your financial plans—and your outcomes.
Optimism & Pessimism and Your Financial Plans
Your bias toward optimism or pessimism can have a huge impact on your financial outcomes in life and especially retirement.
Why Mindset Matters in Retirement Planning
In the Boldin Facebook group, we saw a lively debate unfold around just how much someone’s outlook influences retirement projections. Some members shared how overly rosy assumptions gave them unrealistic confidence, while others admitted that extreme conservatism had them saving more than necessary, and still feeling anxious.
Many also noted that financial media and traditional advisors tend to overemphasize doom-and-gloom projections, especially for people with complex or uncertain futures. The result? A distorted sense of what’s required for a secure retirement.
Here’s the problem:
If you are too:
- Pessimistic, your plan may show you need much more savings than you realistically do. You might delay retirement, underspend, or stress unnecessarily.
- Optimistic, you could retire too early or spend too freely, only to face a shortfall later.
Bottom line: Bias isn’t just a feeling—it’s embedded in the math of your plan.
Realistic Optimism Yields the Best Results
Pessimism isn’t all bad—it’s great for building contingency plans. But studies consistently show that realistic optimists tend to have better outcomes, financially and otherwise. Optimists are more likely to:
- Maintain stronger relationships
- Live longer
- Set and achieve goals
- Eat healthier
- Manage stress effectively
However, it’s realistic optimism—the sweet spot between hope and caution—that leads to the most resilient and effective plans.
Realistic optimism is the ability to stay hopeful about the future while remaining grounded in facts. It’s not about wishful thinking or ignoring risks—it’s about acknowledging challenges, preparing for them, and still believing that good outcomes are possible. Realistic optimists tend to make better decisions because they balance a positive outlook with clear-eyed planning. They don’t assume everything will go perfectly, but they also don’t let fear or worst-case thinking keep them from moving forward. In financial planning, this mindset leads to smarter assumptions, better preparation, and greater confidence over time.
Optimism and Financial Well-Being
According to a Harvard Business Review article, even when controlling for income, education, and demographics, optimists are significantly more likely to:
- Save for major purchases
- Build emergency funds
- Follow trusted financial advice
- Experience 145 fewer days of financial stress per year than pessimists
And it pays off. The study concluded that over time, optimists earn more and get promoted more often than their pessimistic peers.
How to Combat Your Biases (Optimistic or Pessimistic) for Better Financial Outcomes
Many people aren’t fully aware of how their financial assumptions reflect optimism or pessimism. A simple way to uncover your bias is to run two planning scenarios:
- A best-case scenario with an earlier retirement, modest expenses, strong markets, low inflation, a long life, and ideal timing.
- A worst-case scenario with high inflation, low returns, a long-term care need, and unexpected expenses.
Using the Boldin Retirement Planner, you can quickly build both versions. As you compare them, pay attention to which one makes you more uncomfortable—and why. That reaction may reveal whether you’re leaning too far in one direction.
In the process, you may also discover:
- You’re more resilient than you thought
- You’ve underestimated the impact of small adjustments
- You need to tweak your baseline assumptions to match reality—not fear or hope
How to Become a Healthier, More Realistic Optimist
No matter where you fall today, you can shift your outlook. Here are 5 ways to increase optimism while still using healthy skepticism to your advantage:
1. Be informed
The past – or your individual understanding of the past – influences how you think about the future. And, research suggests that better-informed people tend to be more optimistic.
You see, people tend to be unaware of past improvements in the state of the world. And, this lack of information can lead to pessimism and negatively impact financial outcomes.
For example, while it has had dips, the stock market has always recovered and exceeded previous highs. However, many people are fearful of investing in stocks, feeling that they are too volatile. And others make the huge mistake of selling when the stock market dips because they are fearful of further losses.
2. Practice gratitude
Start or end your day by listing 3 things you are grateful for. This simple 2-minute exercise is proven to make people feel better about life. In a clinical study, writing down daily gratitudes helped older adults shift from pessimism to optimism in just two weeks.
Bonus: Gratitude helps you live longer!
3. Visualize the future you want
Don’t just plan—picture what success looks like. Visualizing your desired outcomes helps the brain map the steps needed to get there.
4. Focus on progress, not perfection
Set long-term goals, but measure success in shorter increments. Weekly or monthly progress keeps motivation high.
5. Dive Deeper into the Psychology of Optimism
Dr. Martin Seligman is considered to be the father of positive psychology. His book, Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, draws on more than 20 years of clinical research to demonstrate how optimism enhances the quality of life and how anyone can learn to practice it.
So, Are You an Optimist or a Pessimist? Test to Find Out
Dr. Seligman defines the thinking styles of optimists and pessimists in terms of how someone reacts when something bad happens:
Optimists: Optimists view bad events as temporary, specific, and not their fault.
Pessimists: Pessimists see them lasting, global, and reflective of personal shortcomings.
So, how do you react to bad situations? The reality is that most people can be either optimistic or pessimistic depending on the precise circumstances.
So, what are you? Here are three science based quizzes to help you understand your bias
Curious how you might be objectively measured as an optimist or pessimist? Try these tests:
- Life Orientation Test (LOT-R): Developed by psychologist Michael Scheier, the LOT-R test is a 10 item quiz that measures how optimistic or pessimistic you are about the future.
- Success Scale: Developed by Michelle Gielan, the Success Scale tests you for work optimism, positive engagement and support provision.
- Optimism Quotient: A quick and simple 10 question test.
