Evidence
Every block below is graded and traces back to the studies behind it.
8 blocks
Reset filtersAFinancial Wellness · concept
Financial Literacy, and Why Knowledge Alone Rarely Changes Behavior
Financial literacy is knowing how money concepts work. Multiple meta-analyses show that literacy education alone explains very little of what people actually do with money.
Understand what financial literacy can and cannot doSet realistic expectations for learning
beta · evidence developing
AFinancial Wellness · concept
How Financial Stress Affects Health
Financial stress is consistently associated with depression, and also with cardiovascular risk and other health harms. Money worries are a genuine health issue, not just a budgeting issue.
Understand the financial-stress/health connectionTake money stress seriously as a health factor
beta · evidence developing
BFinancial Wellness · concept
Debt and Financial Stress
Debt, especially unsecured or high debt relative to assets, is repeatedly linked to psychological distress. Recognizing this link is the first step to addressing it without shame.
Understand the debt-stress linkReduce shame around debt
beta · evidence developing
CFinancial Wellness · concept
Mental Accounting: How We Mentally Bucket Money
People treat money differently depending on where it comes from or is 'assigned' (which can help (earmarking savings) or hurt (splurging a windfall)). Awareness lets you use it deliberately.
Recognize your own money-bucketingUse earmarking intentionally
beta · evidence developing
CFinancial Wellness · concept
Present Bias: Why the Now Beats the Later
We systematically overweight immediate rewards over future ones, which quietly undermines saving and long-term goals. Naming it helps you design around it.
Understand present biasAnticipate and counter short-term pull
beta · evidence developing
CFinancial Wellness · concept
What Financial Well-Being Means
Financial well-being is having control over day-to-day finances, capacity to absorb a shock, being on track for goals, and freedom to make choices (a widely referenced four-part framing), a subjective state, not just income.
Understand what financial wellness isSet a personal baseline
beta · evidence developing
CFinancial Wellness · concept
Why Saving Is Hard: The Psychology of Saving Behavior
Saving is shaped less by knowledge than by self-control, habits, and how choices are structured. Understanding this makes it easier to design around willpower rather than rely on it.
Understand what drives (and blocks) savingPrepare to build a saving habit
beta · evidence developing
CFinancial Wellness · concept
Why an Emergency Buffer Matters
A small cash buffer is one of the clearest markers of financial well-being, the 'capacity to absorb a financial shock.' Even a modest buffer reduces the stress a surprise expense creates.
Understand the value of an emergency bufferSet a realistic buffer target
beta · evidence developing