1. Are you missing the proof in your pitchdeck? Need solid data in your
pitch? Want to amplify your fintech impact with research insights?

2. Hi there! We are from the Think forward Initiative (TFI), an ecosystem that is bringing research, innovation and experts together to find
out why and how we make financial decisions. We’re a purpose driven, multi-partner initiative with ING, Deloitte, Dell EMC, CEPR and
Dimension Data joining the ride. Our network is currently made up of: researchers, academics, NGOs, fintechs, corporate
entrepreneurs, start-ups and scale-ups.
What are we about? Well, the TFI revolves around finding out how people make decisions and funnelling these insights in to
innovation.
What is this all about? Well, we have some exciting research out there (visit thinkforwardinitiative.com) but we find that some of our
reports are written in suboptimum ways for innovators to use in informing their work, or even their pitchdecks. So, we’re running an
experiment to see how to best write up some of our research outcomes in a way that you can use. If you’d like to participate then
please read through the research facts we’ve pulled from our reports. At the end you’ll find next steps.
Thanks a Million!
-The TFI Team

3. What we
have
Financial health
Financial decision making
Financial behaviour
Young people and financial health

4. Feel free to use any of the research you
find on the following slides. When you do
so, do you mind referring back to us?
Thinkforwardinitiative.com

5. According to ING
surveys, three in 10
people across Europe
have no savings
whatsoever, and 10
per cent with personal
debt don’t even know
how much they owe
(Source: Beyond Financial
Literacy – Discussion
Paper).
Companies and
organizations which want to
empower people need to be
especially aware of the
widening inequality in
society, as the rich expect to
become richer and the less
affluent most often expect
further decline in their
standard of living. It is the
latter group that most
urgently needs guidance and
support (Source: Bridging the
Empowerment Divide)
One ING
international survey
shows that 85% of
Europeans polled
using mobile
banking list at least
one way it has
improved their
money management
(Source: Money
Attitudes of a New
Generation).
Financial Health: General
Population
If you think about the
personal finance situation in
Europe, the image conjured
up is perhaps more stormy
seas than calm lake. Sixty
percent of the people we
surveyed across Europe have
said that they worry about
their financial position. Nearly
three in 10 don’t have any
savings at all. And 10 percent
of people who have personal
debt don’t even know how
much they owe (Source: Article:
Helping Millions Keep Their Head
Above Water).

6. Financial Health: On trust
Only 8% of 21-34 year olds in
the US trust financial
institutions, 44% state that
their banks don’t
understand them (Source:
Money Attitudes of a New
Generation).

7. Over the last few
decades pensioner
disposable income in
the UK has grown
three times as fast as
the income of young
people (Source: Money
Attitudes of a New
Generation via
Guardian/Luxembourg
Income Study Database:
Cross-National Data
Center 2015)
In the US, 58 % of US
18-34 year olds indicate
that their parents had
the greatest impact on
their own handling of
finances (Source: Money
Attitudes of a New
Generation via. Better
Money Habits 2015)
In the US there was a
4.5% average increase
in the incomes of
those aged 65 and
above between 2007
and 2013 while those
of the youngest
increased only by 1%
(Source: Money Attitudes
of a New Generation)
Young people and financial
health

8. In the UK -11% of
teenagers aged 12-18
years old are worried
about having money
troubles (Source: Money
Attitudes of a New
Generation)
Despite their youth,
as many as 79% of
Generation K in the
US and UK worry
about getting a job
(Source: Money Attitudes
of a New Generation)
Young people and financial
health
In the UK 30% of 11-16 year
olds are worried about
whether their family will
have enough money to
live on. 25% are concerned
that one or both parents
could lose their jobs.
(Source: Money Attitudes of a
New Generation via. Ipsos
Mori: Who is Generation Next?
2014)

9. A large number of
decisions are made at
the level of the
household instead of
the individual, which
calls for products and
services to be tailored
to meet the needs of
the household (Source:
The Merit of Teamwork)
Couples who
make joint
decisions have
better overview of
their financial
situation (Source:
The Merit of
Teamwork)
Financial decision making
Around 58%, or three in
five people, do not have
their own payment or
savings account, meaning
that they share all their
income in the joint
account(s). Only a small
percentage of people
(around 10%) have only
personal account(s) but no
joint account(s) (Source: The
Merit of Teamwork)
People tend to collect
information individually.
For example, although
79% of people agree that
buying a car is a joint
decision, only around
one third of them treat
the information
collection process of
buying a new car as joint
(Source: The Merit of
Teamwork)

10. Financial behaviour
Previous research on optimism has
shown that we have a tendency to
be overconfident and that can result
in making imprudent decisions (Goel
and Thakor 2008; Heaton and Odean
2011) including financial decisions
such as taking too much risk
(Spencer, Nieboer, and Elliott 2015;
Kahneman 2011). The findings also
have important implications for the
design and regulation of financial
products. Products that seek to
understand a user’s psychological
profile could be tailored to the user
accordingly. (Source: Beyond Financial
Literacy – Technical Report)
75% of people between the
ages of 18-65 years have set
clear financial, personal or
professional goals for the next
five years. Often people have
more than one type of goal.
When we look at each type of
goal, only 45% indicate that
they have clear financial goals,
37% have clear personal goals
and 31% have clear professional
goals for the next five years.
(Source: Bridging the Empowerment
Divide)
From research we can
gather that that
psychological constructs
should be given more
weight when designing
products and regulations of
products in the cases of
equity (stocks and
investing), checking
accounts, savings accounts,
credit cards, and unsecured
loans (Source: Beyond Financial
Literacy – Technical Report)

11. Thank you!
Did you find any of the research facts useful to you? If so, how will you use them?
Perhaps in a pitch deck, perhaps in designing your product? Are you interested to
read more on some of the introduced subject areas? Are you interested to follow
the TFI for more research on financial decision making?
Please send
your answers to:
Lauren.muusse
@thinkforwardi
nitiative.com
It was useful
I want to read more
I want to follow the TFI
✓
✓
✓
https://www.thinkforwardinitiative.com

12. - Beyond financial literacy: The Psychological dimensions of
financial capability – discussion paper
- Bridging the Empowerment Divide: Enabling people to lead
the lives they want (Values based learnings from 13 countries
in Europe and beyond)
- TFI ArtMoney attitudes of a new generation: An ING study
conducted with Professor Noreena Hertzicle: Helping
millions to keep their heads above water
- (Intra-Household Dynamics on Daily Finanical Affairs) The
Merit of Teamwork: Couples who make joint decisions have
fewer financial problems
- Beyond financial literacy: The Psychological dimensions of
financial capability – technical paper
All sources

13. Think Forward Initiative