why people appear to fail to take the right steps in their financial best interest? Let's look more closely. We know that in life, people often set themselves in risky situations. Some people play football when they know they might injure their knees and backs, or worse. Some people smoke when they know smoking causes cancer and heart disease. Some people drive fast and change lanes carelessly even when they know that, in doing so, they could kill themselves and others. People do many things that do not appear to be in their best interest.

In the article “The avuncular state” it is evident that economists should look at people from different outlooks; one of these perspectives is the “behavioral economics” viewpoint, which may help them understand people’s financial behavior. It has been suggested that people develop certain pattern in their economic behavior, and that some of these patterns may result in poor economic decisions. Many of these decisions influence whether people choose to save money or not. “The avuncular state” mentions that people do not like to postpone pleasure and that as humans, we are “impatient” and that we want immediate rewards. For example, for many among us, the sacrifice of having a healthy diet can be easily seen. It includes the immediate sacrifice of foods we get pleasure from. It might also require a big change in behaviors related with eating more carefully, a planned grocery shopping list and fewer restaurant meals, regular exercise and less easy time. At the same time, the benefits associated with a healthy diet are not immediate and are not certain that they will be reached, if they are reached at all, in the future.

An individual could stick to the world's most healthy diet and be hit by a bus tomorrow! That is the way most people think regarding life-decision situations. Probably the effort involved in giving up delicious, satisfying, and unhealthy food would seem, in such a case, pointless and wasted. “Intertemporal Choice” is an article written by Richard H. Thaler in which he has conducted different research; in this article he explains that people are not “consistent over time” in their financial decision-making (Analysis of Markets P.68). For example when school starts students are excited to do well and plan their semester with lots of fancy colors, however the more the time passes the less those plans are followed; this phenomenon has been explained in the article “ Why Johnny can’t save for retirement- Fortune” written by Justin Fox; human brain consist of “two different selves”. One brain says that “I will work very hard this semester” and the other brain says not today though, tomorrow! This fact makes it easier to understand why people fail to save today for their retirement pension, because research shows that when money is involved in a situation “the brain acts as if it has smelled dinner” and that is why it will like to receive the reward today and not wait. Justin Fox illustrates that the reluctance to save might also be explained by knowing that the more choices people face, the more likely they are to do nothing.

To help the society, the government has decided to approach the public with less dominant and overbearing rules. Richard Thaler explains this tactic as the “libertarian paternalism”. The article “The avuncular state” is all about an invisible hand helping and informing people in order for them to make the right decisions regarding savings without anyone really noticing. Simply because humans resent acting upon force, but on the same time they need a leader to guide them to the right path. (401) k is a pension plan that has been developed to help employees save for their future. However, the more choices are added, it becomes more difficult for people to pick out the best option. Greater the number of options greater the difficulty of measuring the benefits associated with each option. Therefore many people presented with dozens of savings and retirement options will feel overwhelmed and will be likely to postpone their savings decisions. They need a great deal of information to act wisely, and the costs of achieving that information may look unreasonable. Consequently, they will fail to do something about it. Taking all of these studies and approaches into account as individuals we can understand our own behavior and we can possibly try a self-discipline approach regarding our savings and our future!