We've all heard the advice. If you want to secure financial future, save for retirement,

and start early, track your spending, don't spend more than you earn. But rules like these

are far easier said than followed, especially if you're short on time, money, or both.

Knowing this, some behavioral scientists are interested in learning more about how people make

financial decisions and then using what they learn to help improve financial well-being,

especially for people with low to moderate incomes. So why is it so hard to take the financial

actions that we know we ought to be taking. What gets in the way? How do financial

stress and anxiety affect us and our relationships? And how am I talking more openly about our

finances help? What actions can you take now to set yourself on the best financial path?

And what research-based actions could employers and institutions take to improve

financial well-being for everyone? Welcome to Speaking of Psychology, the flagship podcast of

the American Psychological Association that examines the links between psychological science

and everyday life. I'm Kim Mills.

My guest today is Dr. Wendy DeLerosa, an assistant professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She focuses on using behavioral science to improve consumers'

financial well-being. Her award-winning research has been published in many scientific

journals and featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and NPR, among other places.

Dr. De La Rosa is also the co-creator and host of Ted's Your Money and Your Mind series,

the co-founder of the Common Sense Lab, and a Forbes 30 under 30

financial honoree. Before joining Wharton, she helped start Google's first behavioral economics

unit, and she began her career as a private equity investor at Goldman Sachs. Dr. De La Rosa,

thank you for joining me. Thank you for having me.

It's a pleasure to be here. So I just mentioned that we all know these seemingly simple financial

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