Although the average income of Romanians has increased 14 times over the past 20 years, the savings rate remains one of the lowest in the European Union. At the same time, most Romanians say they are aware that they will not be able to support themselves with the pension they will receive from the state, but they do not have a housing plan.

The explanations for why we live in the wind, even when we have a safety net, are not simply carelessness, unconsciousness, or resignation.

One of the theses that we wanted to clarify through the documentary “Why we live today for tomorrow. The complicated history of Romanians’ relationship with money’ is about the extent to which the financial traumas of the past affect our consumption and saving patterns today.

Essentially, saving is about delaying gratification. We deny ourselves an immediate reward in anticipation of a more intense reward. One of the most cited studies on delayed gratification is the “Marshmallow Test”. The first experiment under this name took place in 1972, coordinated by a team of research psychologists from Stanford University in the United States of America. The subjects were only children, and the test was simple: each had a choice between an immediate reward (a meringue that he could eat on the spot) and a larger but delayed reward (if he didn’t eat the meringue on the spot, he got another 15 minutes ).

The researchers continued to track the children’s progress outside the testing room, and results collected over the years showed that people who delayed gratification had better life outcomes—higher test scores and better physical health.

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