In a new paper (pdf), M Keith Chen explores the interplay between language and fiscal responsibility:
Languages differ in whether or not they require speakers to grammatically mark the futurity of events. For example, a German speaker predicting precipitation can naturally do so in the present tense, saying: Morgen regnet es, which translates to ‘It rains tomorrow’. In contrast, English would require the use of a future marker ‘will’ or ‘be going to’, as in ‘It will rain tomorrow’. In this way, English encodes a distinction between present and future events that German does not.
David Berreby summarizes Chen's findings on "future time reference" (FTR):
His analysis suggests that if your language's syntax blurs the difference between today and tomorrow (as do, say, Chinese and German) then you are more likely to save money, quit smoking, exercise and otherwise prepare for times to come.
On the other hand, if you have three dollars in your IRA and a big credit-card balance, it's a safer bet you speak English or Hausa or Greek or some other language that forces speakers to distinguish present from future. … Weak-FTR language-speakers have piled up an average of 170,000 more euros per person for their retirement than strong-FTR speakers, and are 24 percent less likely to have smoked heavily, 29 percent more likely to exercise regularly, and 13 percent less likely to be obese.
The Dish 