{"id":926121,"date":"2026-10-09T04:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T04:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/926121\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T04:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T04:36:11","slug":"are-wealth-rankings-the-thief-of-joy-or-a-savings-booster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/926121\/","title":{"rendered":"Are wealth rankings the thief of joy or a savings booster?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Some money-management and investment apps are gamifying the user experience, offering comparisons to other users’ financial data.Sean Kilpatrick\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a tab that cropped up this year in my Wealthsimple app that tells me how my savings stack up against those of people my age.<\/p>\n

One day, the numbers are tilting in my favour, and I can\u2019t help but feel a tingle of pride. The next, I\u2019ve slipped in the charts.<\/p>\n

But wait! A banner tells me I\u2019m only $1,642 away from moving to a higher wealth percentile. I can catch up by diligently saving and watching my investments grow, of course.<\/p>\n

Or I can take one of many shortcuts that either involve doing more banking with Wealthsimple or making riskier trades, although, to be clear, neither of these options are explicitly recommended by the app.<\/p>\n

Competitive incentives have become more prevalent on the platform, which also released a new \u201cPortfolio Pulse\u201d that offers access to information about other investors\u2019 holdings and performance when you opt in to share yours.<\/p>\n

Gamifying investments through competition is nothing new. Investing is a full-on blood sport on platforms such as Robinhood. Blossom offers social incentives by letting users connect their brokerage accounts and share their trading activity and performance. <\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a difference between apps that draw in users looking to compete and Wealthsimple, a platform that oversees my everyday banking and retirement savings, sharing how my finances stack up against others in real time, using real user data. <\/p>\n

The question is, does gamifying finances in this way help or hurt our savings? <\/p>\n

A 2021 City St George\u2019s University of London study found participants were 20 per cent more likely to reach their saving goals if motivated by psychological rewards \u2013 leaderboards, achievement badges, progress bars \u2013 by their financial institutions.<\/p>\n

The benefits were the biggest for those who found digging into their finances unpleasant, said Janina Steinmetz, a co-author of the British study. \u201cGamification can be helpful for things that people otherwise find either too dull or too tedious, or maybe a bit painful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Positive reinforcements can motivate those who dread looking at their balance, for example, to track their spending more, she said.<\/p>\n

Wealthsimple\u2019s chief growth officer Simon Lejeune said the company built the incentive programs and features \u201cto give people the context and encouragement they\u2019ve been missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wealth rank can \u201cbe a real motivator,\u201d for people who like having a goal to work toward, he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Language-learning app Duolingo is a classic example of gamification making tedious tasks more engaging \u2013 while keeping you hooked \u2013 by rewarding frequent users with streaks that they can boast about to friends when learning a new language. Workout apps push people to exercise more by using sharable progress trackers.<\/p>\n

But that logic only applies to an extent, with those falling behind likely to feel more anxious and eventually disengage. In fact, research specifically looking at rankings suggests that people near the bottom may be negatively affected because the comparison is discouraging, said Irene Scopelliti, also a co-author of the British report.<\/p>\n

Gamification also tends to have fewer benefits for those already indulging in riskier competitive behaviour.<\/p>\n

A 2022 Ontario Securities Commission report<\/a> found that in a simulation, people made nearly 40 per cent more trades when rewarded by points than those who didn\u2019t receive the gamified incentives<\/a>. Telling, given that how often someone trades and their returns tend to have an inverse relationship.<\/p>\n

Do you find it helpful to track how your finances stack up against others your age group? Tell us by taking this short poll<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Mariya\u2019s consumer reading list<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a concert worth?<\/a><\/p>\n

The NYT spoke to 34 fans attending a Harry Styles concert to understand the time, money and effort it took them to get there. (For subscribers to the New York Times.)<\/p>\n

Stress Test returns for 13th season <\/p>\n

Good news podcast fans. Stress Test, The Globe and Mail\u2019s award-winning financial podcast for Gen Z and millennials, is embarking on it\u2019s 13th season. We\u2019re so excited for this round of episodes: We\u2019ll look at whether the Canada-U.S. trade war is changing how young people invest, why more Canadians are buying their first homes in their 40s and 50s, and how much money online influencers actually make. Listen to the trailer here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

One episode we\u2019d like to hear from you about is whether finances are impacting your decision to have kids. Maybe you want kids but are waiting until you feel more financially secure. Maybe the cost of housing, an unstable job or other financial pressures have made you question whether you can afford to become a parent. Or maybe you already have one child and finances are affecting whether you have a second or third. If this sounds like you, we\u2019d love to hear about your experience. Reach out to Globe editor and Stress Test host Roma Luciw at RLuciw@globeandmail.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Chart of the day<\/p>\n

Fred Vettese looks at why falling birth rates may pose a problem<\/a> for future retirees.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s financial tool<\/p>\n

Have $50K to invest in an RESP from birth? Don\u2019t start with $16,500 in year one or a lump sum payment either, writes CFP Aaron Hector in his firm\u2019s latest RESP funding guide<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Some money-management and investment apps are gamifying the user experience, offering comparisons to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":926122,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,73504,1412,73501,131,73507,73502,73505,73506,132,73503],"class_list":["post-926121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-finance","tag-high-interest-saving","tag-newsletter","tag-onmoneynewsletter","tag-personal-finance","tag-personal-finance-advice-canada","tag-personal-finance-canada","tag-personal-finance-newsletter","tag-personal-finance-planning","tag-personalfinance","tag-saving-strategy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=926121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/926122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=926121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=926121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=926121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}