in your 60s? not so much. probably never thought i d get fast, i don t know, right now. reporter: it can make a huge difference. people in the study who looked at their future self allocated twice as much money toward a hypothetical retirement savings account. twice as much. people start to have some empathy for who that person will be. you start to really feel what it might feel like for your future self to not have enough money in the future. it s a reality check. it s almost like a reality creation. i think for a lot of people that reality doesn t even exist to them. reporter: it can be unne in the future, we all want to look like paul newman. but i look m likae grandpa eddie. it s pretty jarring. hal s team is now developing an iphone app so you can age yourself anywhere. when you sit down to plan your future, you can now look over your own shoulder. john berman, abc news, palo alto, cali you know, what we ll like 40 yeafrom