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This research explores how consumers plan for their personal finances, focusing on the simultaneous effects of spending and saving needs in budget-setting. The current research proposes that the number of budget categories and salient savings goals interactively influence consumers' budget estimation. In two lab studies, we showed that participants with a salient savings goal tend to experience conflicts when they have the same (vs. different) number of budget categories for spending and saving needs, thereby perceiving the increased savings goal importance, which leads to the increased money allocation to saving. Our results further suggest that a detailed financial plan may not always help consumers to pursue financial success. This research contributes to the body of work on budgeting and consumer finance. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a nationwide online survey capturing detailed information on the backgrounds and practices of 654 financial planners, this study examines the associations between the use of technologies by financial planners and self-reported time spent within various stages of the six-step financial planning process. Surprisingly, in many cases, use of technology is associated with an increase rather than a decrease in time spent within various stages of the financial planning process. These results suggest that although technologies may provide efficiencies in completing certain tasks, these efficiencies do not necessarily result in net reductions in time spent within the financial planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]