Umeå universitets logga

The pension system in Sweden today is a very simple system. Taxed incomes generate pension incomes, paid out monthly after retirement. Yet the topic seems riddled with emotions; guilt, shame and anxiety over what you should or should not do. Increasing inflation, population age and climate change are projected to pose big threats to pensions in the coming decades. By 2060, pension incomes are projected to diminish substantially. Yet the future brings hope too; the gender gap in pension incomes is today at 30% and is projected to go down to 4% by 2040 as the changing view on women in the workplace and policy making is evening the (occupational) field.

To learn about pension on the personal, professional and societal layers, I conducted conversations with professionals working for the pension agency, banks, savings solutions and researchers at economics and sociology departments at universities, as well as with individuals with pension planning on their minds (or not). The professionals argued that financial literacy teaches how simple the system is while the individuals feel overwhelmed and confused, showing that the system is not complicated but feels complicated. This dissonance became the space for designing.

I propose to look at money as an actor we have a relationship with, to scale away guilt, shame or anxiety and leverage the positives. Through the strategic use of reflection, we learn about our ongoing relationship with money; formed in childhood, and shaped by everyday life planning towards the future. Thus, we grow towards a life where money serves us by investing in our values, hopes and dreams. As we change our financial behaviour today, we change our relationship in the future.

The value of money does not start with the currency, but with the intention of use, in the hopes and dreams of a person that wants to spend their time with families and hobbies, not with stocks and funds. Looking at financial planning more holistically shows how the established system is biased, rejecting those that do not speak the language. We as designers can be mindful of this and make more inclusive tools to learn this financial language. Insofar the system can be changed is what I examine through speculative futures methods and designs.