Last week it seemed like FaceApp came from nowhere and took over our social media feeds. I saw a few photos first on Twitter, then Facebook and it seems like so many many were trying out the ‘age’ feature on the app.

For those who don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, let me explain.

There’s an app called FaceApp that manipulates a picture of someone’s face to make them older, younger, add a beard, new hair colour, even glasses! My teenagers reliably inform me that the only feature people care about is the aging one. That’s easy for them to say, it’s not a big issue when you’re 15 to age a photo to end up looking like your dad, but when you’re the dad and your aged photo ends up looking like an elderly pensioner in an old folk’s home, it’s a bit sad!

And, to confirm my hipster credentials, I actually read about this app a few months ago and downloaded it. I did try and age my photo, but (and this is where it gets awkward), it didn’t seem to do much to my face, which is quite depressing when you’ve just turned 50 and still hope that you look young!

I promptly left the app alone, not knowing whether the algorithm was flawed or whether I’d messed something up.

Until this week, when it appeared everywhere.

How Financial Planners Can Use FaceApp

Smart financial planners realise that their value lies not in picking good investments or funds with low fees, but rather in the areas of behavioural change and accountability.

One of your biggest struggles is making clients aware that spending all their money today is not good for their future. Yet in a world that’s all about self-gratification and having it all now (even if you can’t afford it), this is a difficult thing to do effectively.

But the reality is that most people are not saving anywhere near enough for the future lifestyle that they say they desire.

One way to motivate people to spend less now and save more for their future is to help them picture their future self.

There have been numerous studies that show that “allowing people to interact with age-progressed renderings of themselves will cause them to allocate more resources toward the future” – read more here and here and here.

It’s a simple concept – if people can get a glimpse of what they’ll look like in the future, they’re more likely to save for that person. It makes it more tangible for them.

Up to now, it’s been difficult to show clients what they’ll look like in the future. Not many of us have the Photoshop skills to age a photo – until FaceApp appeared.

This app makes it so easy to show someone an image of what they could look like in the future. And, based on the people I’ve spoken with, it’s a good motivator to start taking care of yourself (or start saving for botox injections).

How To Use FaceApp With Clients

If I was a financial planner, I’d be using this app in my client meetings.

For new clients, I’d explain that one of the difficulties they face is being able to picture what their future life will look like. With their permission, I’d take a picture of them, age it with the app, send them a copy and keep a copy on my file. I’d even print it out and have it as part of the client meeting, pointing to it and motivating them to start to consider the ‘future-you’.

I’d even use this image in correspondence you send them – remind them as often as appropriate that they need to think about their future self.

This will achieve a couple of things:

• It’ll make you stand out because very few other people will do this.
• It’ll give them something to talk about with their friends and family.
• They will be reminded in a very tangible way that there is a future they need to save for.

I understand the privacy issues with this app. I’ve read articles that suggest that there’s nothing to be alarmed about, to ones that say all your data ends up in Russia. Make your own decision about this. I actually think they used the images for this movie trailer (#humour).

How Will You Use It?

I think this app has great potential for financial planners. When it blew up last week I opened it again and aged a new picture. And yes, it worked. And yes, it’s a bit disturbing! But motivating.

What are your thoughts on FaceApp? Does it have a place in your financial planning process?

I’d love your thoughts. Leave a comment below.