Canada Life has found that consumers generally view ‘long-term’ as a time period spanning 24 years no matter what age they are at present.

The firm’s research found there is a gender divide, with women thinking long term meant 25 years on average, while men identified to a period of 23 years.

While the mean average revealed long-term as 24 years, it stretched from just five years to over 100 years, with answers very dependent upon age and life stage.

The research is a part of Canada Life’s Long-Term: Close Up campaign which explores consumers’ attitudes to long-term financial planning, as well as how financial advisers can better support their clients as they look to the future.

The biggest influences on long-term thinking are family (54%), friends (22%) and financial advisers (17%). However, 22% think advisers should have a bigger influence. Despite 72% of consumers planning ahead financially, 35% of consumers are currently planning for the future without any guidance from the adviser community.

Currently advisers are predominantly used for retirement and pensions planning (46%), finding investment opportunities (41%), wealth and inheritance planning (33%) and achieving specific financial goals (32%).

However, the research indicates that there could be a more influential role for advisers in their clients’ holistic long-term planning and the finances they need for the future.

Lara Bealing, marketing director at Canada Life, said: “In this industry, we talk about the importance of taking a long-term view when it comes to our finances, but do we take stock and ask clients how far ahead they are thinking when we talk about the ‘long-term’?  It can be very subjective, making it even more important for advisers to fully understand their clients’ plans well into the future.

“We’ve embarked on an ambitious project to uncover the behavioral bias around long-term, and through insight and partnering with renowned behavioral psychologists, will explore long-term thinking, decision making and planning to help support better conversations with clients.”