The perceived impact of current work–life balance on one’s financial future

In recent decades, the evolving job market has highlighted the importance of work-life balance (WLB), yet there remains ambiguity around individuals' awareness of WLB's future consequences and its influence on their choices. This study introduces a novel method for assessing the perceived impact of three components of one's current WLB—stress and burnout, boundaries, and flexibility—on one’s future financial situation, future health, and future community relations. Additionally, we evaluate the validity of our approach by investigating how the perceived future impact affects decision making related to WLB and job compensation (salary; pension). We find large differences between the perceived impact of each WLB component on each future aspect of life. We then demonstrate the linkage between the perceived impact and individuals’ current financial decision-making processes regarding WLB management. Our results offer managers insights for informed decision-making on allocating resources to WLB components in organizations. • We examine if individuals grasp the future implications of their work–life balance. • We show how stress and burnout, boundaries, and flexibility impact one’s future. • Perceived future impact affects financial decisions related to work–life balance. • Our results can help allocating resource among the work–life balance components.