“Some people gulp down their Easter chocolates while others make them last for weeks. What do these behaviours say?”

This is a question about “delayed gratification”. It’s not Jung, Freud or Pavlov! It’s Walter Mischel! The guy who did the fascinating (but probably nowadays illegal) “marshmallow experiment” on Generation X toddlers in the 70s.

Mischel put little kids in a room with a marshmallow. They were told that if they didn’t eat it before the cruel, demented, scientist came back, they could have two marshmallows. About 90 per cent got only one marshmallow. They couldn’t hold out.What they found, however, is that the other 10 per cent of kids – who delayed their gratification to get two – became higher achievers. They were more likely to get degrees, have better careers, be wealthier and have more friends.

Are you able to put off immediate gratification for longer, more pleasurable enjoyment? (And no, this is not a script for a sex toy advertisement. We’re talking finance!)

Putting away “a bit for later” – that is, delaying some gratification – is the cornerstone of wealth creation.

So, when it comes to chocky Easter eggs, the message for Gen Xers is … can you remember what your kids did! Scoff the lot? Or did they have a few and hide a few for later?

Nurture the delayed gratification gene from a young age.

Bruce Brammall is the author of Debt Man Walking (www.debtman.com.au) and a licensed financial adviser.