duke professor terry moffitt: >> so the children who have very little self-control are in deep financial by their 30s. those who are very high self-control are doing very well. they're entrepreneurs. they've got retirement accounts. they own their own homes, and those who are average self-control are right in the middle. >> reporter: does it correlate with their initial socioeconomic status? >> self-control is clearly more important than the socioeconomic status of one's family, the amount of money that one had growing up, and it's more important than school grades, academic achievement, and it's more important than scores on intelligence tests. >> reporter: say fellow duke professor dan arielly, there is no more crucial struggle than the rational, long-term self against all the competing, short players within. >> saving good for the future. right now, i want something else. exercising, good for the future. right now i want to eat another slice of pizza. think about sex. you can think about the amount of political leaders who have taken dramatic falls over immediate temptations. >> repor