Choices between smaller rewards sooner and larger rewards later are all too common. While it can sometimes be difficult to wait, there are often benefits to patience. Interestingly, individuals vary widely in the rate at which they discount the value of future outcomes, and many choose the smaller, sooner option even when the choice isn’t aligned with their goals. What underlies the decision to enjoy an expensive latte now instead of saving that cash for retirement? Would imagining the benefits of a well­-funded retirement help shift the decision away from instant gratification? We were interested in understanding how an individual’s ability to imagine rewards impacts the extent to which she discounts the future. Using functional neuroimaging, we measured the brain response associated with imagining an immediate reward. Separately, we estimated each individual’s discount rate (i.e., patience) over a series of financial decisions where she chose between a smaller dollar amount now and a larger one in the future. We found that brain activity in prefrontal cortex during reward imagination was positively correlated with patience during monetary choice, and that this response predicted individual discount rate with high accuracy. Understanding how individuals engage their imaginations in decision making may have applications for both consumers and firms, providing opportunities for intervention when choosing to wait may be beneficial. Encouraging individuals to immerse themselves in the vivid possibility of a future option may help to better align behavior with stated goals ­­ or at least put that extra dollar into a retirement account.