When it comes to debt and saving for the future, it appears that nobody is immune to feeling the crunch—and regret. According to a Bankrate study, 74% of Americans have a financial regret, most frequently not saving for retirement early enough, with 21% harboring those feelings. Other sentiments include taking on too much credit card debt (15%) or not saving enough for emergency expenses (14%).
Saving for the future sooner, rather than later, means the money in your retirement fund will grow due to compound interest, or interest payments that increase your savings every year. While not everyone saves for retirement early in their working years, many regret it—21% of US adults say their biggest financial regret is not saving for retirement early enough.
Another 15% of Americans most regret taking on too much credit card debt, and 14% most regret not saving enough for emergency expenses.
A small percentage of people say their biggest regret is taking on too much student loan debt (5%), not saving enough for their children’s education (3%) or buying more home than they can afford (3%). One in five (20%) of people don’t have any financial regret at all.
Baby boomers Regret Not Saving for Retirement Early Enough
Baby boomers, most of whom are around retirement age, are the most likely generation to wish they had saved earlier in life. Around one in three (34%) baby boomers regret not saving early enough for retirement, more than the 26% of Gen Xers, 11% of millennials and 5% of Gen Zers.
Younger generations, who typically won’t worry about retirement for a few more decades, are more likely to regret not having enough emergency savings. Around one in five (21%) Gen Zers say not saving enough for emergency expenses is their biggest financial regret, followed by 17% of millennials, 13% of Gen Xers and 9% of baby boomers.
Less than one-fifth of people of all ages regret taking on too much credit card debt: 18% of Gen Xers, 16% of millennials, 15% of baby boomers and 11% of Gen Zers.
Taking a Deeper Dive into the Report
- More Americans regret not saving for retirement than taking on too much debt or not saving for emergencies. 21% of US adults say their biggest financial regret is not starting to save for retirement early enough. That’s more than the 15% of people who regret taking on too much credit card debt and the 14% of people who regret not saving enough for emergency expenses.
- Baby boomers are most likely to regret not saving for retirement early enough. Thirty-four perdcent of baby boomers (ages 59-77) regret not saving for retirement early enough, more than the 26% of Gen Xers (ages 43-58), 11% of millennials (ages 27-42) and 5% of Gen Zers (ages 18-26) who feel the same.
- Nearly half of Americans have grown more stressed over their biggest financial regret since last year. Forty-eight percent of US adults with at least one financial regret say their stress level over their top financial regret has increased in the past year, four times as many people as the 12% who say their stress level has decreased.
- Younger Americans are more stressed year-over-year as a result of financial regret. Sixty-percent of Gen Zers and 57% of millennials with financial regret say their resulting stress has increased since June 2022 — 45% of Gen Xers and 38% of baby boomers say the same.
Nearly 1 in 2 Americans Feel Financial Stress
Financial regrets have commonly become more stressful for many Americans over the past year: Among those with financial regrets, nearly one-half (48%) say their stress level over their top financial regret has increased at least somewhat since June 2022. Only 12% say their stress level has decreased at least somewhat in that same time.
Most commonly, 40% of these people said their stress level over their financial regret has stayed about the same in the last year.
To read the entire study, CLICK HERE.
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