SEATTLE — We’ve all thought about a financial move we could have and should have made. That’s normal.
However, according to a new survey, two in five Americans regret not saving enough for retirement or emergencies.
Saving money takes a plan and the discipline to stick to it.
But sometimes life gets in the way and those goals don’t go as you first wished.
“We have seen for years, consistently, Americans identifying the fact that they don’t have enough retirement savings, they don’t have enough emergency savings. And sure enough, the financial regrets really revolve around those two issues”, says Bankrate analyst Greg McBride.
The Financial Regret Survey says regrets differ by age.
McBride says, “So for example, younger workers, Gen Z and millennials, their largest financial regret tended to be around lack of emergency savings. On the other hand, Gen Xers and baby Boomers, their regrets centered much more around. They wish they had started saving for retirement early enough, and we see a steady increase in that retirement regret as you get closer to retirement.”
Why those with regrets haven’t been able to save can be pinned down to inflation.
McBride says 45 percent of people with regrets about money say inflation has played a part in keeping them from saving over the past year.
“And inflation has stretched household budgets, and you’ve seen that reflected in the fact that savings balances have run down, and credit card balances have run up over the last three years. You know, nobody’s financing purchases at 20% interest because everything’s wonderful. That’s a clear sign of the strain that many households are under.”
McBride advises those struggling to curb their debt and save what they can. Because any movement forward is better than doing nothing at all.
“And it does not only automate the process of saving, but it forces you to live on less than you make. And at the end of the day, that’s really the essence of building wealth over time.”