{"id":19061,"date":"2025-08-23T21:25:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T21:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/19061\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T21:25:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T21:25:18","slug":"these-are-americans-top-financial-regrets-and-what-to-do-about-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/19061\/","title":{"rendered":"These are Americans&#8217; top financial regrets &#8212; and what to do about them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/person-using-credit-card.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-v-7d0efd03=\"\"\/> article <\/p>\n<p data-v-7d0efd03=\"\">FILE-A man uses his credit card at a restaurant. (Photo by Lindsey Nicholson\/UCG\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) <\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Most Americans have some form of financial regret in 2025, according to a new Bankrate survey.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">While some may think of buyer\u2019s remorse, Bankrate asked participants what they wished they\u2019d done differently as far as finances go.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">This can range from not saving enough for a rainy day or possibly taking on too much student loan debt.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">&#8220;While a majority of Americans still admit to harboring some remorse over their past financial decisions, the decrease is a step in the right direction,&#8221; said Bankrate Financial Analyst Stephen Kates, CFP. &#8220;One consistent takeaway from this study every year is the durability of &#8216;not saving enough for retirement&#8217; as a regret. The percentage of people with this regret grows with age as retirement draws closer. Younger Americans should look to the future to avoid the mistakes of their older counterparts.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> Majority of people have financial regret <\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Though slightly less than in 2024, most people surveyed still said they had a financial regret in 2025.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">By the numbers:<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">2025: 74% had a financial regret<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">2024: 77% had a financial regret<\/p>\n<p> <strong>Top reasons for financial regret<\/strong>  <\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">More than 1 in 5 (21%) said they do not have any financial regrets and 5% said they don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p> <strong>Gen X more likely to have financial regret<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Dig deeper:<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Adults who fall in the Gen X category (45-60) are more likely than other generations to have a financial regret at 83%.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Millennials (29-44) are at 76%, baby boomers (61-79) at 75% and Gen Z (18-28) at 63%.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">The most popular reasons for financial regret for all generations were not saving early enough for retirement and credit card debt, Bankrate said.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Big picture view:<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Of the people who said they had a financial regret this year, less than half said they have made no progress toward addressing it in the past 12 months.<\/p>\n<ul original-article-post=\"\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\" data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">\n<li class=\"article-ct\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\">43%: No progress<\/li>\n<li class=\"article-ct\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\">42%: Some progress<\/li>\n<li class=\"article-ct\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\">15%: Significant progress<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">&#8220;More Americans are reporting making no progress on their regrets this year,&#8221; added Kates. &#8220;This is troubling because while it&#8217;s unrealistic to expect to make perfect financial decisions all the time, having regrets doesn&#8217;t mean you can&#8217;t fix them or make improvements over time. It is the small incremental changes applied consistently over time that make the biggest impacts.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Additionally, when asked what could make their financial situation better for the future, participants said lower prices on essentials such as groceries and gas (30%), better job opportunities (11%), lower rent (10%) and rising stock market values (7%).<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">One in 10 Americans said nothing would improve their financial situation in the near future, Bankrate\u2019s survey said.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">By generation, cheaper essentials was the most popular reason that would help improve their money issues.<\/p>\n<ul original-article-post=\"\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\" data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">\n<li class=\"article-ct\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\">Baby boomers: 36%<\/li>\n<li class=\"article-ct\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\">Millennials: 30%<\/li>\n<li class=\"article-ct\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\">Gen X: 30%<\/li>\n<li class=\"article-ct\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\">Gen Z: 20%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Gen Z also noted that better job opportunities would greatly improve their financial standing.<\/p>\n<p> Tips on how to get rid of your financial regret <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">What you can do:<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">While it may feel too late to start saving or debt just feels like an impossible mountain to climb, experts at Bankrate have a few tips to share that will help get you on the path toward financial stability.\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul original-article-post=\"\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\" data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">\n<li class=\"article-ct\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\">&#8220;It\u2019s really never too late to start.&#8221; Take advantage of employer 401(k) matching if available and make sure to start putting away a few dollars for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.com\/v3\/__https:\/\/u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net\/ls\/click?upn=u001.gqh-2BaxUzlo7XKIuSly0rC784ZF76dZptuZPC609BAKovjC2-2FICITwMzb5T7FZ7NGUd1CRx79wLlJ07P4JinU96RDFPYxk-2F3Nw5gFj-2BUcCd8-3D0mi7_1bjvdYK7b1KHhROFVKAkB3iCiDz460KYFMd4a350AKe-2Bg1PePkvPMfNExThltm52qSKczehYS9YoCow0OWvpnJ2cX1zLp-2Br89ltF6jTFqnUCrSYTqoFlx1Lck7IV-2BK2kzjD0aw6VvkrLBed302XpiJe-2BlcGjDEYUdDpe4sOVcgj3MvXaOp4z-2BaXn0XDtk8zjwyev-2BMNxZXgmW26Safb0FU1VCyXtjarcRkYf2nlLQyRe8sAWnqV9paQwAgYZKexsCX65RVVT3VIYoQrDpDpbOnld9fT-2FbgF2jimHReLyVEAdJO5fOuyLE1uf7IUlGrR9rlQyPL8-2Ftxm-2B1H3fAFe083tQ8dRdS9WWi6PeBZvcheg-3D__;!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!yqcFCal8xbdTUzu4-aLGBqrag3_1M9cQjcHwPEquZDGWRQk5FbEN97gD5_j1tJ32MpMtiMRGHfSB63JQ1v1b0sLuJapW%24\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">emergencies<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li class=\"article-ct\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\">&#8220;Start small.&#8221; Make a list of all your cards, their balances, interest rates, and minimum payments then work on choosing a payoff method that would best fit where you are financially.<\/li>\n<li class=\"article-ct\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\">&#8220;Use Your Regrets as Motivation.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\"><b data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source:<\/b> Information for this article was taken from a Bankrate survey conducted between July 9-11, 2025. The total sample size was 2,078 U.S. adults of whom 1,575 had a financial regret.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livenowfox.com\/tag\/business\/personal-finance\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-7f0a623e=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Personal Finance<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livenowfox.com\/tag\/consumer\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-7f0a623e=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Consumer<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article FILE-A man uses his credit card at a restaurant. (Photo by Lindsey Nicholson\/UCG\/Universal Images Group via Getty&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[79,4585,18,19,17,5,234,235],"class_list":{"0":"post-19061","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-consumer","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-personal-finance","15":"tag-personalfinance"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}