The last thing any of us want in life is regrets, especially financially regrets.
When it comes to money and making important decisions about your personal financial planning, it is all too easy to make mistakes which can lead to financial regrets.
New research from Partnership suggests saving too little and getting divorced are the most common financial regrets.
Not saving enough (36%), not saving money into a pension (25%) and getting divorced (13%) were found to be the biggest financial regrets for 40-70 year olds in the UK, according to the research.
The research found up to two thirds (61%) of people felt that not saving enough was their biggest error – either generally (36%) or into their pension (25%).
Getting married and subsequently divorcing (13%) was seen as the third biggest financial error a person could make followed by putting money into poorly performing investments (12%) and delaying buying a house (8%).
Interestingly, the number of people who regret not saving more halves as people age – 46% (40 to 50 years old) to 23% (61 to 70 years old), the number of people who regret not making more pension provision only falls by 1% (23% to 22%).
This suggests that as people age – and retirement becomes a more urgent financial priority – they focus more on the need to put aside money into their pension rather than general savings.
More choices
With the recent introduction of new pension freedom rules, we believe there are even more opportunities for making the wrong financial decisions and ending up with regrets.
A wider range of choices and options for retirement income is a very welcome development, assuming each option is carefully considered and decisions are made based on proper analysis.
Working with an Independent Financial Planner, such as Informed Choice, is an effective way to reduce the likelihood of future financial regrets.
We all want to live a life without regrets; developing and following a comprehensive Financial Plan is a very good way to ensure no financial regrets.
