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These are the financial moves Americans regret the most
More than three-quarters of Americans regret some of the financial moves they’ve made — or neglected to make — but two common missteps stand out as money matters people most wish they had handled differently.
The most common financial regret? Not saving for retirement early enough, according to a new Bankrate study. That jibes with other recent reports showing that many Americans nearing retirement consider themselves woefully unprepared to stop working in their golden years.
“It shows a very common sentiment — that people may not be as prepared for retirement as they feel they should be, or just regret that they would be in a more secure financial position if they had started earlier,” said Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride.
Overall, 22% of Americans said not saving for retirement early enough is their top financial regret. Older generations, who are closest to retirement, were more likely to cite not starting to save early enough as their biggest regret than younger generations.
“Regrets about not saving for retirement early enough loom larger the closer those golden years become,” McBride said. “We saw a very steady increase in those regrets with age,” he noted.
Five percent of Gen Zers said they regretted not saving for retirement early enough — a figure that increased to 14% for millennials, 26% for Gen Xers, and 37% for boomers, according to the Bankrate study.
The second most common financial regret relates to a far less predictable scenario than retirement: 18% of Americans said they regretted not socking away enough money to cover emergency expenses.
“Regret about emergency savings ranks really high every year, so it’s keeping with the American tradition of not being particularly good on the saving side,” McBride said.
How can I start saving sooner?
McBride offered tips for younger generations to make use of now, in order to avoid feeling regretful down the road.
He advised people to automatically make contributions to their retirement savings plans and emergency savings funds by contributing to a retirement savings account through payroll, and setting up a direct deposit of a portion of your paycheck into an emergency savings account.
“You can work toward both goals simultaneously,” he said. “Automating it means you’re paying yourself first, and you’ve automated both of those before you even roll out of bed in the morning.”
McBride also noted that inflation-driven high prices were the top contributor to Americans not saving enough for retirement and emergencies. Americans also cited their employment situation as a reason for their not being able to save as much as they’d like.
Tupperware and some of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the once-iconic food container maker said in a statement late Tuesday.
The company has suffered from dwindling sales following a surprise surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, when legions of people stuck at home tried their hands at cooking, which increased demand for Tupperware’s colorful plastic containers with flexible airtight seals.
A post-pandemic rise in costs of raw materials and shipping, along with higher wages, also hurt Tupperware’s bottom line.
Last year, it warned of “substantial doubt” about its ability to keep operating in light of its poor financial position.
“Over the last several years, the Company’s financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment,” president and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman said in a statement announcing the bankruptcy filing.
“As a result, we explored numerous strategic options and determined this is the best path forward,” Goldman said.
The company said it would seek court approval for a sale process for the business to protect its brand and “further advance Tupperware’s transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company.”
The Orlando, Florida-based firm said it would also seek approval to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and would continue to pay its employees and suppliers.
“We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process,” Goldman said.
The firm’s shares were trading at $0.5099 Monday, well down from $2.55 in December last year.
Tupperware said it had implemented a strategic plan to modernize its operations and drive efficiencies to ignite growth following the appointment of a new management team last year.
“The Company has made significant progress and intends to continue this important transformation work.”
In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Tupperware listed assets of between $500 million and $1 billion and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion.
The filing also said it had between 50,000 and 100,000 creditors.
Tupperware lost popularity with consumers in recent years and an initiative to gain distribution through big-box chain Target failed to reverse its fortunes.
The company’s roots date to 1946, when chemist Earl Tupper “had a spark of inspiration while creating molds at a plastics factory shortly after the Great Depression,” according to Tupperware’s website.
“If he could design an airtight seal for plastic storage containers, like those on a paint can, he could help war-weary families save money on costly food waste.”
Over time, Tupper’s containers became popular that many people referred to any plastic food container as Tupperware. And people even threw “Tupperware parties” in their homes to sell the containers to friends and neighbors.
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