Most Americans Have Financial Regrets. Don't Let the 3 Biggies Be Yours.

"Regrets, I've had a few
But then again too few to mention
I did what I had to do
I saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much, much more
I did it, I did it my way."
-- Paul Anka

"My Way" may be most associated with Frank Sinatra, but it was originally a French song, with English lyrics added by Paul Anka. The stanza here smacks of financial planning, though, doesn't it? After all, those who carefully plan their financial lives and who manage their money well are likely to have few regrets.

Image source: Getty Images.

That's not the reality for millions of Americans, though, many of whom may be living paycheck to paycheck. Those folks are likely to have lots of regrets. Indeed, according to a recent Bankrate.com survey, fully 74% of U.S. adults have at least one financial regret.

The top three regrets are...

Here are the most frequently cited financial regrets from the survey:

1. Not saving for retirement early enough (21%).
2. Taking on too much credit card debt (15%).
3. Not saving enough for emergency expenses (14%).

Other regrets include:

• Taking on too much student loan debt (5%).
• Not saving enough for children's education (3%).
• Buying more home than they could afford (3%).
• Something else (12%).

Let's take a closer look at the top three regrets.

Not saving for retirement early enough

This one makes a lot of sense because not saving enough for retirement is a big, big problem, and the more you delay doing so, the worse your situation can get. Indeed, the earliest dollars that you invest are generally your most powerful ones, as they have the longest period in which to grow.

Check out the table below, showing how money can grow:

Source: Calculations by author.

To appreciate the power of time, look at how much you can amass in 10 years and then 15 years. Over the five years between them, if you sock away $15,000 annually and it grows by 8%, you'll gain about $200,000 -- your nest egg will swell from $234,682 to $439,864.

Now look at a later five-year period: After 25 years, you might have $1,184,316 and five years later, after 30 years, it jumps to $1,835,188 -- you'll have gained more than $650,000! Between the 35-year and 40-year marks, your nest egg grows by roughly $1.4 million! The later years are when your wealth can grow the fastest, so it's valuable to start investing as soon as you can.

Taking on too much credit card debt

The table above shows how your wealth can grow at 8% annually. Well, your wealth can go in the opposite direction, too, if you take on too much debt -- especially high-interest rate debt, such as that from credit cards. According to Forbes Advisor's weekly credit card rates report, the average credit card interest rate was recently a whopping 28%.

Here's what that means: If you're carrying, say, $30,000 in credit card debt, you'll be on the hook to pay $8,400 over the year -- in interest alone! Fail to pay it, and your balance swells, meaning you'll be on the hook for even greater interest payments. And paying such hefty sums just for interest can make it very hard to dig out from that kind of debt.

Don't despair, though: Many people have successfully paid off tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt -- and you can pay off your debts, too. Make that a priority -- because it will be hard to save and invest effectively while carrying a big debt burden.

Not saving enough for emergency expenses

Finally, be sure to have an emergency fund -- or some kind of access to money -- enough to keep you afloat for at least three months, if not more. That means enough money to cover housing, food, utilities, taxes, insurance, transportation, fuel... everything that's non-negotiable in your financial life. You might not think you need such a fund, but neither did the many people who suddenly face job losses, costly health setbacks, or pricey car or home repairs. 

Don't park that emergency fund in stocks, either, because the stock market can be quite the drama queen over short periods, soaring or plunging.) Over many years, though, it has always recovered from big drops and gone on to set new highs.) You might keep your emergency fund in a savings account, money market account, or some certificates of deposit (CDs).

If you can go through life with an emergency fund, minimal credit card debt, and a growing nest egg, you'll likely to be able to avoid the biggest financial regrets that most people might have.