Finance

Not setting aside funds for retirement early enough ‘biggest’ financial regret for Americans: Bankrate

Published

9 months ago

September 2, 2024

Affirm co-founder and CEO Max Levchin says the company is in ‘really good shape’ on ‘The Claman Countdown.’

Setting aside funds for retirement is important – and 22% of U.S. adults reported not starting the practice early enough brought them the most financial regret.

Bankrate reported that to be the case as part of a recently-released survey that YouGov conducted July 16-18 on its behalf using a non-probability based sample of 2,355 American adults that more broadly found 77% hold some type of financial regret.

The 22% figure made remorse about not getting an early enough start on stashing away funds for retirement the financial regret that weighed most heavily on Americans, per the survey.

THE NUMBER OF 401(K) MILLIONAIRES HIT A NEW RECORD HIGH

Bankrate said that particular issue has emerged as the biggest financial regret “in 6 of the 7 years of polling.”

A person puts money into a retirement savings jar. (iStock / iStock)

Earlier this year, the amount of money that Americans think they must have in order to “comfortably” retire became $1.46 million, according to a Northwestern Mutual report.

The April report found U.S. adults have set aside $88,400 on average so far for their Golden Years. That meant they had an average of $1.37 million left to save to hit the “magic” retirement number.

THE ‘MAGIC NUMBER’ TO RETIRE COMFORTABLY HITS A NEW ALL-TIME HIGH

Meanwhile, Bankrate said that among top financial regrets, not building up a sufficient emergency fund and racking up too much credit card debt were also identified as major ones by double-digit percentages of American adults, though not as much as retirement savings.

Eighteen percent called the former their “biggest,” while a somewhat smaller share, 14%, said the latter, the survey found.

Serious mature couple calculating bills to pay, checking domestic finances, middle aged family managing, planning budget, expenses, grey haired man and woman reading bank loan documents at home (Istock / iStock)

Things like amassing too much student loan debt, not saving enough for a child’s education and purchasing a house beyond one’s means also financially haunted 5%, 4% and 2% of American adults, respectively. In the case of another 12% with financial regrets, “something else” made them feel the worst, according to Bankrate.

Slightly under two-thirds of Americans that hold financial regrets have been working to improve upon the situation that’s making them feel that way, reporting either “some” or “significant” progress in the past year, the survey found.

On the other hand, 40% have made no headway.

Respondents identified various things as hindering efforts in the past 12 months to work on their financial regrets.

For 45% of financially regretful Americans, inflation or high prices hurt their progress the most, according to Bankrate. That was 27 percentage-points higher than employment situations pointed to by 18% of people. High interest rates, family dynamics and other factors also posed challenges, the survey found.

Young woman with braided hair sitting by the table, looking on her smart phone. Paying bills on the phone, checking her finance on the phone app. Millenial generation uses new and improved ways of dealnig with money. Everything can be done over the p (iStock / iStock)

“Don’t expect an overnight fix,” Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride said in a statement of high prices. “Inflation is moderating, but that doesn’t mean prices are coming down, just that they’re not going up as fast.”

INFLATION RISES 2.9% IN JULY, LESS THAN EXPECTED

In July, the most recent month with available data, inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index increased 0.2% month-over-month and 2.9% year-over-year.

And while most Americans harbor financial regrets, the Bankrate survey also revealed how many don’t hold any – 18%.

Megan Henney contributed to this report.

Finance

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: WOOF, TSLA, CRCL, LULU

Published

1 day ago

June 6, 2025

Business Finance News

Finance

Swiss government proposes tough new capital rules in major blow to UBS

Published

1 day ago

June 6, 2025

Business Finance News

A sign in German that reads “part of the UBS group” in Basel on May 5, 2025.

Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images

The Swiss government on Friday proposed strict new capital rules that would require banking giant UBS to hold an additional $26 billion in core capital, following its 2023 takeover of stricken rival Credit Suisse.

The measures would also mean that UBS will need to fully capitalize its foreign units and carry out fewer share buybacks.

“The rise in the going-concern requirement needs to be met with up to USD 26 billion of CET1 capital, to allow the AT1 bond holdings to be reduced by around USD 8 billion,” the government said in a Friday statement, referring to UBS’ holding of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds.

The Swiss National Bank said it supported the measures from the government as they will “significantly strengthen” UBS’ resilience.

“As well as reducing the likelihood of a large systemically important bank such as UBS getting into financial distress, this measure also increases a bank’s room for manoeuvre to stabilise itself in a crisis through its own efforts. This makes it less likely that UBS has to be bailed out by the government in the event of a crisis,” SNB said in a Friday statement.

‘Too big to fail’

UBS has been battling the specter of tighter capital rules since acquiring the country’s second-largest bank at a cut-price following years of strategic errors, mismanagement and scandals at Credit Suisse.

The shock demise of the banking giant also brought Swiss financial regulator FINMA under fire for its perceived scarce supervision of the bank and the ultimate timing of its intervention.

Swiss regulators argue that UBS must have stronger capital requirements to safeguard the national economy and financial system, given the bank’s balance topped $1.7 trillion in 2023, roughly double the projected Swiss economic output of last year. UBS insists it is not “too big to fail” and that the additional capital requirements — set to drain its cash liquidity — will impact the bank’s competitiveness.

At the heart of the standoff are pressing concerns over UBS’ ability to buffer any prospective losses at its foreign units, where it has, until now, had the duty to back 60% of capital with capital at the parent bank.

Higher capital requirements can whittle down a bank’s balance sheet and credit supply by bolstering a lender’s funding costs and choking off their willingness to lend — as well as waning their appetite for risk. For shareholders, of note will be the potential impact on discretionary funds available for distribution, including dividends, share buybacks and bonus payments.

“While winding down Credit Suisse’s legacy businesses should free up capital and reduce costs for UBS, much of these gains could be absorbed by stricter regulatory demands,” Johann Scholtz, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, said in a note preceding the FINMA announcement.

“Such measures may place UBS’s capital requirements well above those faced by rivals in the United States, putting pressure on returns and reducing prospects for narrowing its long-term valuation gap. Even its long-standing premium rating relative to the European banking sector has recently evaporated.”