I’M JACKIE DEFUSCO. WELL, IT HAPPENS TO THE BEST OF US, MAKING MISTAKES WITH OUR MONEY AND TODAY’S MONEY. MONDAY, WE’RE BREAKING DOWN WHAT TO DO ABOUT SOME OF THOSE FINANCIAL REGRETS. WE ALL HAVE THEM. I’VE ALREADY HAD THEM. HERE TO HELP US IS MEGAN HAMMOND ONCE AGAIN. SHE’S WITH WEALTH QUEST. AND THANKS FOR BEING HERE. THANKS FOR HAVING ME. I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE YOU’RE NO PUN INTENDED. ARE JUST A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE WHEN IT COMES TO OUR MONEY. SO LET’S GET RIGHT INTO IT. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST FINANCIAL REGRETS THAT PEOPLE HAVE? YEAH, SO THERE WAS ACTUALLY A RECENT STUDY THAT CAME OUT FROM BANKRATE.COM AND THEY SAID 77% OF AMERICANS ACTUALLY HAVE FINANCIAL REGRETS. AND THAT STATISTIC ALONE REALLY ISN’T THAT SURPRISING, BECAUSE WE HAVE REGRETS FOR A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT REASONS. BUT WHAT WAS REALLY SURPRISING IS THAT IT WASN’T THE ONE TIME TRANSACTIONS IT WASN’T THE BIG PURCHASE THAT WE MADE THAT WE REGRET, OR THE INVESTMENT OR THE TRADES THAT WENT WRONG. THE BIGGEST REGRET IN THE SURVEY WAS THAT PEOPLE DIDN’T SAVE FOR RETIREMENT. SOON ENOUGH, AND THE SECOND BIGGEST FINANCIAL REGRET WAS THAT PEOPLE DIDN’T SAVE ENOUGH FOR EMERGENCIES. AND SO IT WASN’T THE ONE TIME TRANSACTIONS. IT WAS THE HABIT THAT WE DIDN’T FORM. AND THAT’S REALLY THE OVERARCHING THEME I THINK, OF THIS SURVEY, IS THAT WE DIDN’T START HABITS EARLY ENOUGH TO MAKE THE IMPACT THAT WE WERE HOPING FOR LATER IN LIFE. IT’S REALLY INTERESTING THAT YOU SAY THIS BECAUSE INITIALLY WHEN YOU TOLD ME ABOUT THE SURVEY, OF COURSE I SAID BUYING A HOUSE THAT MAYBE THEY SHOULDN’T HAVE BECAUSE I ALWAYS SAY I NEVER WANT TO BE HOUSE POOR. OR NUMBER TWO, MAYBE GOING ON THAT TRIP, SPENDING TOO MUCH ON A TRIP. BUT YOU’RE SAYING IT’S MORE JUST NOT PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE IN GENERAL? ABSOLUTELY IT IS. AND I THINK THAT’S REALLY SURPRISING FOR PEOPLE. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, YOU KNOW WHAT WE REALLY WANT TO LOOK AT IS HOW DO WE MINIMIZE THAT? SO, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT CAME OUT OF THE SURVEY AS WELL IS REALLY CHALLENGING IS THAT 84% OF PEOPLE AREN’T ACTUALLY MAKING ANY SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS TOWARDS THEIR FINANCIAL REGRETS, AND THE REASONS THAT THEY’RE SAYING ARE INFLATION AND HIGH PRICES. THE PROBLEM IS THOSE AREN’T THINGS THAT WE CAN CONTROL AS INDIVIDUALS. AND SO WHAT WE REALLY NEED TO DO IS LOOK AT HOW ARE WE GOING TO TAKE THE STEPS THAT WE NEED TO. AND THAT’S BY ESTABLISHING THESE HABITS AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE. OKAY. SO LET’S TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW DOES IT DEPEND ON GENERATIONAL MAYBE GENERATIONS I SHOULD SAY, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE MY PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS SPENDING IS DIFFERENT THAN MINE. RIGHT. YOU KNOW, MY DAD WILL SAY TO ME OFTEN, WELL, YOU DIDN’T HAVE THAT. WHY DO YOUR KIDS NEED THAT? YOU KNOW, BECAUSE NOW I’M IN THIS MINDSET. WELL, WE WE HAVE TO PAY FOR 100% OF COLLEGE OR WE, WE HAVE TO MAYBE GET THEM A CAR AND THAT SORT OF THING. AND SO I FEEL LIKE IN MY FAMILY, IT’S CHANGED. HAS IT CHANGED OVERALL GENERATION? ABSOLUTELY. IT HAS CHANGED. AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SURVEY, IT ACTUALLY BREAKS DOWN BY GENERATION. SO THEY LOOKED AT GEN Z, MILLENNIALS, GEN X AND BABY BOOMERS. THEY WERE ALL A PART OF THIS SURVEY. AND WHAT YOU SAW IS THAT GEN Z AND MILLENNIALS, THEIR BIGGEST REGRETS WERE REALLY FOCUSED AROUND EMERGENCY SAVINGS AND THAT, YOU KNOW, GEN X AND BABY BOOMERS WERE REALLY FOCUSED MORE ON THAT RETIREMENT SAVINGS. AND I DON’T THINK THAT’S AGAIN, THAT’S NOT A SURPRISE BECAUSE IT’S REALLY FOCUSED ON WHERE THEY ARE IN THEIR LIFE AT THAT MOMENT. OKAY. SO THEN QUICKLY, HOW DO WE BETTER ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM, SAVE, SAVE. AND I THINK WE START TODAY. RIGHT. SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING. AND SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE WE NEED TO WAIT FOR, YOU KNOW, TO HAVE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MONEY OR WE NEED TO OPTIMIZE THIS. WE NEED TO HAVE THIS CERTAIN TYPE OF ACCOUNT. BUT ACTION IS BETTER THAN NO ACTION. AND TIME IS REALLY IMPORTANT. SO WHETHER IT’S $5 OR $10 THAT WE PUT IN SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING. AND IT’S $5 OR $10 THAT WE DON’T HAVE TO SAVE TOMORROW OR A YEAR FROM NOW. AND WE CAN ALLOW THAT MONEY TO GROW FOR US. I LOVE THAT BECAUSE I THINK I’M ONE OF THOSE THAT IT ALWAYS HAS TO BE A LUMP SUM. ONE THING I ALWAYS DO TOO, AND I DON’T KNOW FOR PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT SOCIAL SECURITY, WHEN YOU MAX IT OUT, WHATEVER THE, YOU KNOW, THE EXTRA IS THAT YOU GET IN YOUR ACCOUNT. I JUST SAY I ACT LIKE IT DIDN’T HAPPEN. PUT THAT IN MY 401 K OR PUT THAT IN SAVINGS. SO THAT’S JUST INSTANT, INSTANT SAVINGS. MEGAN. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. ALWAYS. AGAIN, SO MUCH KNOWLEDGE. MEGAN HAMANN WITH WEALTH QUEST. ALSO, WE HAVE ALL OF THOSE TIPS ON OUR WEBSITE FOR YOU TO. THERE ARE SO MANY MORE.