Not Saving regrets?

[sk24iam]

At whatever age you are now, what do you wish you did differently 10 years ago in terms of personal finance and saving?

[disneysteve]

Hmmm. 10 years ago I was 35 and still working at my old job. My daughter was 3 and my wife was a SAHM. I was still repaying my student loans. I was actually in pretty good shape financially at that point.

If I had to pick one thing, it would probably be that prepaying the student loans, which had relatively low interest rates, wasn't the best financial move (I knew that at the time but psychologically wanted to get rid of them). It would have worked out much to my advantage to have invested more money in the market at that point.

[frito833]

Starting my ROTH IRA and not using my student loans for beer/party money.

[cptacek]

10 years ago I was 21. Right on the cusp of buying my first pickup. I would not have done that! It was too new and I didn't haggle. At all. What an idiot.

I got a good job, and was sorta careful with my money, but I bought some things I never should have. Like an entertainment system for $3000, a table/chairs for $1500, a new pickup that will finally be paid off in a month and a half after a 6 year loan (again, what an idiot).

Instead of going out 6 times a week with friends, I should have gone out 4 times a week and saved the bar tab on the other two days. I am a big believer in the social need of going out with friends, especially if you are single and live 8 hours away from family. But it wasn't THAT necessary.

I should have gotten a roommate so she could have helped me pay for my 3 bedroom house that I lived in by myself.

[fruitbowlk]

I wish I would have continue to save money. I wish I would have read fiance book and listen to radio stations that talked about money.. I wish I would have found a board like this. I wish I had never got into debt. I wish I would have continue to pay cash for my cars. I wish I would have started a house fund when I got my first job. Wish I had start my Roth with another company and funded my Roth IRA better.

[MonkeyMama]

10 years ago we graduated college, got married, and were buying a condo with 20% down. We both were working, we saved 100% of my spouse's wage. No regrets on our financial plan from that angle.

I regret not investing better. Maybe putting more money into IRAs/401ks. I regret not earning more on our cash (chasing better rates, maybe buying CDs). I regret letting my spouse buy a bunch of tech stocks that eventually became worthless, and staying so many years with his expensive/useless investment manager.

Today we make it a priority to defer as much tax as possible (currently by maxing out ROTHs), we stick with DIY, no-load mutual funds, and chase the best interest rates for our cash. I can only imagine where we would be today if we had done the same a decade ago. Much further along!

I do appreciate learning so many stock market lessons so YOUNG though. We really had the money to lose then, and had quite a few important life lessons in 2001/2002.

[feh]

From a savings strategy viewpoint...I wouldn't have done anything differently. We've always saved a fairly large percentage of our income and spent wisely.

From a tactical viewpoint...I would've put all our money into CDs, given that all major indexes are down over the last 10 years.

[Scanner]

Hmmm.

I try not to have regrets but if it's one thing I would do differently is be a little more consistent with saving/investing.

It's like I'd throw $4000-5000 for 3 years and then nothing the next year. The years that were lean, I'd keep the phone # handy for my investment firms and just lower the amount to $50, if nothing else - in other words - steady automatic deductions.

I'd also trust my instincts better instead of listening to pundits.

[MonkeyMama]

From a tactical viewpoint...I would've put all our money into CDs, given that all major indexes are down over the last 10 years.

I have no regrets on our "good investing" over the years. We contribute regularly, and with dollar cost averaging (DCA), our returns are far better than cash. (Having a good mix of stocks/bonds/cash helps in that regard too).

[GREENBACK]

I regret investing with American Express financial which became Ameriprise. I won't go into details but it was a terrible experience and I'm not the only one( believe me!) who went this terrible route.

I came to my senses later than I should have. I kind of don't totally regret it because it taught me to beware of "sharks".

[feh]

I regret investing with American Express financial which became Ameriprise. I won't go into details but it was a terrible experience and I'm not the only one( believe me!) who went this terrible route.

I came to my senses later than I should have. I kind of don't totally regret it because it taught me to beware of "sharks".

My wife and I were also AmEx/Ameriprise customers for the first few years of our investing lives. I think we finally parted ways around 2001/2002 after we got wise enough to realize what they were.

I second the opinion for folks to stay away from them...

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Hmm..10 years ago. Guess I would have not have bought the house we're in. But that has emotional reasons, not financial ones. Long story.

[Snodog]

I didn't do everything perfectly with my finances 10 years ago but I had just gotten out of the hospital with a serious illness so finances was the least of my worries.

I have no regrets, I did the best I could.

[Radiance]

Same here, no regrets but I would definitively save more if I had a time machine to start over.

I will try to teach my son the value of saving by motivating him and also showing by example from now on.

Actually I already opened him a savings acount and I have him put coins on his piggy bank. He is 18 months old

[markusk]

10 years ago today, I was in medical school and single. I took out the maximum in student loans. I did not have undergrad loans (thanks mom and dad!).

Funny thing about loans/debt....you got to pay it back!

I regret not being more judicious about the student loans: should not have taken out the max and should have started paying the interest on the loans before they captialized.