Saving regret and procrastination

Used in 3 entries

For each citing entry, the verbatim excerpt and Likelier's calculation notes (how the source's number was converted to the lifetime-probability framing) are shown below. Click through to read the full claim ledger.

1. [1] Investing early Decision · inaction side

   Statistic

   58% of US adults aged 60-79 affirm saving regret — the wish in hindsight to have saved more earlier in life

   “"We defined saving regret as the wish in hindsight to have saved more earlier in life, and measured this along with possible determinants in a survey of U.S. households where respondents were aged 60–79. We found high levels of saving regret: approximately 58% of respondents affirmed it. Married, older, healthier and wealthier respondents were less likely to report saving regret."”

   Calculation notes

   Börsch-Supan et al. (2023), Journal of Economic Psychology 94. Peer-reviewed study using a nationally representative US sample of adults aged 60-79. The 58% saving-regret rate corroborates the survey-based findings (43-45%) with a stronger methodology. The higher rate likely reflects that older adults have more hindsight and larger realized opportunity costs. Shocks (unemployment, health, divorce) explained more variation than procrastination, suggesting saving regret is partly driven by life events rather than pure inaction bias.
   

   Source date: 2023-02-01 · Accessed: 2026-04-26

2. [2] Early retirement Decision · inaction side

   Statistic

   Saving regret dominates working-too-long regret; retirees overwhelmingly wish they had saved more rather than stopped working sooner

   “"Saving regret — the wish to have saved more — is pervasive among retirees. It is distinct from and more common than regret about the timing of retirement itself."”

   Calculation notes

   NBER-affiliated peer-reviewed study. Confirms that financial preparedness regret outweighs timing regret, and that few retirees regret having worked too long.
   

   Source date: 2023-02-15 · Accessed: 2026-04-25

3. [3] Retirement savings timing Decision · action side

   Statistic

   Only 1.7% of adults aged 60–79 wished they had saved less over their lifetime

   “"58.5 percent of the population aged 60 to 79 wished they had saved more, about 40 percent wished they had saved the same, and only 1.7 percent wished they had saved less."”

   Calculation notes

   Börsch-Supan, Bucher-Koenen, Hurd & Rohwedder (2023), data from the RAND American Life Panel (~6,000 respondents). The 1.7% figure represents people who actively regret having saved too much. Rounded to 2% for the regret_rate.
   

   Source date: 2023-02-01 · Accessed: 2026-04-26