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 paper's preferred estimate is 58.5%; its abstract states "approximately 58% of respondents affirmed it." This corroborates the survey-based timing-regret findings (Clarify Capital 48%, Bankrate 22%) 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

   58.5% of the population aged 60 to 79 wished they had saved more

   “"58.5 percent of the population aged 60 to 79 wished they had saved more."”

   Calculation notes

   Börsch-Supan, Bucher-Koenen, Hurd & Rohwedder, "Saving Regret and Procrastination." Peer-reviewed study measuring SAVING regret only (58.5% of ages 60-79 wished they had saved more). It does NOT report a retirement-timing / working-too-long regret rate; it is cited here to establish that the dominant retirement regret is financial (undersaving), which contextualises why the timing-of- retirement inaction rate is low and why the pair is proxy-graded.
   

   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