These are the financial moves Americans regret the most

More than three-quarters of Americans regret some of the financial moves they've made — or neglected to make — but two common missteps stand out as money matters people most wish they had handled differently. 

The most common financial regret? Not saving for retirement early enough, according to a new Bankrate study. That jibes with other recent reports showing that many Americans nearing retirement consider themselves woefully unprepared to stop working in their golden years. 

"It shows a very common sentiment — that people may not be as prepared for retirement as they feel they should be, or just regret that they would be in a more secure financial position if they had started earlier," said Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride. 

Overall, 22% of Americans said not saving for retirement early enough is their top financial regret. Older generations, who are closest to retirement, were more likely to cite not starting to save early enough as their biggest regret than younger generations.  

"Regrets about not saving for retirement early enough loom larger the closer those golden years become," McBride said. "We saw a very steady increase in those regrets with age," he noted. 

Five percent of Gen Zers said they regretted not saving for retirement early enough — a figure that increased to 14% for millennials, 26% for Gen Xers, and 37% for boomers, according to the Bankrate study.  

The second most common financial regret relates to a far less predictable scenario than retirement: 18% of Americans said they regretted not socking away enough money to cover emergency expenses. 

"Regret about emergency savings ranks really high every year, so it's keeping with the American tradition of not being particularly good on the saving side," McBride said. 

How can I start saving sooner?

McBride offered tips for younger generations to make use of now, in order to avoid feeling regretful down the road. 

He advised people to automatically make contributions to their retirement savings plans and emergency savings funds by contributing to a retirement savings account through payroll, and setting up a direct deposit of a portion of your paycheck into an emergency savings account. 

"You can work toward both goals simultaneously," he said. "Automating it means you're paying yourself first, and you've automated both of those before you even roll out of bed in the morning."

McBride also noted that inflation-driven high prices were the top contributor to Americans not saving enough for retirement and emergencies. Americans also cited their employment situation as a reason for their not being able to save as much as they'd like.