A Gen Z writer talked to 200 American retirees to find their 6 biggest money regrets. Are you making the same mistakes?

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Are you thinking about retirement? Do you have a solid plan in place?

If you don’t, you might find the wisdom shared with 24-year-old Business Insider reporter Noah Sheidlower in his article, “What I learned from 200 retirees,” interesting.

After reading through 4,500 responses to a retirement survey and interviewing 200 retirees, the Gen Z writer learned a lot about what not to do while saving for retirement.

Here are the biggest regrets these retirees mentioned, and what you can do now to avoid the same fate.

Saving for retirement during the early years of your working life is hard, especially if you don’t come from wealth. Paying off college loans on an entry-level salary might not allow you any extra money to put away — but the earlier you start investing, the more you benefit from compound interest.

Sheidlower spoke to 64-year-old Kevin Foster, who emphasized the importance of putting some money away as soon as you start earning, even if it’s just a few dollars.

“I told [my grandson], ‘I don’t care how much you put away, you’ve got to put something away.’”

Considering you need somewhere between seven and 13 times your annual income to retire comfortably, the sooner you start investing, the easier it will be to reach that milestone.

If you want to start investing for retirement now — but find it all a bit confusing — platforms like Acorns can help you automatically invest your spare change without giving it a second thought.

How it works is simple. Whenever you make a purchase on a linked credit or debit card, Acorns will round it up to the nearest dollar and invest the difference into a diversified portfolio of ETFs.

You can also set up a recurring direct deposit to increase your investments and snag a $20 bonus investment while you’re at it.

Read more: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has an important message for the next wave of American retirees — here’s how he says you can best weather the US retirement crisis

Another retiree reflected on keeping money in low-yield accounts for too long:

“After one woman told me she was too safe with her investments, I took most of my money from savings accounts and decided to plow it into the market,” Sheidlower shared.

When time is on your side, the smartest investment strategy is often to focus on equities and avoid keeping much money beyond your emergency fund sitting in a savings account.

Remember, just putting money inside a Roth IRA or 401(k) doesn’t do anything if it’s not invested. That said, everyone’s tolerance for the emotional ups and downs that come with investing is different. If watching your investments rise and fall every day sounds like a nightmare, you’ll want to make sure your investment strategy is diversified to avoid panic selling when the market inevitably dips.

Gold investing can offer a stable option that performs well even when the stock market sinks, making it a solid piece of a well-diversified portfolio.

Consider Priority Gold if you’re looking for a simple way to get started investing in gold.

Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, which combines the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold, making it an attractive diversification option.

Learn more in this quick guide, which includes details on how to get up to $10,000 in free silver on qualifying purchases.

Investing in fine art can also diversify your portfolio, ensuring market dips don’t shake your resolve.

Of course, most people can’t just purchase a Banksy on their own — but that doesn’t mean you’re locked out of this market.

Masterworks helps investors break into this alternative asset class even if you aren’t able to purchase a Basquiat on your own, via fractional shares.

When Masterworks sells the painting, you earn a profit on your portion. While it can take between three and 10 years to make a sale, you can sell your shares yourself on the secondary market anytime you want.

From 23 exits so far, Masterworks investors have realized representative annualized net returns like +17.6%, +17.8% and +21.5% among assets held for longer than one year.

See important Regulation A disclosures at Masterworks.com/cd.

Sheidlower notes that “[Kevin] was forced to end his career at 58 after developing a debilitating autoimmune disease,” highlighting how quickly your financial situation can change.

He went from earning a low-six-figure salary as a chemical and wastewater lab engineer to taking home just $3,000 a month on disability.

While Kevin managed fine thanks to his wife’s income and the $700,000 he saved up prior to his diagnosis, many retirees do not have that much in the bank should tragedy strike early.

The lesson? Ensure your emergency fund is large enough to handle any unfortunate surprises.

And, since you never know when illness can strike, having a solid life insurance policy in place is an important part of protecting your family.

If you’re looking for fast and affordable insurance, Ethos can provide term life insurance in 5 minutes, with no medical exams or blood tests.

You can quickly qualify for up to $2 million in coverage, starting at just $2/day. Ethos’ simple application process ensures access to flexible coverage options you can rely on, should the worst happen.

Many retirees spoke of declining health and increased health care needs in retirement. Whether it’s a sudden, unexpected chronic illness like the one Kevin was diagnosed with or the natural aging process, health care costs inevitably rise with age.

This means it’s important to optimize your health insurance policies.

If you’re under 65, a platform like U65 Health Insurance can help you find the most affordable plans for your situation, even if you have preexisting conditions.

You can also consider long-term care insurance via GoldenCare.

GoldenCare offers many different options based on your particular needs — including hybrid life or annuity with long-term care benefits, short-term care, extended care, home health care, assisted living and traditional long-term care insurance.

You can get one-on-one customer service from Goldencare Long-Term Care Specialists to help identify the best coverage options for you and your budget.

Many who only increased contributions to their 401(k) later in life regretted not doing so earlier, losing out on valuable years of compound interest that would have dramatically changed their lifestyle in retirement.

“In my interviews, many people said they were too ambitious upon retiring and blew through their reserves too fast,” Sheidlower wrote.

Since inflation means retirement will be much more expensive in 30 years than it is today, future retirees don’t always realize just how much more their living expenses will eventually cost them.  This can lead to overspending in retirement if you’re not careful.

This means it’s important to find ways to lower fixed costs like car and home insurance as much as possible upon retirement.

You can quickly save on car insurance using platforms like OfficialCarInsurance.com — just type in your age, zip code and current car insurance provider, and you’ll instantly be provided with a selection of quotes to compare. Depending on factors like the make and model of your car, you can find offers for as low as $29/month.

And while you’re at it, you can use OfficialHomeInsurance.com to search for the best rate on home insurance. Simply input a few data points and you’ll be provided with a variety of insurance quotes that can save you an average of $482 a year.

On the other end of the spectrum, Sheidlower noted that some retirees “said they were too cautious and sacrificed their enjoyment.”

Retiring with a large nest egg in the bank is great, but if you live out your healthiest years too afraid to spend it, what was all that sacrifice even for? Too many retirees mentioned regrets around not spending the money they worked so hard for all their lives.

Books like Die With Zero can help you understand how to efficiently and safely spend well in retirement.

But if you’re not sure where to start, working with a financial advisor can help you map out an effective spending plan in retirement, so you live your golden years without regrets.

Advisor.com can match you with an advisor who can help you find the right retirement balance. To find an advisor for you, simply answer a few questions about yourself and your goals, and Advisor.com will match you with a vetted financial advisor in minutes.

Book a free, no-obligation call today to see if they’re the right match for you.

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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.