National Financial Awareness Day: Three in 10 Brits regret not saving sooner

With National Financial Awareness Day kicking off today, latest research from Tesco Bank finds 29% of Brits wish they’d started saving sooner and regret not putting money away at an earlier age. 

This is especially true of those in their 30s and 40s, with 36% feeling this way while 17% of 20-something year olds wish they’d set financial goals.

• 29% of people regret not starting to save sooner
• Not having emergency funds, financial goals or cash ISAs are the UK’s top savings regrets
• Savings expert at Tesco Bank shares his top three tips to kickstart your savings this year

Three in 10 (29%) people wish they’d started saving sooner and regret not boosting their savings earlier in life, according to new research from Tesco Bank.

When asked what their biggest savings regrets are, Brits also ranked not having an emergency savings pot (12%), not taking advantage of cash ISAs (11%) and not learning more about how to build their savings (11%), as their saving faux pas. 10% also said that having no savings goals is a regret of theirs.

It’s savers in their 30s and 40s who feel the regret of not starting their savings journey sooner most acutely (36%), while those in their 20s already regret not learning more about how to build their savings (17%), or set financial goals (17%). However, with time on their side it’s never too late.

Chris Henderson, Save and Pay Director at Tesco Bank comments: “Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and when it comes to your hard-earned money, feeling like you’ve missed out on a chance to maximise your savings can be a tough pill to swallow.

“One of the simplest ways to make the most of your money is to get saving. Setting aside a little bit each month, or boosting your savings when you have some extra cash, will see you build up a healthy savings pot quicker than you think. It also gets you in the habit of putting money away regularly and can give you peace of mind that you have some money stashed away.

“Getting to grips with the best products to suit your needs is also well worth doing. A bit of time spent getting your money management underway now will hopefully ensure you don’t experience major money regrets later.”

Chris Henderson, Save and Pay Director at Tesco Bank shares his top three tips to ignite your savings journey:

1. Set yourself a savings challenge

There are lots of different savings challenges out there, whether it’s saving a certain amount every day or increasing the amount you save each day or each week. Each is designed to get you in the habit of putting money away regularly and seeing it grow over time, so have a look and see which one could work for you and start saving today.

2. Pay yourself first 

Setting up a monthly transfer into your savings account will help earmark money for savings, so you don’t spend it elsewhere. A good time to do this is right after you’ve been paid, so you could set up a standing order to go out on, or just after pay day.

3. Get to know ISAs 

Savings into an ISA means the interest you earn on your savings, whether in cash or stocks & shares, will be tax-free. Put simply, in most cases everything you earn from your ISA, you keep. You can deposit just £1 to get going and remember that you don’t have to use the full ISA allowance of £20,000 each tax year to reap the benefits

Methodology 

Research conducted by Opinium Research on behalf of Tesco Bank. The sample was 2,000 UK adults (aged 18+). Fieldwork was undertaken 6th and 9th May 2025. All data has been weighted to be representative of the UK population.