Which is worse, accumulating more debt or not saving enough?

Taking on too much debt is a bad financial decision, but so is not saving enough for retirement or emergencies. But which is worse?

According to Americans taking part in a new survey, not putting enough money away for later years or a rainy day is likely to be a bigger financial regret (43%) than building up their debt burden (22%).

The Bankrate.com report found that more than three quarters of respondents have a financial regret with the top one being not saving enough for retirement (22%) followed by not saving enough for emergencies (18%).

Taking on too much credit card debt (14%) or student loan debt (5%), not saving enough for their child(ren)’s education (4%) and buying more house than they can afford (2%) were also among the most commonly cited financial regrets.

Four in ten respondents (40%) have made no progress in the past 12 months on tackling their financial regrets, but slightly more (44%) said they have made progress. For those that have not, inflation is a key reason followed by their employment situation.

The firm’s financial regrets survey has been running for seven years and not saving enough for retirement has been the top one six times.

“Saving is a lot less painful than dealing with the debt that results when you don’t have it,” says Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride, CFA. “Paying down debt means doing without, cutting spending, or working more. Saving for retirement and emergencies can be automated through payroll deduction, direct deposit, and automatic transfers. Start modestly and after a couple of pay periods you won’t miss what you don’t see.”