Some of the biggest financial mistakes that people can make are getting into debt, not saving enough and making the wrong investment choice
A survey by specialist insurer Partnership quizzed 2,000 people on what they felt their greatest financial mistakes were. 23% noted that choices involving property as ones that they had not made correctly.
Regrets
The vast majority of those questioned said that they wish they had made different financial decisions. Just 5% said that they had no regrets.
9% said that they regretted putting money into an investment that hadn’t performed as well as they would have liked. 7% said that they made a mistake by delaying on a house purchase. 5% said that they regretted not purchasing a property that was good value, while 2% said they wouldn’t delay on remortgaging if they could make the choice again.
The largest financial mistakes attributed to property were found to be:
| Biggest Financial Mistakes Linked to Property | All | 18 – 39 | 40 plus |
| I put money into an investment (inc. property) that did not perform | 9% | 5% | 12% |
| I delayed buying a house | 7% | 6% | 7% |
| I bought a property which was not ‘good value’ | 5% | 6% | 4% |
| I did not re-mortgage when I should have | 2% | 2% | 2% |
Other property related regrets included one in ten wishing they had never got married and subsequently divorced! This often leads to the family hold being sold and a number of people being unhappy.
One in five has property regrets
Huge decision
Mark Stopard, Head of Product Development at Partnership, said the fact that one in five regret choices around property is ‘understandable as for most people buying a home will be the single largest purchase decision they will make in their lives.’ He believes however that, ‘when you look at what these mistakes were, some of them could have been avoided if they spoke to a mortgage broker.’[1]
‘A good broker would not only highlight when the best time to remortgage is but also warn people about overextending themselves and putting choices on hold-problems which could well be the root causes of some of these regrets,’ Stopard added.[1]
[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/finance/property-regrets-for-1-in-5-claims-report.html