In the Red

The biggest financial regret consumers have for 2010 is not paying off their debts quicker, research suggests.

Around 53% of people said they wished they had been able to reduce their borrowings more during the past year, while 37% regretted not starting to save for their retirement earlier.  A further 14% of people thought they had stayed in a rented property for too long and the same proportion wished they had not spent as much money on their partner.

About 12% of those questioned wished they had not splashed out so much on an expensive holiday, just over one in 10 regretted buying a car and 9% said they wished they had not bought a house.  But only 4% of those questioned said they regretted spending money on an expensive wedding during the past year.

Debt also topped the list of financial things people were most unhappy about, with 82% saying they wished they did not owe so much on credit cards and loans, while 80% of people were unhappy with their pension provision and 79% were cross with themselves for not taking advantage of tax-free investments, such as Isas.

Three-quarters of people wished they had saved more and 60% said they were unhappy with their general spending habits.