In Chapter 1 of Personal Finance, Turning Money into Wealth we introduce the “Ten Principles of Personal Finance”, and Principle 2 is “Nothing Happens Without a Plan.” While a plan is a necessity, wouldn’t be great if you knew ahead of time where its shortcomings were?  That way, you could make the necessary adjustments and achieve your financial goals more easily.

Ameritrade recently conducted its “Third Quarter Investor Sentiment Survey” that showed that the current economic climate has curbed many investors’ appetites for risk.  It also gave individuals a chance to look back what they’ve done in terms of saving and investing since 2008 and identify what they would have done differently if they had that crystal ball.  When looking at the results of Ameritrade’s “Third Quarter Investor Sentiment Survey,” the top two responses to the question “If you could go back in time before the recession of 2008, what would you have done differently about the way you handled your money?” were:  to live within their means and to spend less and save more.  These results are just about the same as found in a survey done in England and reported in a moneyextra.com website article, “Personal finance regrets for over 35s.”

Discussion Questions:

1. While it may be somewhat early in your personal finance life, do you have any regrets or things you would change if you had a “do over”?
2. Has your level of risk regarding your personal financial life changed over the last few years?  Have you even thought about this?