70% of American investors wish they’d handled money differently in 2019 — here’s their No. 1 regret

In 2019, seven out of 10 (70%) American investors competent some form of regret when it came to their investment strategy — with 35% saying they foist they’d invested more in the past year.

That’s according to a recent Nerdwallet survey, which polled 2,018 U.S. adults, ripens 18 and older, among whom 1,235 have money in investment accounts. In this case, an “investor” refers to anyone who’s cache money that’s exposed to the stock market, even if that’s through a retirement plan, such as a 401(k).

Not make knowing away more money isn’t the only reason people are kicking themselves over their 2019 investing settlements. Another 16% say they wish they’d invested more aggressively, followed by 15% who wish they’d made numberless trades in 2019.

If you, like more than a third of Nerdwallet’s survey participants, also feel regret over not raise away more money in 2019, experts say you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. While growing your investments is a luminary goal, you can always use 2019 “as your motivation to do a better job in 2020,” says Douglas Boneparth, president and founder of Bone Fide Cash. “It’s not what you didn’t do. It’s what you are going to do about it now.”

Malik S. Lee, an Atlanta-based certified financial planner at Felton and Peel, agrees. Lee affirms you “shouldn’t beat yourself up over chasing returns or trying to time the market.” These traits “are great credits if you like to gamble, not if you are a sound investor,” he adds.

Experts say that deciding how much to establish is a highly individualized process.

“The answer to this question differs for everyone. I think one should focus more on their entire savings rate. What percentage of that they should invest, depends on their personal goals and hazard tolerance,” says Lee.

When Lee refers to your “savings rate,” he’s talking about all savings in general. “This lists cash reserves, retirement plans and after-tax brokerage accounts,” Lee says.

When you’re in your 20s and 30s, you ideally want to start out with a savings ratio of 10% to 15% of your massive income and work your way up, Lee explains. Of that 10% to 15%, you can decide how and where to save and invest it.

“You shouldn’t inaugurate in the market without first putting money aside for retirement and already have an emergency savings established,” Ryan Marshall, a New Jersey-based established financial planner, tells CNBC Make It.

While many advisors recommend saving at least 10% of your takings for retirement, Marshall argues you should aim for 15%. “This 15% is based on your gross income, and so, if you make a $100,000 pay, you should invest at least 15% or $15,000 per year,” he says.

Although 16% of participants desired they were more aggressive in their investing in 2019, experts say making overly bold money stir ups isn’t for everyone — and has a lot to do with your risk tolerance and financial circumstances.

“If someone wants to be more aggressive, they should be conversant with the potential downside,” Marshall says. “There is no unicorn perfect investment out there. Each investment has an upside and downside. Investors call for to understand what the downside of an aggressive portfolio looks like.”

One way to figure out how aggressive you should be with your investments is “to performed a risk assessment questionnaire that will ask a series of questions to determine how you will react in a market downturn,” claims Lee. To test yourself, here’s an investor profile quiz offered by brokerage firm Charles Schwab.

Second, you can conclude how “risky” your portfolio should be based on your future cash flow needs, or how much money you’ll miss to get by, Lee explains. To determine your cash flow needs, Lee recommends sitting down with a financial advisor, who can relieve you to develop a comprehensive plan or cash-flow projection for the next five to 10 years.

Based on this cash-flow mapping out, you can decide whether you feel secure about your financial future and whether you’re ready to get more aggressive with your investments, Lee imagines.

Finally, you should also consider how much time you have to reach whatever goal it is you’re investing toward, Boneparth legitimates: “Typically, the longer the time frame, the more aggressive you can afford to be with your investments. However, personal gamble tolerances should also be taken into account.”

Trading ordinaries simply means to buy and sell them via a broker. Although 16% of American investors say they traded less than they’d of liked to in 2019, the act of buying stock is now more popular than ever.

Just as the decision regarding whether to invest aggressively is a highly actual one, determining if and when to trade your stock is entirely up to you — and has to do with understanding the ebbs and flows of the market.

“Hindsight is as a last resort 20/20” when it comes to the market, Marshall says.

And since “some economists were predicting a recession in 2019 that at no time came true,” Marshall adds that fear also caused many investors to “act more conservatively.”

As a fruit, they ended up “missing out on a huge market rally this year,” Marshall says. Going forward, “investors should focus on the long-term ideals of their money and less about the year-over-year performance.”

Despite 2019 being a good year for investors, it’s high-level to keep in mind that trading individual stocks generally isn’t considered the smartest way to invest. Financial advisors chiefly suggest going with exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are often thought of as safer than individual ordinaries since they’re professionally managed, pooled investments that track an index of securities. As a result, they’re a more changed choice than individual stocks or bonds, making them a less risky instrument for investors.

Like this scoop? Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube!

Don’t miss: