A friend of ours used to watch “America’s Funniest Home Videos” with his kids back when it was hosted by Tom Bergeron. He said, first of all, it was a great way to laugh together as a family. But secondly, the show illustrated a lot of practical wisdom. For example, you could see why you should never jump off your roof onto a trampoline while holding a giant bouncy ball.

It was lessons learned at the lowest personal cost, because it was from other people’s mistakes.

This is now a popular topic across social media with the hashtag #instantregret. One amusing Instagram account that uses this tag shows nothing but videos of vehicles getting stuck in the sand at a local beach. You can imagine that the regret increases as the tide comes in.

Before you make a major purchase, it’s smart to read a few of the negative reviews to see what went wrong for other people who claim to have purchased the same product.

In the same way, as you save for retirement, you can learn a lot from people who are now at that stage and can tell you about what they wish they had done differently.

A few years ago Consumer Affairs surveyed retirees on a number of topics surrounding their satisfaction with retirement, including their regrets.1 When preparing for retirement, was there anything they wish they had done differently?

The respondents felt most strongly about the following four:

1. Not beginning to save and invest earlier. Because investments can grow with compound interest, time is even more important than the amount saved. In a hypothetical example, a woman who begins saving $200 a month at age 40 will end up with about $200,000 by age 65. But if she had started at age 25 and saved only $100 a month, she would end up with nearly $450,000.
2. Not saving a larger portion of their income. It can seem like a challenge to save any portion of your income. But when you make that a priority, you can still be aggressive and have money for other things.
3. Not getting in better physical health. Retirement is more enjoyable when you’re in reasonably good shape. Physical fitness enables you to do those activities you haven’t had time for. And conversely, living with a preventable, chronic condition can be expensive.
4. Not paying off debt before retirement. Monthly payments can be a significant drag on your budget in retirement. And it becomes tougher to pay off debt when your income is more limited.

Whether it’s your health, your debt load, or the amount you’re saving—it’s important to remember that these issues will not automatically solve themselves. If you ignore them long enough, they can become your retirement regrets.

If you need help getting your finances in shape, talk with your trusted advisor. And before starting any regime to get your body in shape, consult with your health professional.