By Kimberly Palmer, NerdWallet

On Reddit, a user recently asked how to recover from a money mistake.

They had taken out a high-interest loan for a car and made good on the payments, but regretted the extra cost the interest added over time.

They asked if they should now use their savings to pay off the remainder of the loan in a lump sum and put the whole experience behind them.

While some Reddit users suggested continuing with the payments, many agreed that paying off the loan would be a smart move. Learn the lesson, don’t dwell on the regret and move on to better experiences, they said.

Recovering from a big money mistake — whether it’s a regrettable purchase, accumulating significant debt or blowing through savings — is a common challenge.

We asked financial experts for their own take on how to recover. Here’s what they said:

Avoid fixating on the error

While it’s tempting to obsess over a money mistake, there’s little benefit to doing so, says Brenton D. Harrison, certified financial planner and host of the podcast, “New Money, New Problems.”

Instead, he says, focus on what you’re going to do differently in the future.

Harrison experienced his own money regret when he almost purchased a rental property in Nashville with his wife over a decade ago. They ultimately decided not to purchase the property. Now they feel like they missed an opportunity because property values have risen significantly.

Today, he actively avoids driving near that property because doing so would stir up those feelings of regret. “It’s not productive for me,” he says.

Similarly, he urges anyone who regrets a pricey purchase to hide the item away in their closet or otherwise put it out of sight so they don’t have to constantly think about the mistake.

While you can’t hide a car, you could pay off the loan and stop being reminded of the past interest payments.

If you can, undo the mistake

If you bought something you’re now having doubts about, try to return it, says Mykail James, a Washington, D.C.-based financial educator.

“Most things are returnable. Just send it back, and don’t be embarrassed about returning things,” she says. “They have a return policy for a reason.”

Even if it’s a purchase like a concert ticket, you might be able to sell it.

“You can always figure out a way to reverse it, and if there’s no way to reverse it, then be happy with what you got and do better next time,” James suggests.

In the Reddit user’s case, it might be possible to sell the car for more than is left on the loan.

Create a recovery plan

Some mistakes, like accruing high-interest car debt, may require a focused recovery plan.

“Create a repayment schedule and timeline that’s realistic for your budget,” Harrison says.

You might opt for the debt snowball method, where you pay off the smallest debt first to build momentum, or the debt avalanche method, where you tackle the debt with the highest interest rate first.

There’s no right or wrong choice; the best method is the one that works for you.

Harrison cautions that it’s still important to be mindful of other money goals while focusing on debt repayment.

“One of the most common mistakes I come across is that people get really motivated to pay back debt and they put more money toward it than they should,” he says.

Then, when another emergency comes up, they lack the savings to handle it. Harrison suggests paying down the debt in a way that allows you to leave room in the budget for emergencies.

Recovery may take patience, he adds. “Go in with realistic expectations,” he says. If it took years to destroy your credit, then it could also take years to improve it.

Make a different choice next time

After making a money mistake, it’s worth thinking about how you’ll do it differently next time, Harrison says. Consider the thought process you went through before making the mistake. Did you act on impulse? Was a desire to “keep up with the Joneses” your motivation?

“If there’s a lesson to be learned, make changes so you don’t lead yourself astray in the future,” he says.

Otherwise just acknowledge that sometimes you can do everything right and still end up making a mistake.

“Dust yourself off and move on. There’s no point in focusing on the past,” he says.

Reddit is an online forum where users share their thoughts in “threads” on various topics. The popular site includes plenty of discussion on financial subjects like money mistakes and successes, so we sifted through Reddit forums to get a pulse check. People post anonymously, so we cannot confirm their individual experiences or circumstances.

Kimberly Palmer writes for NerdWallet. Email: kpalmer@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @kimberlypalmer.

The article Asked on Reddit: How Do I Recover From a Big Money Mistake? originally appeared on NerdWallet.

By PAUL WISEMAN, Associated Press Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy expanded at a surprising 3% annual pace from April through June, bouncing back at least temporarily from a first-quarter drop that reflected disruptions from President Donald Trump’s trade wars.

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America gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — rebounded after falling at a 0.5% clip from January through March, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. The first-quarter drop was mainly caused by a surge in imports — which are subtracted from GDP — as businesses scrambled to bring in foreign goods ahead of Trump’s tariffs.

The bounceback was expected but the size of it wasn’t: Economists had forecast 2% growth from April through June.

From April through June, a drop in imports — the biggest since the COVID-19 outbreak — added more than 5 percentage points to growth. Consumer spending registered lackluster growth of 1.4%, though it was an improvement over the first quarter’s 0.5%.

Private investment fell at a 15.6% annual pace, biggest drop since COVID-19 slammed the economy. A drop in inventories — as businesses worked down goods they’d stockpiled in the first quarter — shaved 3.2 percentage points off second-quarter growth.

By JOSH FUNK, Associated Press Transportation Writer

Three days of investigative hearings on the deadly midair collision over Washington in January begin Wednesday and aim to reveal new insights into what caused the crash between a passenger plane and an Army helicopter that killed 67 people.

The National Transportation Safety Board will question witnesses and investigators about how the actions of the Federal Aviation Administration and its air traffic controllers and the Army may have contributed to the nation’s deadliest plane crash since November 2001. It’s likely too early for the board to identify the cause of the crash.

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The American Airlines plane from Wichita, Kansas collided with a Black Hawk helicopter while coming into land at Ronald Reagan National Airport and was the first in a string of crashes and near misses this year that have alarmed officials and the travelling public, despite statistics that still show flying remains the safest form of transportation.

Investigations have already shown the FAA failed to recognize a troubling history of 85 near misses around Reagan airport in the years before the collision, and that the Army’s helicopters routinely flew around the nation’s capitol with a key piece of locating equipment, known as ADS-B Out, turned off.

Aviation attorney Bob Clifford, who is working to file one of the first lawsuits against the government next month, said he hopes NTSB will look beyond the immediate factors that caused this crash to highlight the bigger ongoing concerns in the crowded Washington airspace.

“In this particular instance, there’s a much broader picture. And that is the known problems that were being ignored about an unsafe environment for the commercial aircraft to be navigating with the military aviation helicopters in the area,” Clifford said.

Even though the final NTSB report won’t be released until sometime next year, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz isn’t waiting to propose changes. He introduced legislation Tuesday that would require all aircraft operators to use both forms of ADS-B, or Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast, the technology to broadcast aircraft location data to other planes and air traffic controllers. Most aircraft today are equipped with ADS-B Out equipment but the airlines would have to add the more comprehensive ADS-B In technology to their planes.

“There cannot be a double standard in aviation safety,” Cruz said. “We should not tolerate special exceptions for military training flights, operating in congested air space.”

The legislation would revoke an exemption on ADS-B transmission requests for Department of Defense aircrafts. It also would require the FAA to evaluate helicopter routes near airports and require the Army Inspector General to review the Army’s aviation safety practices.

NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said her agency has been recommending that move for decades after several other crashes.

“In 2008, we sent a letter to FAA stating the board believes that the equipage of aircraft with ADS-B In capability will provide — and I want to stress this — an immediate and substantial contribution to safety, especially during operations in and around airports,” she said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that while he’d like to discuss “a few tweaks,” the legislation is “the right approach.” He also suggested that the previous administration “was asleep at the wheel” amid dozens of near-misses in the airspace around Washington’s airspace.

“In the past, people became complacent — leaders became complacent” Duffy said.

Homendy said the hearings over the next few days will be a “fact-finding proceeding.” In addition, the NTSB will also post thousands of pages of evidence from the crash investigation online Wednesday morning.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said that he expects “we’re going to have some very uncomfortable conversations over the next two and a half days” but that “they need to be had in the clear light of day – and simply put the best interest of the traveling public ahead of any of our personal interests, perhaps.”

The hearings in Washington will involve NTSB board members, investigators and witnesses for organizations involved in the crash. Panels will focus on military helicopter routes in the Washington area, collision avoidance technology and training for air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan National Airport, among other subjects.

Federal officials have also raised concerns over the nation’s outdated. and understaffed air traffic control system. During January’s mid-air crash above Washington, one controller was handing both commercial airline and helicopter traffic at the busy airport.

Duffy has announced a multi-billion-dollar plan to overhaul the system controllers use that relies on old technology like floppy disks.

Associated Press writers Leah Askarinam, Ben Finley and Rio Yamat contributed to this story.

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia’s Far East early Wednesday, causing tsunami waves to wash ashore in Japan and Alaska and calls for people around the Pacific to be on alert or move to higher ground.

The 8.8 magnitude temblor set off warnings in Hawaii, North and Central America and Pacific islands south toward New Zealand, with officials warning that the potential tsunami danger may last for more than a day.

This shows an empty beach in Shirahama, Wakayama prefecture, western Japan Wednesday, July 30, 2025 after beachgoers evacuated as a powerful earthquake in Russia’s Far East prompted tsunami alert in parts of Japan. (Kyodo News via AP)

Here’s a glance at some of the most powerful earthquakes recorded previously, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

1. Biobío, Chile

A 9.5 magnitude earthquake struck in a central region of Chile in 1960. Known as the Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean earthquake, the largest ever recorded temblor resulted in more than 1,600 deaths in the country and beyond, most of which were caused by resulting large tsunami. Thousands of people were injured.

2. Alaska

In 1964, a 9.2 magnitude earthquake jolted the Alaska’s Prince William Sound, lasting for almost 5 minutes. More than 130 people were killed in the largest recorded earthquake in the U.S. and subsequent tsunami. There were huge landslides and towering waves that caused severe flooding. The event was followed by thousands of aftershocks for weeks after the initial quake.

3. Sumatra, Indonesia

A 9.1 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami devastated Southeast and South Asia and East Africa in 2004, killing 230,000 people. Indonesia alone recorded more than 167,000 deaths as entire communities were wiped out.

In this Dec. 27, 2004 file photo, debris litter the front lawn of Baiturrahman Grand Mosque after gigantic waves swept in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim, File)

4. Tohoku, Japan

A magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck off the coast of northeastern Japan in 2011, triggering a towering tsunami that smashed into the Fukushima nuclear plant. It knocked out power and cooling systems and triggered meltdowns in three reactors. More than 18,000 people were killed in the quake and tsunami, some of whom have never been recovered.

5. Kamchatka, Russia

In 1952, a magnitude 9.0 quake caused significant damage but no reported deaths despite a tsunami that hit Hawaii with 9.1-meter (30-foot) waves.

6. Biobío, Chile

A massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit central Chile in 2010, shaking the capital for a minute and half and setting off a tsunami. More than 500 people were killed in the disaster.

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7. Esmeraldas, Ecuador

In 1906, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami killed about 1,500 people. Its effects were felt for miles along the Central American coast and as far as San Francisco and Japan.

8. Alaska

In 1965, a magnitude 8.7 quake struck Alaska’s Rat Islands, causing an 11-meter (35-foot) -high tsunami. There was some relatively minor damage, including cracks in buildings and an asphalt runway.

9. Tibet

At least 780 people were killed when a magnitude 8.6 earthquake struck in 1950. Dozens of villages were destroyed, including at least one that slid into a river. There were also major landslides that jammed the Subansiri River in India. When the water eventually broke through, it resulted in a deadly 7-meter (23-foot) wave.

10. Sumatra, Indonesia

In 2012, a powerful 8.6 magnitude earthquake struck off the west coast of northern Sumatra in Indonesia. Though the quake caused little damage, it increased pressure on a fault that was the source of the devastating 2004 tsunami.