Our experiences shape us. We can agree on that, right?

And as much as we’d like to think we learn from the mistakes of others, the truth is… most of us don’t. We learn “the hard way,” through our own personal trials and tribulations.

Financially, the lessons we learn from the school of hard knocks are costly!

I’m not only talking about dollars and cents. I mean “costly” in the sense that financial lessons learned the hard way often rob us of years, even decades, of our precious time. They set us back… prevent us from reaching our full potential… from living life to the fullest.

Most costly of all, financial lessons and mistakes will rob millions of Americans of the opportunity to retire and live comfortably through their golden years.

The stats are mind-blowingly dim…

“Thirty-six percent of American workers age 55 to 64 say they have less than $25,000 in retirement savings.” —Employee Benefit Research Institute

“Fifty-one percent of households are at risk of not having enough savings to maintain their standard of living after retirement.” — The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College

“Sixty-six percent of Americans said their top financial concern was not having enough money for retirement.” —Gallup poll

But beyond the research and statistics, I’ve seen this retirement dilemma first hand. And it’s that experience that shaped the way I approach investing in the markets…

The year was 2008.

I was working as an advisor for a Fortune 500 financial planning firm. Each week, I met with dozens of families. Their stories were all different, yet all the same.

Simply put: the goal, for each, was to get to 65 with a nut big enough to last. (Although what that meant — How big? How long? And HOW!? — no one seemed to know.)

My analysis usually showed a shortfall in savings. Roughly 80% of our clients were behind the curve.