40 years ago, a grand experiment was embarked upon that promised American workers that by contributing to newly introduced defined contribution vehicles they would be better off when they reached retirement age. That raises a simple but very important question: How have things worked out? Well, the bottom line is that the vehicles and the promises made are proving woefully insufficient to fund the "retirement" dream you've been sold your whole life. Frankly put: retirement is now a myth for the majority.

Investing is about taking advantage of higher rates of return and benefiting from the power of compound interest over long periods of time. It’s also about finding the best ways to mitigate the risk via diversification, being patient, etc. Today's infographic outlines the difference between saving and investing, and provides some basic tips on how to get started in the market.

Daydreaming about retirement is easy, but saving for it, however, takes time and effort — and is something a lot of Americans struggle with - but there are strategies that can help make the process easier. Here are 20 ways to pad your bank account before it's time to retire.

...The World Cup trophy is legendary. It is one of the oldest international sporting competitions..., established in 1930, and remains one of the most popular sporting competitions in the world. Over 3 billion people are expected to watch at least one minute of the tournament and nearly a billion people are expected to watch at least one minute of the final in Russia...How much does it weigh and what is its worth in gold?

The Wall Street Journal writes that "many US states have been slow to improve their finances nine years into the economic expansion raising a risk they won't be prepared when another downturn hits, making them susceptible to big spending cuts that make the next recession worse".

Would you have appreciated a single number that could have given you a clear and unmistakable warning before the tech stock bubble collapsed? How about an unequivocal mathematical warning in 2006 that major financial trouble was on the way, well before the problems of 2007 and 2008? Well, while these warnings (called yield curve inversions) are quite uncommon, having occurred only three times in the last 35 years- followed relatively quickly by a recession - but are back in the news again, because we just may be nearing another inversion.

If a strategy, model, or indicator can’t even beat brain-dead buy and hold, then it doesn’t have much value [and that is the case with the 200 day moving average]. For every one time it does work, there are two times it doesn’t work. In other words, technical analysis gives you too many false signals that causes you to underperform buy and hold. Here's proof.

The relationship between silver and the Dow is such that significant Dow peaks are often followed by significant silver rallies. It is for this reason that silver can provide a great opportunity to bank Dow profits and even grow them much bigger.

The U.S. is surprisingly low in disposable household income and rather high in income inequality. [In fact,] it is not too much of a stretch to say that the U.S. is now divided into two nations, not entirely separate but increasingly unequal.

Here's some good news for anyone behind on retirement savings: Being a smart saver isn't difficult. There's no magic secret to getting it right. Once you understand the rules of the game, you'll know exactly what you need to do to manage your money wisely as you navigate through life. Here are 5 standard practices that every retirement-savvy saver lives by. Let them inspire and guide you during your own phase of accumulating wealth.