There, I've said it. There is a sure-fire way for you to lose all your hard earned money, and I think you know what I'm talking about. You have a better chance of getting rich by betting in Las Vegas and doubling down, than you do of getting rich in the stock market. In fact, the truth of it is that most mutual funds don't even match the returns of the S&P 500 Index.

Traditional investment advice sounds something like this: "To retire wealthy you should be taking your money now and investing in stocks and open-end funds." How many financial planners do you think pass this off as sound investment strategy? Most every one of them. There are better, more effective ways to build your wealth, I can assure you. The money is not in mutual funds and there is no such thing as a sure fire hot stock tip, especially not in today's market.

If your goal is to maintain your current standard of living, or even better, in retirement, it's imperative that you let go of conventional investment wisdom. The conventional methods of building wealth just aren't cutting it, and with pension plans going broke, and the mess we face with social security, it's clear that to build wealth we need to think outside the box.

Consider this - you work hard for your money. Does it make sense to turn it over to a company, or in this case let's say market, in which you have absolutely no control? One day you're down, the next day you're up a little bit, and if you're lucky, the value of your money remains static, or best case scenario, you don't experience a decline in your purchasing power. If you're really fortunate, you might see a slight gain, but at what financial risk?

Most Americans lack a strong financial education, and that's understandable. It's expensive to pay for the things we need, like our homes, clothing, food, and if you have children you're likely thinking about how you're going to pay college tuition sometime in the future. That's the problem. We focus so much on the financial needs we have today, we tell ourselves that tomorrow we'll start saving for the future. After all, we need as much liquidity as possible to maneuver in today's tough economy.

Realistically speaking, the financial moves you take today, directly impact the wealth you will have tomorrow. Investing smart isn't just a good idea, it's a necessity. So here's my financial advice: fire your financial planner. Stop putting money into a tumultuous stock market, and stop waiting for tomorrow to come to start your savings plan. Look for new investment opportunities and don't believe the same old investment strategies just because they were featured in the Wall Street Journal, or a financial expert mentioned them on last night's news.

We all know the economy is steeped in a recession. It will take time to turn around America's economy. However, economic times such as these are when opportunist find new investment opportunities and create wealth. History has proven this to be true.