More than 162 million Americans own stock. For many, the money they have invested in the stock market is their retirement nest egg. In surveys of the investing public, most people respond that they have little or no investment knowledge. Most of us who invest in the equity and bond markets do so through a stockbroker or other intermediary. In many cases, we spend more time deciding where to go to dinner than we do in deciding where to invest our hard-earned money. With Social Security facing a funding crisis and corporate titans being forced to resign in disgrace, the average investor is often left bewildered and disillusioned about his/her investing options.

Corporate and personal debts are at historic levels. The current economic slowdown has done little to rationalize the personal balance sheets of both corporations and individuals. Many people carry excessive balances on their credit cards with some estimates suggesting that the average credit card balance is approximately $8,000. In spite of what might appear to be an epidemic of financial ignorance, there are some 7.1 million millionaires globally with half of them living in this country. Of the American millionaires, 80% of them are first-generation millionaires. These are people who, in spite of the plethora of investing options, the lack of formal training about money and the general level of ignorance about money, have managed to become wealthy.

Many of us have thrown up our hands and decided to make our sole investment the roof over our heads. With interest rates at all-time lows, many of us have borrowed against the equity in our home by taking out home equity loans to buy big screen televisions and other impulse purchases. With all of the uncertainty and lack of clear concise information, just how does one cope? What are the most important steps that each of us needs to take today to ensure our financial future? Have you given ample thought to how you would survive financially if you were disabled or unemployed for an extended period of time?

These are the questions and challenges that Report on Money tackles through our investment research reports, studies, consulting and publishing activities. Our objective is to provide a thorough understanding of personal finance and retirement issues so that you can make objective choices today that will ensure that you and your family reach your financial goals tomorrow, regardless of whether or not Social Security is there to help you. In assessing the validity of your personal financial plan, you might want to ask yourself some basic questions to determine if you have carefully considered all the options. To find out more about Report on Money’s personal finance tools please click here