Back in the good-old days of the 20th century, building a financial nest egg made good common sense and consistently succeeded to fulfill goals for later-years security. But not anymore. Even though the sacred mantra of save, save, save, falls from the lips of financial advisors everywhere, it is losing strength as the all-powerful personal finance strategy.

Your financial advisor is not likely to tell you this, however, because 1) he or she is uninformed or, 2) if they are, informing you might very well put them out of business.

Who would argue against the fact that times have changed, including economically? And yet, personal finance strategies have remained frozen in time: Work for a company that hopefully has full benefits, save a nest egg, purchase a home and invest as soon as you can, create a budget to manage your spending, etc.

Of course, financial advice gets tweaked per an individual or family situation, but at the end of the day, such advice is founded on historical, strongly held beliefs about how money works. Heaven forbid should anyone question them!

As a result, no matter how good you might be at making, spending and investing money, youll still hit the wall of stress and disillusionment. The reason is that rules of the (money) game have changed and no one told you!

The hard evidence is everywhere. You dont need the newspapers or TV or some expert to tell you about what is happening in peoples financial lives. All you have to do is listen to what your neighbors, friends, family and colleagues are concerned about. Disappearing pensions, good paying jobs and company-paid health insurance, combined with an exponentially rising cost of living for things like housing, transportation, food, childcare, and energy plus rising minimum payments on credit cards and increasing debt-service payments have become a blight on the average middle-class citizen.

Many who never had financial problems before, now find themselves unwittingly caught up in this 21st century description of the social/economic landscape. Whereas in times past, the light at the end of the tunnel was in sight to get out of debt or to get ahead, today is a different story. Unrelenting and mounting stress makes lifes routine demands more difficult to cope with and puts an enormous strain on relationships.

Relief is harder to come by.

What to do?

You update your computer, dont you? Imagine, for a moment, what might happen if you stayed forever with Microsoft 95 and never updated your email program. Eventually you would virtually get left in the dark. So heres my point. How can anyone expect to accomplish their financial and life goals in 2006 while utilizing financial strategies based on rules of the (money) game better suited for the 1950s?

Think about it. Just like your computer, your knowledge base about how money works needs periodic updating. But thats only the beginning. Updating alone is not enough. New personal finance strategies (that reflect new knowledge) must gradually replace conventional ones to offer the best shot at accomplishing financial and life goals.

Different times absolutely require different wealth building and money-management strategies if similar financial security and personal well-being are to be realized today, as in times past.

The big secret? Money is a time-sensitive, not static commodity. As such, you cannot expect to apply strategies that worked a half century ago to get you where you want to go in this day and age. Its tough for most people to wrap their minds around this notion because they continue to believe in the immortal sameness of money. New learning is called for if honest to goodness solutions are to exist. Consistent with moneys time sensitivity are the personal finance strategies that, in order to be effective, must morph and transform to match the current character of money.

The mantra: Save and build a nest egg, has an ironclad grip on the minds of millions. Whats ironic is that in October 2005, The Department of Commerce reported saving in America to be at 0.07% of after tax income (not including 401ks etc.)! Mark my words, saving, as a primary later-years strategy will continue to fall short for the reason I have described in this article. Statistics already indicate that no matter how many people believe saving is the answer, in reality, they are hard pressed to do so!

Conventional financial wisdom has not stopped the bleeding. A way out of the current middle-class crisis in America already exists but veers off the main road to a road less traveled. Will explorers and pioneers blaze the trail? As the discovery (and personal implications) of the missing piece about how money really works are made, individuals and families can resource greater opportunities for financial and personal well-being.