The United States is suffering an economic crisis and there is little that the President, Congress or the Federal Reserve can do to fix it. The only people who can solve it are your clients – and you.

This problem is the inability of U.S. households to save money systematically. Having officially begun in April of 2005, this crisis has grown worse for 26 straight months. If it continues much longer, American prosperity will be threatened, now and perhaps for generations to come.

A Disciplined Process to Track Clients' New Net Savings

It's my observation that perhaps less than 10 percent of all financial advisors are successful in motivating disciplined savings among their clients through consistently applied techniques.

• Do you help your clients set an annual goal for New Net Savings?
• Do you then help them track success in achieving this goal each year?

Don't answer too fast. Due to changes in the ways Americans spend and save, traditional definitions of savings may no longer be useful.