America is the J. Wellington Wimpy of nations, as its government and its people will gladly pay its creditors on some elusive Tuesday in the future for everything it wants today. An economy based purely on consumption cannot stand. An overemphasis on consumption eventually eats up nations like hypocrisy and racism, ironically, ate up Paula Deen. History is replete with examples of empires falling, in part, because of the financial instability of their debt.

Americans are not saving enough for retirement and are putting anything and everything ahead of this inevitable stage of life. Whether this is the fault of instant gratification, America’s anti-savings policies or because retirement seems too far in the future to plan for today is up for debate. Regardless of the reason, Americans are postponing saving for retirement and missing out on the three money magic tricks of investing.