INVESTING IS ONE OF THE FEW AREAS IN LIFE WHERE EVEN VERY SMART PEOPLE LET HOPE TRIUMPH OVER EXPERIENCE

According to Wall Street Journal investing columnist Spencer Jakab, most of us have no idea how much money we're leaving on the table-or that the average saver doesn't come anywhere close to earning the “average” returns touted in those glossy brochures. We're handicapped not only by psychological biases and a fear of missing out, but by an industry with multimillion-dollar marketing budgets and an eye on its own bottom line, not yours.

Unless you're very handy, you probably don't know how to fix your own car or give a family member a decent haircut. But most Americans are expected to be part-time fund managers. With a steady, livable pension check becoming a rarity, we've been entrusted with our own finances and, for the most part, failed miserably.

Since leaving his job as a top-rated stock analyst to become an investing columnist, Jakab has watched his readers-and his f