Last updated: 4:45 amAugust 21, 2009 Posted: 3:04 amAugust 21, 2009

IN Washington, politicians of all persuasions toss around the word "strategy." But it's rare to meet anyone inside the Beltway who understands what it means.

A strategy applies the necessary means to achieve a clearly defined goal. If your goal is unclear, you won't get the means right, either. So we wind up in Vietnam, Somalia, Iraq or Afghanistan with our national fingers crossed.

The clearest way to explain strategy is in terms of your personal investments. Your goal is a positive return. The more you're asked to risk, the greater the potential return has to be. And you don't pile your savings into a chronic money-loser.

The problem is that, before...