When we were children, we would diligently stow money away in a piggy bank, or coffee can, until we had saved enough to buy the prize we'd had our eye on for months. It worked then, and taught us to keep our goals in sight. Today, our goals are a bit different, and cost a lot more!

Thanks to something called inflation, we have had to redirect the way we save for the future.

In 1981, the average price of a new car was $8,910. A small fortune according to those who had bought their first car 10-20 years earlier. In 1996, the average price had risen, or inflated to $18,565! This is a prime example of why hiding money away simply doesn't work anymore.

To guard against losing our dreams to increasing prices, many of us turn to investing, which can provide us with a way to make more money than we lose through inflation, a process known as 'outpacing inflation'.