欠债这些事儿,可能谁都会谈之色变。不过,现代社会,做生意可以贷款、购房可以办按揭、上学可以申请助学贷款,欠债、借钱已不是什么丢人的事。只要懂得理性分析、权衡债务的特点和个人还款能力,借贷不但可以解决燃眉之急,甚至还可以让大家“借”出个未来。
英式发音 适合精听
If there’s one thing I can teach you about money, whether you’re six, a teenager, a student, or an adult, it’s this golden rule. A company’s job is to make money from you. Your job is to stop it. Now I’m not anti-company. Their job is to make profits. I 1)applaud them. That works. You’re gonna work for a company in your life. Your job ought to be to make profit, too. But you are the only person who has a responsibility to protect yourself. Getting your money right is not a 2)segregated issue that only affects you and your money. It is something that incorporates your whole life.
不管你是小童还是少年,是学生还是成人,如果说我有一道理财的金科玉律可以传授给你,就是这一句金玉良言:任何一家公司的工作就是从你身上赚钱,而你的工作就是阻止这种事情发生。我不是对公司持反对态度。他们的工作是盈利。我为他们鼓掌。那确实管用。在你一生中,你总要为公司工作。你的工作同样也是要赚钱。但你是唯一有责任保护你自己的人。理财有道,这个问题影响的不只是你和你的财富的问题。那是关于你整个人生的事情。
So what I want to do today is just try and make you think a little bit about that. Let’s start with debt. Good debt, bad debt.
所以我今天要做的事,是启发你考虑一下这个问题。我们就从债务这个问题开始吧。债务也有好坏。
Debt needs to be planned for, budgeted for, rational, and as cheap as it can possibly be. Those are the key concepts.
债务需要计划、预算,让它尽可能地保持理性和走低。这是最关键的理念。
So now let’s move on to student finance and apply the same logic.
那现在我们用这个逻辑来谈谈学生的财务问题吧。
Debt No.1: the official student loan, provided by the government. This is at a rate of interest which matches 3)inflation. Inflation is the rate at which prices rise. So, if I go into the supermarket this week with my 4)trolley and I put a hundred 5)quid’s worth of stuff in and inflation is 10%, what rate will I pay…how much will I pay for that trolley the next year? Hundred and ten pounds: 10% 6)on top of a hundred quid.
债务一号:官方的学生贷款——由政府提供。这个贷款的利息与通货膨胀成正比。通货膨胀是物价抬升的比例。所以,如果说我这周走进超市,把价值100英镑的东西放进购物车的时候,通胀率是10%,那我明年要付的利息……要买那车东西要用的钱是多少呢?110镑:除了那100镑以外,还要加10%。
Easy!
很简单!
So, if I borrowed money at a hundred pounds this year and the interest rate is set at the rate of inflation, which we’ll 7)nominally say is 10%, because it makes the maths more easy, next year I owe 110 quid. Sounds like I’m paying. But in real terms I’ve borrowed a shopping trolley’s worth of goods and I’m repaying a shopping trolley’s worth of goods. The amount of money in my pocket, my spending power, has not been decreased.
那如果我今年借了100镑,利息与通胀率一样,也就是我们假设的10%——因为那算起来比较容易,那我明年要还的金额就是110镑。听起来我是在付钱。但实际上,我是先借了与购买一整车物品等价的金额,然后我再归还这一整车物品所需的钱。我的口袋里的钱,我的消费能力,并没有少。
Student loans are the longest, the cheapest long-term debt you will ever be offered. So, you can borrow this money at no real cost to you. Is it good debt? Of course it bloody is!
学生贷款是你承受得起的债期最长、利息最低的长期贷款。所以说,你可以不花多少钱获得这些贷款。这算好债吗?当然啦,好得没话说了!
Let’s take a look at the next thing that’s on the list. There’s the nightmare. Credit cards, commercial debt, other types of borrowing, other types of loans charged at real interest rates that will trap you in. Right, here’s a question. I have £3,000 on a 8)high street credit card at 17.9% interest. The minimum repayments I must make are £5 a month or 2% of my 9)outstanding borrowing. How long will it take me to pay that card off if I only make the minimum repayments? Not “never”! You will pay it off. Fourty-one years—actually 40 years 8 months: you’re good—at an interest cost of £6,300. Credit cards minimum repayments are designed to keep you 10)perpetually in debt. They are the enemy!
我们看看这个单子上的下一条吧。那就是噩梦了。信用卡、商业贷款,还有其他不同种类的借贷,那些引诱你陷入困境、让你支付实际利息的贷款。对了,问你们一个问题。我用市面流通的信用卡借了3000镑,利息是17.9%。我每月最低的还款额是5镑,也就是我未还清债款的2%。那如果我按每月最低还款额还款,我要多久才能还清这笔借款?不是“一辈子还不清”。你会还清的。四十一年吧——确切地说,是四十年零八个月。你们真不错——利息是6300镑。信用卡最低还款额的设置就是为了让你永远处在借款状态。它们就是我们的敌人!
So this is the first lesson. I am not here to tell you “Do not borrow.” I’m here to say, “Student loans: Good! Commercial debt: Bad!” So let’s start to understand and think carefully about what you can do with your money.
所以,这是我要教的第一课。我在这不是让你们“不要借钱”。我是要告诉大家:“学生贷款,是好的!商业借贷,糟糕!”那么,让我们开始理解并谨慎考虑怎么打理自己的财富吧。
