VOA慢速英語:Are you a saver or a spender?

From VOA Special English, this is the Economics Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語經(jīng)濟報道。

Are you a saver or a spender?

你是節(jié)儉者，還是揮霍者?

"A penny saved is a penny earned." This old saying calls attention to the wisdom of saving money. "Putting money away for a rainy day" is another way to talk about saving for the future.

“省錢就是賺錢。”這句老話呼吁大家重視省錢的智慧。未雨綢繆是一種為將來打算的說法。

People who hate to spend money are known as "tightwads," while those who like to get the most value for their money are called "thrifty." A thrifty person is different from a "spendthrift." A spendthrift is someone who spends wastefully. People like that are often said to spend money "like a drunken sailor" or "like there’s no tomorrow."

舍不得花錢的人被稱作吝嗇鬼(tightwads)，而使金錢的價值最大化者叫做節(jié)儉(thrifty)。節(jié)儉者和敗家子(spendthrift)可不同。敗家子是指花錢揮霍者。這類人通常被說成“花錢像喝醉的水手”或“花錢像沒有明天一樣”。

In the United States, people who want to start a savings account have different choices of where to put their money. These include banks and credit unions. Credit unions are cooperatives for people who have some kind of connection. For example, the members might work for a university or a government agency. Most credit unions are nonprofit organizations.

在美國，人們想要開設(shè)儲蓄賬戶有多種不同選擇。其中包括銀行和信用社。信用社是為具有某種聯(lián)系的人服務(wù)的合作社。例如，其成員可能都就職于某所大學(xué)或某家政府機構(gòu)。多數(shù)信用社為非營利性組織。

Credit unions, banks and other financial institutions pay interest on savings accounts. But the interest rates are low. Certificates of deposit pay higher returns. With a certificate of deposit, or CD, a person agrees not to withdraw the money for a certain period of time. This term could be anywhere from a few months to several years. Longer terms, and larger amounts, pay higher interest. People can withdraw their money early but they have to pay a penalty.

信用社、銀行以及其它金融機構(gòu)對儲蓄賬戶支付利息，但利率很低。存款證支付更高的回報。使用存款證的人承諾一段時間內(nèi)不提取存款，期限從幾個月到數(shù)年不等。期限越長，金額越大，支付的利息就越高。人們可以提前支取其存款，但必須支付違約金。

Another way to save is through a money market fund. This is a kind of mutual fund. Mutual funds invest money from many people. The money is sometimes placed in short-term government securities. Money market funds, however, may not be federally guaranteed like other kinds of savings. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation guarantees savings up to two hundred fifty thousand dollars.

存錢的另一種方式是通過貨幣基金，這是一種共同基金。共同基金拿許多人的錢去投資。這些錢有時投資于短期政府債券。然而，貨幣市場基金不像其它種類的儲蓄一樣被聯(lián)邦政府擔(dān)保。聯(lián)邦存款保險公司(簡稱FDIC)為存款提供最高25萬美元的擔(dān)保。

51VOA注：FDIC為大多數(shù)賬戶提供最高10萬美元的存款保險。對于部分退休賬戶，這一上限提高到25萬美元。

In a number of countries, people have been saving less over the years. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is a group of thirty-four countries. The OECD says in nineteen ninety, Americans had a household savings rate of seven percent. This year, that rate is expected to be a little more than two percent. Many European countries have higher rates, but Americans save more than families in Japan.

多年來，一些國家的人們儲蓄得越來越少。經(jīng)濟合作與發(fā)展組織擁有36個會員國。該組織稱，1990年，美國家庭儲蓄率為7%，今年預(yù)計略高于2%。許多歐洲國家儲蓄率更高，但美國人比日本家庭存得更多(即美國家庭儲蓄率超過日本)。