金融英語泛讀:愛錢，更愛幸福

To Be a Super Financer愛錢，更愛幸福

Over the past few decades we have seen big jumps in economic growth in countries such as the U. S.and Japan, but only small increases in reported happiness.Surveys of lottery winners and people in the Forbes 100 list have found they are not much happier than the average person.

So you can be happier, no matter what your income level.

Stop comparing. When people make relative-income comparisons, they frequently look at those who have more-and get upset when their income compares unfavorably, according to a study by Andrew Oswald of England's Warwick University.Even if our incomes are rising, we tend to become less happy if the incomes of others are rising even more.Never measure your financial achievements against anything except your own goals.

Be grateful. Professor Sonia Lyubomirsky of University of California Riverside had subjects write down five things they were thankful for.“Gratitude seems to be incompatible with some negative emotions.It's hard to feel envious or greedy or bitter when you're grateful，”Lyubomirsky explains.One group wrote on a weekly basis；the other group three times a week；and a control group didn't write at all.Only the group that did the exercise once a week experienced a significant rise in gratitude.

Don't make money a top priority. People who say money is one of their most important goals score lower for mental health, according to a variety of studies conducted over the past decade by Dr.Tim Kasser, associate psychology professor at Knox College, and Dr.Richard Ryan, psychology professor at the University of Rochester.Money-seekers suffer a greater risk of depression；have more anxiety and lower self-esteem；experience more physical, behavioral and relationship problems；and score lower on indicators testing for vitality（feeling alive and vigorous）and self-actualization.The problems were not caused by being affluent but by making money a primary goal in life.

Be conscious of how you talk about money. The way we explain things to ourselves has a big impact on our happiness, says author David Myers, professor at Michigan's Hope College.Instead of saying，“I can't afford it，”say，“I choose to spend my money on other things.”Think of yourself as an empowered person making wise choices based on your values and priorities-instead of a self-pitying victim who views life in terms of what she can't have.

Focus on essential psychological needs. Money scored last on the list of psychological needs that create happiness and fulfillment, according to a study by Kennon Sheldon, psychologist at the University of Missouri-Columbia.What are the four most essential needs?Autonomy-feeling your actions are self-chosen and self-endorsed；competence-feeling effective in what you do；self-esteem；and a sense of closeness with others.The University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center found that people with five or more close friends are 50 percent more likely to describe themselves as“very happy”than respondents with fewer friends.

Help others. Professor Lyubomirsky has done studies in which students were asked to practice altruism, doing five acts of kindness a week for six weeks.The participants reported a significant rise in happiness.Kind acts, she says, not only make you feel better about yourself, but foster a sense of interdependence and cooperation.

在過去的幾十年，像美國、日本等一些國家的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長迅速，但是幸福感卻只有小幅提升。研究表明：中彩票者和福布斯前100位的富豪并不比普通人快樂多少。

所以無論你的收入有多少，你都可以變得更快樂。

不要攀比。英格蘭沃里克大學(xué)的安德魯·奧斯的研究顯示：當(dāng)人們在收入上相互比較的時(shí)候，他們所關(guān)注的往往是誰擁有更多的收入，當(dāng)他們的收入比別人少時(shí)則顯得很沮喪。即便是自己的收入在增加，如果他人增加得更多，我們也不會高興。不要把金錢上的成就看成是你人生的目標(biāo)。

心懷感激。加州大學(xué)里弗塞德分校的索尼婭·柳博米爾斯基教授曾布置過這樣一個(gè)課題，她要求學(xué)生寫下五件感激之事。柳博米爾斯基解釋了這么做的理由：“感恩的心和消極的情緒是格格不入的。當(dāng)你心存感激時(shí)，嫉妒、貪婪和痛苦的感覺就會遠(yuǎn)離。”其中一組每周寫一次，另外一組一周寫三次，對照組則什么也不寫。最后，只有一周寫一次的那個(gè)小組的人的感激心情有顯著的上升。

不要把錢當(dāng)成頭等重要的事情。諾克斯大學(xué)心理學(xué)副教授提姆·卡塞博士和羅切斯特大學(xué)心理學(xué)教授理查德·賴安博士在過去十幾年來的研究結(jié)果顯示，那些把錢當(dāng)作重要目標(biāo)之一的人在心理健康方面的得分是較低的。這些人一般更容易情緒消沉，常常焦慮，只有少得可憐的自尊，并在身體、行為舉止和人際關(guān)系方面承受諸多問題。他們在生命力（感覺活潑和精力旺盛）和自我完善的測試中，往往也得分較低。以上種種問題并不是富裕本身引起的，而是由于這些人把金錢當(dāng)成了人生的首要目標(biāo)。

知道怎樣談?wù)摻疱X。密歇根霍普學(xué)院的教授、作家大衛(wèi)說，我們向自己說明一件事情的方式對我們的幸福有很大的影響。“我買不起”，換一句話可說成“我想把錢花在其他東西上”。把自己想象成一個(gè)有能力按照自己的價(jià)值觀和偏好做出明智選擇的人，而不是那個(gè)不能左右生活的自怨自艾的可憐蟲。

注重必要的心理需求。密蘇里大學(xué)哥倫比亞分校的心理學(xué)家肯尼·謝爾登的研究顯示，在那些能夠創(chuàng)造幸福和成就感的心理需求列表中，金錢排在最后一位。最為必要的四個(gè)需求是什么？自治——感覺你的行動都是自己選擇和自己認(rèn)可的；能力——感覺自己所做的是有意義的；自尊；與他人的親密感。芝加哥大學(xué)全國意見研究中心發(fā)現(xiàn)，那些擁有五個(gè)或者更多親密朋友的人比起那些朋友較少的人，把自己描述為“非常快樂”的概率要高出50%。

幫助他人。柳博米爾斯基教授曾做過這樣的研究，讓她的學(xué)生去練習(xí)幫助他人，在一周內(nèi)做五件善事，連續(xù)做六周。這些參與者報(bào)告說他們的幸福感顯著提高了。她說，友善的行為不僅僅讓你自我感覺更好，并且培養(yǎng)了互相幫助、合作的意識。

實(shí)戰(zhàn)提升

核心單詞

survey['s?:vei]n.測量，勘測；調(diào)查

incompatible[,ink?m'p?t?bl]adj.不相容的；矛盾的

associate[?'s?u?ieit]v.使聯(lián)合，使結(jié)合

empower[im'pau?]v.賦予權(quán)力

altruism['?ltruiz?m]n.利他主義；利他行為

財(cái)經(jīng)知識一點(diǎn)通

福布斯（Forbes）

福布斯首先是個(gè)集團(tuán)；其次是個(gè)人，全名是史提夫·福布斯，他是福布斯集團(tuán)的總裁；最后是福布斯先生經(jīng)營的世界上最著名的財(cái)經(jīng)雜志《福布斯》（Forbes）。《福布斯》雜志是美國最早的大型商業(yè)雜志，它前瞻性強(qiáng)，有不妥協(xié)的精神，觀點(diǎn)鮮明，反傳統(tǒng)，不拘一格，簡明扼要。著名的福布斯富豪榜是全球最具權(quán)威的財(cái)富榜。

理財(cái)（financial management）

對財(cái)產(chǎn)的經(jīng)營，多用于個(gè)人對個(gè)人財(cái)產(chǎn)或家庭財(cái)產(chǎn)的經(jīng)營。個(gè)人或機(jī)構(gòu)根據(jù)個(gè)人或機(jī)構(gòu)當(dāng)前的實(shí)際經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況，設(shè)定想要達(dá)成的經(jīng)濟(jì)目標(biāo)，在限定的時(shí)間內(nèi)采用一類或多類金融投資工具，通過一種或多種途徑達(dá)成其經(jīng)濟(jì)目標(biāo)的計(jì)劃、規(guī)劃或解決方案。具體實(shí)施該規(guī)劃方案的過程，也稱理財(cái)。

翻譯練習(xí)

Never measure your financial achievements against anything except your own goals.

The problems were not caused by being affluent but by making money a primary goal in life.

Kind acts, she says, not only make you feel better about yourself, but foster a sense of interdependence and cooperation.