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Starting a Financial Life: Advice for New Graduates給畢業(yè)生的理財建議 Congratulations, 2013 graduates. You did it! Now it's time to learn something really useful. 祝賀你們，2013屆的畢業(yè)生們。你們順利畢業(yè)了！現在該學(xué)點(diǎn)真正有用的東西了。 Having conquered all those classes, now you can move on to mastering the practical skill of managing money. Luckily, the economy is in better shape than it was a couple of years ago, and the overall unemployment rate for college grads is roughly half that of the total U.S. population, boding well for your job prospects. 在攻克了所有那些課業(yè)難關(guān)之后，現在你可以接著(zhù)掌握理財方面的實(shí)用技能了。幸運的是，如今的經(jīng)濟狀況比幾年前好了，大學(xué)畢業(yè)生的整體失業(yè)率大約是全美總人口失業(yè)率的一半，這對你的就業(yè)前景來(lái)說(shuō)是一個(gè)好兆頭。 If you learn to manage a paycheck, spend less than you earn and stash away some money for later, you can put that education to good use, no matter what you choose to do. 如果你學(xué)會(huì )了管理薪水，量入為出，存一些錢(qián)以備將來(lái)之用，你就可以將所受教育學(xué)以致用了，不管你選擇做什么工作。 Here's some advice to get you on the right path. 下面是讓你走上正確之路的一些建議。 • Be nice to your parents. In addition to giving you a place to stay until you find a job, they might pay for your health insurance. If you have insurance under a student plan, it probably will end in mid-August. If you're not going to get coverage through a job by then, start working on other plans right away. 1. 善待父母 。父母除了在你找到工作之前給你一個(gè)安身之處以外，可能還會(huì )為你的健康保險買(mǎi)單。如果你買(mǎi)的是學(xué)生險，保險可能會(huì )在八月中旬到期。到時(shí)如果你不能通過(guò)就業(yè)獲得保險，你要馬上開(kāi)始購買(mǎi)其它保險。 Under the Affordable Care Act, young people can stay on a parent's health-insurance plan through age 25, but they need to re-enroll if they've been on a student plan. After you're hired for a job, it could take three months to qualify for insurance, so a parent's plan or a short-term health plan can be an option. (Short-term plans typically don't cover pre-existing conditions.) 按照現行的《平價(jià)醫療法案》(the Affordable Care Act)，年輕人一直到25歲都可以納入父母的醫療保險計劃，但是如果他們曾經(jīng)保過(guò)學(xué)生險，那就需要重新登記。在你找到工作以后，可能需要三個(gè)月以后才有資格享受保險待遇，因此你可以選擇參加父母的醫保計劃或者一個(gè)短期的醫保方案。（短期方案一般不會(huì )承保投保前已有的疾病。） If your parents aren't a fallback, you might need to buy a short-term policy until January, when individuals will be able to buy conventional health insurance through new marketplaces, federal or state-run exchanges that offer standard health-insurance plans from various carriers. Open enrollment begins in October. 如果你的父母不能做你的靠山，你可能需要買(mǎi)一份保期到一月份的短期保險，到了一月份個(gè)人就可以通過(guò)新市場(chǎng)、聯(lián)邦或州經(jīng)營(yíng)的交易所購買(mǎi)常規醫療保險了，這些交易所可以提供各家保險公司的標準醫療保險計劃。報名開(kāi)放的時(shí)間是在10月份。 Whatever you do, don't skip getting insurance. Even those who are young and healthy need it, since a car accident or unforeseen illness can put you in a giant financial hole. 不管你選擇做什么工作，都不要遺漏了購買(mǎi)保險。哪怕是年輕、健康的人也需要它，因為一起車(chē)禍或無(wú)法預見(jiàn)的疾病都會(huì )讓你陷入巨大的財政困難。 • Reduce debt. An estimated two-thirds of today's graduates will leave with student loans, and the average borrower balance is almost $27, 000. Debt is such a burden that it's worth scrimping for a few years, and even delaying graduate school, to pay off at least some of the debt. That will save you in interest costs and give you far more flexibility in your later twenties and beyond. 2. 減少債務(wù) 。估計今天三分之二的畢業(yè)生離校時(shí)都會(huì )身背學(xué)生貸款，借款人的平均負債額接近27,000美元。債務(wù)是一個(gè)沉重的負擔，因此好幾年時(shí)間的節衣縮食，甚至推遲念研究生的計劃來(lái)償還至少部分的債務(wù)，都是值得的。那樣會(huì )節省你的利息成本，讓你在后二十年甚至更長(cháng)的時(shí)間里有更大的靈活性。 Consider $20, 000 in 10-year federal loans at 6.8% interest. The total monthly payments would be $230, and total interest would add up to about $7, 600 over the loans' life. Paying just $20 a month extra will shorten the repayment period to nine years and save you $900 in interest over the life of the loans. Paying a total of $400 a month─what a car payment might be─will pay off the loans in five years and save more than $4, 000 in interest. 看看一筆利率為6.8%的20,000美元的10年期聯(lián)邦貸款吧。如果每月的月還款總額是230美元，那么貸款期間支付的利息總額累計會(huì )達到7,600美元左右。如果每月多還款20美元，還款的年限就可以縮短到九年，整個(gè)貸款期間可以省掉900美元的利息。如果每月還款總額為400美元──可能也就是償還汽車(chē)貸款的數目──五年就可以還清貸款，節省的利息會(huì )超過(guò)4,000美元。 Because loans are generally made for an academic year, grads might have several and at different interest rates. Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Edvisors.com, a student-marketing company, recommends paying off the loan with the highest interest rate first and notifying the servicer that the payment is an extra one, not an advance on the next payment. 由于貸款通常是以學(xué)年為單位發(fā)放的，畢業(yè)生們可能會(huì )有好幾筆不同利率的貸款。學(xué)生營(yíng)銷(xiāo)公司Edvisors.com的出版人馬克•坎特羅威茨(Mark Kantrowitz)建議先還清利率最高的那一筆貸款，并通報貸款服務(wù)機構，這是針對利率最高那筆貸款，不是針對時(shí)間排序為下一筆的貸款。 In addition, paying through automatic debits from your bank account could reduce your interest rate by 0.25 percentage point, according to loan servicer Sallie Mae SLM +1.61% . Just make sure you have enough money in your account to cover the payments. 此外，據貸款服務(wù)機構學(xué)生貸款市場(chǎng)協(xié)會(huì )(Sallie Mae)介紹，通過(guò)你銀行賬戶(hù)的借記卡自動(dòng)還款可以讓你的利率降低0.25個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。你只需確保自己的賬戶(hù)里有足夠的錢(qián)支付還款就行了。 How do you balance all these needs? Stretch your dollars by buying a cheap used car instead of new one. Get a roommate and take your lunch to work. Before committing too much to debt payments, be sure to have at least $1, 000 in savings for emergencies─or three months of expenses in the bank if you never want to move home again. If your employer offers a match for a retirement-plan contribution, contribute enough to get at least some of that so you don't pass up free money. 對于這些需求，你怎樣才能做到收支平衡呢？要精打細算。買(mǎi)一輛便宜的二手車(chē)而不要去買(mǎi)新車(chē)，與人合住房子，自帶午餐去上班，在承擔過(guò)多的債務(wù)還款之前，一定要保證至少有1,000美元的積蓄，以備不時(shí)之需──假如你再也不想搬家了，你就要保證銀行里有三個(gè)月的家用開(kāi)支。如果你的公司繳納與你自己所繳金額等額的退休金計劃繳付款的話(huà)，你要盡量多繳，好讓自己至少得到老板認繳的部分養老金應繳款，這樣白拿的錢(qián)可不要錯過(guò)哦。 • Know your credit report. Employers might care less about your grades than your credit record, which shows how well you manage your obligations. So before you apply for a job or a car loan, go to AnnualCreditReport.com and see what your credit report looks like. You can check each of the three big credit bureaus' reports for free once a year. 3. 熟悉自己的信用報告 。雇主可能更在意你的信用記錄而不是你的學(xué)習成績(jì)。信用記錄可以顯示你管理自己債務(wù)的好壞程度。因此，在你求職或申請汽車(chē)貸款之前，到AnnualCreditReport.com網(wǎng)站看看自己的信用報告是什么狀況吧。三大信用機構的報告你都可以一年查詢(xún)一次。 If you didn't have your own credit card in college or didn't use it, you may not have much of a credit record at all. In that case, a landlord might not lease you an apartment without your parents cosigning. (That's another reason to be nice to them!) 如果你在大學(xué)期間沒(méi)有辦理信用卡或者沒(méi)有使用過(guò)信用卡，你可能根本就沒(méi)有足夠多的信用記錄。在這種情況下，如果沒(méi)有你父母的共同簽名，房東可能不會(huì )租房給你。（這是另一個(gè)要善待父母的理由�。� To build a credit record, you should have one or two credit cards and use them at least every couple of months to show you can pay your bills responsibly. Paying student loans on time also will help build a good credit history. 要創(chuàng )建信用記錄，你應該擁有一兩張信用卡，并且至少每幾個(gè)月要使用一次，以此證明你能夠以負責的態(tài)度支付賬單。按時(shí)償還學(xué)生貸款對于建立良好的信用記錄也會(huì )有所幫助。 • Avoid unnecessary fees. To make your budget work, look for free checking accounts at a local credit union or an online account. Avoid automated-teller-machine fees and link your savings account to your checking account so that you'll never pay an overdraft fee. Pay your bills on time to avoid late fees and in full to avoid interest. 4. 避免不必要的開(kāi)支 。要讓你的預算得以實(shí)施，你可以到當地信用社或通過(guò)網(wǎng)上賬戶(hù)獲得免費的支票賬戶(hù)。盡量不要產(chǎn)生自動(dòng)提款機手續費，把你的儲蓄賬戶(hù)與你的支票賬戶(hù)相關(guān)聯(lián)，這樣你就不用支付透支的費用了。按時(shí)支付賬單，避免產(chǎn)生滯納金，全額支付賬單，避免產(chǎn)生利息。 • Use your social network. Your friends are used to sharing information, so take advantage of each other's knowledge. Don't post your bank balance or salary online─that's tacky─but don't be shy about asking other recent grads what they pay for rent, car insurance or Internet service. Remember what you learned in college: It's good to be friends with someone who did the homework. 5. 利用你的社交網(wǎng)絡(luò ) 。你的朋友們習慣于共享信息，因此，要互相利用別人了解的信息。不要在網(wǎng)上貼出你的銀行存款余額或工資──那樣也太傻了──但是也不要羞于啟齒問(wèn)問(wèn)其他最近畢業(yè)的學(xué)生他們的房租、汽車(chē)保險費或上網(wǎng)費是多少。記住你在大學(xué)期間學(xué)到的這一點(diǎn)：與做了功課的人為友是件好事。
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