Financial Management: To Save or Not to Save 理财：存还是不存

Some money really can’t be saved, otherwise, it’s destined for a “loser” life…
有些钱真的省不下来，否则，注定是“失败者”的人生……

Times are changing. Just 50 years ago, even “eating enough food for the whole family” was a luxury. There’s a novel called “The Chessmaster” by A Cheng which was later adapted into a movie by Tsui Hark, with award-winning actor Tony Leung portraying the lead role and also serving as a scriptwriter, demonstrating impressive acting skills throughout. At around the 19-minute mark in the film, there’s a scene depicting the protagonist’s extreme dedication to eating, even carefully picking up every grain of rice that fell between the cracks of a table. This is not an exaggeration; people were truly like this in that era.
时代在变。就在50年前，即使是“吃饱全家人的食物”也是一种奢侈。阿成的小说《棋师》后来被徐克改编成电影，由屡获殊荣的演员梁朝伟饰演主角并担任编剧，自始至终都展示了令人印象深刻的演技。在影片的19分钟左右，有一个场景描绘了主人公对吃饭的极度专注，甚至小心翼翼地捡起掉在桌子缝隙之间的每一粒米。这并不夸张;那个时代的人真的是这样的。

There are many differences between today’s young people and the previous generation, but the most significant is that they are facing an almost entirely different world. Their average lifespan is longer, they have more skills to master, more opportunities for those skills to be monetized, more time to earn money…At the same time, the proportion of their essential living expenses is lower…and there’s something even more important:
今天的年轻人与上一代人有很多不同，但最重要的是他们面对的是一个几乎完全不同的世界。他们的平均寿命更长，他们有更多的技能需要掌握，更多的机会将这些技能货币化，有更多的时间赚钱……同时，他们的基本生活费用比例较低……还有更重要的事情：

The progress of technology is at some level erasing the differences in living quality caused by poverty.
技术的进步在某种程度上消除了贫困造成的生活质量差异。

The iPhone is an example I frequently use. The iPhone is a necessity for young people today, with limited screen size options and a maximum storage of 128GB – even if you’re an Arab sheikh, rich with oil, there are only so many options. Want 256GB? As of October 2015 when I wrote this article – I’m sorry, it’s not available at the moment.
iPhone是我经常使用的例子。iPhone 是当今年轻人的必需品，屏幕尺寸选择有限，最大存储空间为 128GB——即使你是阿拉伯酋长，富含石油，也只有这么多选择。想要 256GB？截至 2015 年 10 月，当我写这篇文章时 – 对不起，它目前不可用。

Uber is another good example. Previously, many people might never have had the opportunity to ride in luxury cars in their lifetime. However, now with Uber, people can easily switch between various luxury car brands at almost the same price as regular taxis, or possibly cheaper.
优步是另一个很好的例子。以前，许多人可能一辈子都没有机会乘坐豪华车。然而，现在有了Uber，人们可以轻松地在各种豪华汽车品牌之间切换，价格几乎与普通出租车相同，甚至可能更便宜。

In this era, asking young people to be excessively thrifty, and even lowering their living standards excessively, seems “inhumane” to me. Moreover, there’s some money that absolutely cannot be saved because such “savings” may come with high hidden costs, or create a heavy burden in the future – saving today may lead to great costs in the future.
在这个时代，要求年轻人过分节俭，甚至过分降低生活水平，在我看来是“不人道的”。此外，有些钱是绝对无法存的，因为这种“储蓄”可能会带来高昂的隐性成本，或者在未来造成沉重的负担——今天存钱可能会导致未来的巨大成本。

Money cannot be saved on buying books
买书不能省钱
Official publications have not depreciated due to the development of the internet, particularly “non-fiction.” While there is a lot of high-quality, era-appropriate scattered content on the internet, comprehensive knowledge is usually, and increasingly, the work of only a few people. Thanks to them, we can continue our lifelong self-education endlessly. Free often comes with a hidden cost when it comes to the pursuit of knowledge. It’s because our time is not free and will become increasingly expensive as our knowledge improves.
官方出版物并没有因为互联网的发展而贬值，尤其是“非小说类”。虽然互联网上有很多高质量的、适合时代的零散内容，但综合知识通常只有少数人的工作，而且越来越少。多亏了他们，我们才能无休止地继续我们的终身自我教育。在追求知识方面，免费往往伴随着隐性成本。这是因为我们的时间不是免费的，而且随着我们知识的提高，时间会变得越来越昂贵。

Being unwilling to spend money on good books is the most “loser” behavior and the most efficient way to create “losers.” Not only should money not be saved on good books, but a cost is also paid in terms of “improving discernment by having bought many bad books before.” Moreover, all expenses that contribute to self-growth cannot be saved, especially for young people – their future depends on it.
不愿意花钱买好书是最“失败者”的行为，也是创造“失败者”的最有效方式。不仅不应该把钱省在好书上，而且要付出代价，“以前买过很多坏书，提高了辨别力”。此外，所有有助于自我成长的费用都无法节省，尤其是对于年轻人来说——他们的未来取决于此。

Money for buying tools cannot be saved
购买工具的钱无法存下
All tools, whether invented or in use, serve the same purpose – to improve efficiency. Spend a little to boost efficiency, and you’ll reap the rewards; while trying to save a little money, you’ll have to suffer long-term low efficiency or even inefficiency. Only “losers” would think this is okay.
所有工具，无论是发明的还是正在使用的，都服务于相同的目的——提高效率。花一点钱来提高效率，你就会获得回报;在试图节省一点钱的同时，您将不得不遭受长期的低效率甚至低效率。只有“失败者”才会认为这没关系。

Good tools must be purchased, and within a reasonable budget, the best must be bought. There is an example that many people may not like: iMac is really not cheap, even for those who already have some savings. But only those who have used and compared can know that a 27-inch high-definition screen truly makes a big difference to efficiency and utility – how significant it is depends on the user’s existing and accumulating, improving skills.
必须购买好的工具，并且在合理的预算范围内，必须购买最好的工具。有一个很多人可能不喜欢的例子：iMac真的不便宜，即使对于那些已经有一些积蓄的人来说也是如此。但只有使用过和比较过的人才能知道，27英寸的高清屏幕确实对效率和实用性有很大的影响——它有多重要，取决于用户现有和积累、不断提高的技能。

Money concerning safety cannot be saved
有关安全的钱无法节省
Anything concerning safety at home, like power outlets, absolutely shouldn’t be cheapened because it involves safety. There’s no room for “what if”, since we use these every day, so the final result is “it will definitely go wrong.”
任何与家庭安全有关的东西，比如电源插座，绝对不应该被贬低，因为它涉及安全。没有“如果”的余地，因为我们每天都在使用这些，所以最终的结果是“肯定会出错”。

If it weren’t for a firefighter friend I knew previously, my awareness of this matter would also be quite weak. For example, there were no rescue ropes at my home previously. These tools must be of high quality, the extent to which depends on how much you value your own safety.
如果不是我之前认识的一位消防员朋友，我对这件事的意识也会很弱。例如，以前我家里没有救援绳索。这些工具必须是高质量的，其程度取决于您对自己安全的重视程度。

When buying a car, it’s the same way. Should you add a rearview camera? Should you configure a panoramic radar? These are not areas where money should be saved because they involve security. Saving money in such areas will certainly result in higher costs in the future.
买车时，也是一样。你应该添加一个后视摄像头吗？你应该配置全景雷达吗？这些不是应该省钱的领域，因为它们涉及安全。在这些领域省钱肯定会导致未来的成本增加。

Originally posted 2024-04-06 11:04:51.