Financial Management: Passive Expenses 财务管理：被动费用

Previously it was mentioned that the most reliable way to increase income is to increase passive income, also known as “sleep income”. Here we discuss something unavoidable in life – passive expenses.
前面提到，增加收入最可靠的方法是增加被动收入，也称为“睡眠收入”。在这里，我们讨论生活中不可避免的事情——被动开支。

Passive expenses, colloquially speaking, refer to “you haven’t done anything, but your money has already been spent.” Huh? Is there such a thing?!
被动支出，通俗地说，是指“你什么都没做，但你的钱已经花光了”。哼？有这样的事情吗？！

Inflation is the most terrifying passive expense. Your currency devalues without your defense, purchasing power decreases, and it’s like a part of your money “disappears before you have a chance to spend it”. Perhaps you’ve heard that in October 2015, the central bank released 7 trillion yuan, leading to an instant 2% devaluation of the RMB. This means that the 100 yuan in your pocket now only equates to the previous 98 yuan, with 2 yuan “vanishing into thin air”. However, the numbers printed on the banknote won’t change on their own, so it still looks like 100 yuan.
通货膨胀是最可怕的被动支出。你的货币在没有防御的情况下贬值，购买力下降，就像你的一部分钱“在你有机会花掉它之前就消失了”。也许你听说过，2015年10月，央行发行了7万亿元人民币，导致人民币瞬间贬值2%。这意味着你口袋里的100元现在只相当于之前的98元，2元“凭空消失”。但是，印在钞票上的数字不会自行改变，所以看起来还是100元。

Although inflation affects everyone in the same proportion, seemingly unavoidable for anyone, the ultimate impact varies greatly for each individual. The richer a person is, the greater their immediate losses because of their larger fund base. So, at the same proportion, their loss will be much greater than someone with a smaller fund base. This is easily understandable. However, inversely, many people fail to realize that the richer a person is, the stronger their “recovery ability”. It’s similar to recovering from the same injury, where those with a stronger body are relatively quicker to recover.
尽管通货膨胀对每个人的影响比例相同，对任何人来说似乎都是不可避免的，但最终影响因人而异。一个人越富有，他们的直接损失就越大，因为他们的资金基础更大。因此，在相同的比例下，他们的损失将远远大于资金基础较小的人。这很容易理解。然而，相反，许多人没有意识到，一个人越富有，他们的“恢复能力”就越强。这类似于从同样的伤害中恢复，身体更强壮的人恢复得相对较快。

Suppose the currency devalues by 2%, meaning purchasing power has roughly decreased by 2%. A person who earns a monthly income of 5,000 yuan, if their monthly expenses were originally 5,000 yuan (i.e., just enough every month), now they are still earning 5,000 yuan, but their monthly expenses need about 5,102 yuan (5,000 ÷ 0.98) – they need to borrow some money just to get by. On the other hand, someone earning 15,000 yuan per month, if their monthly expenses are also 5,000 yuan, although they now need 5,102 yuan to meet their living needs, they still have 9,898 yuan that they can save. If they put it into a fixed deposit, they could potentially earn a 3% or even higher interest rate, so before long, that loss of 2% is made up. If someone has millions of yuan in savings, they could typically buy higher interest rate financial products at a bank, such as trusts, with interest rates of 12% to 15% – though there’s also a certain level of risk – their recovery ability is stronger.
假设货币贬值 2%，这意味着购买力大约下降了 2%。一个月收入5000元的人，如果每个月的开支原来是5000元（即每个月刚好够），现在他们仍然赚5000元，但他们的月支出需要大约5102元（5000元÷0.98）——他们需要借一些钱才能过日子。反观月薪15000元的人，如果每个月的开销也是5000元，虽然现在需要5102元来满足生活需求，但是他们还有9898元可以存起来。如果他们将其存入定期存款，他们可能会获得 3% 甚至更高的利率，所以不久之后，这 2% 的损失就会被弥补。如果某人有数百万元的储蓄，他们通常可以在银行购买利率较高的金融产品，例如信托，利率在12%至15%之间，尽管也存在一定程度的风险，但他们的回收能力更强。

Interest is also a terrifying passive expense for borrowers. The reason money borrowed needs to be paid with interest is that in many cases, money itself is a means of production, which can be used to purchase other means of production, and the goods produced can be sold at higher prices – making money. Therefore, interest is in itself just and fair. It’s just that throughout history and across various cultures, many people subconsciously feel that those who earn interest are getting something for nothing, but then find themselves willing to borrow at very high interest rates when they have no other choice – compounding errors.
对于借款人来说，利息也是一种可怕的被动支出。借来的钱需要连本带息的原因是，在很多情况下，货币本身就是一种生产资料，可以用来购买其他生产资料，生产的商品可以以更高的价格出售——赚钱。因此，利益本身就是公正和公平的。只是纵观历史和各种文化，许多人下意识地觉得那些赚取利息的人不劳而获，但后来发现自己在别无选择的情况下愿意以非常高的利率借款——复合错误。

Once you borrow money, you make a commitment to repay the principal and interest at a certain time in the future, either at once or in installments. So, you create a cycle in which you constantly face a greater burden of interest.
一旦你借了钱，你就承诺在未来的某个时间偿还本金和利息，可以一次性偿还，也可以分期偿还。因此，你创造了一个循环，在这个循环中，你不断面临更大的利益负担。

Spending on basic necessities is actually a form of passive expense. The reason why spending on basic necessities exists is because you are still alive, no matter whether you are diligent or lazy, you still have to spend money – rent, utilities, broadband fees, telephone bills, transportation costs, dining expenses, and various daily necessities, men’s socks, women’s nail polish, and so on. Even before doing anything meaningful, the money is already spent.
基本必需品的支出实际上是一种被动支出。基本生活必需品之所以存在，是因为你还活着，不管你是勤劳还是懒惰，你还是要花钱的——房租、水电费、宽带费、电话费、交通费、餐饮费，以及各种日用品、男袜子、女式指甲油等等。甚至在做任何有意义的事情之前，钱就已经花光了。

For most young people, the last item is actually the scariest passive expenditure. Inflation, while frightening, doesn’t feel like a loss because they don’t have much money. Interest, also scary, doesn’t concern them as they haven’t borrowed much money. But expenses on life necessities are a constant burden. Some people (although few) often say, “Earning money is hard, you need to beat the interest rate, you need to beat inflation, or else you’ll lose…” This is actually a rare insight – even if it seems obvious.
对于大多数年轻人来说，最后一项实际上是最可怕的被动支出。通货膨胀虽然可怕，但并不觉得是一种损失，因为他们没有多少钱。利息，也很可怕，与他们无关，因为他们没有借到很多钱。但生活必需品的开支是一个持续的负担。有些人（虽然很少）经常说，“赚钱很难，你需要战胜利率，你需要战胜通货膨胀，否则你会输……”这实际上是一个罕见的见解——即使它看起来很明显。

Regarding the first item, inflation, ordinary people are temporarily powerless. So, there’s no need to waste time or energy on it, it’s not even worth worrying about. For the public, this essentially falls into the category of a natural disaster, completely uncontrollable, a risk that can’t even be defended against through insurance mechanisms. What can we do? Well, nothing, doing something wouldn’t help either. Once it happens, it happens, and nobody can do anything about it.
关于第一项，通货膨胀，普通人暂时无能为力。所以，没有必要在上面浪费时间或精力，甚至不值得担心。对于公众来说，这基本上属于自然灾害的范畴，完全无法控制，甚至无法通过保险机制来防御这种风险。我们能做些什么？好吧，没什么，做点什么也无济于事。一旦发生，它就会发生，没有人能对此做任何事情。

Concerning the second item, interest, the most important thing for the vast majority of young people to note is this: try to borrow money only for production, and try to avoid borrowing for consumption. In other words, if you borrow money and use it to make more money, if the money you make covers the interest and then some, then you’re profitable – which essentially is production. If you borrow money just for consumption, and the money is spent with the only return being enjoyment (even if it’s actually an “ultimate experience”), then there’s a loss, and sometimes a big loss – someone else makes 1 cent, you spend 1 cent, and that adds up to 2 cents lost.
关于第二项，利息，绝大多数年轻人最需要注意的是：尽量只为生产而借钱，尽量避免为消费而借钱。换句话说，如果你借钱并用它来赚更多的钱，如果你赚的钱覆盖了利息，然后又支付了一些利息，那么你就是有利可图的——这本质上是生产。如果你借钱只是为了消费，而钱花在了唯一的回报上（即使它实际上是一种“终极体验”），那么就会有损失，有时还会有很大的损失——别人赚了 1 美分，你花了 1 美分，加起来就损失了 2 美分。

Paying for education with borrowed money is also production, as it essentially improves the possibility of obtaining higher future income, it’s actually a very wise investment. Buying a house with borrowed money is also an investment, but it depends on the overall economic situation. However, using borrowed money to buy an iPhone and then paying more than 30% interest isn’t very cost-effective as there are cheaper alternatives available, like using a cheaper smartphone, albeit with the trade-off of not being as cool. But if you buy an iPhone and not only use it but also use it as a development or test machine, then that’s different!
用借来的钱支付教育费用也是一种生产，因为它从根本上提高了获得更高未来收入的可能性，这实际上是一项非常明智的投资。用借来的钱买房也是一种投资，但要看整体经济形势。然而，用借来的钱购买iPhone，然后支付超过30%的利息并不是很划算，因为有更便宜的替代品，比如使用更便宜的智能手机，尽管需要权衡不那么酷。但是，如果您购买了iPhone，不仅使用它，而且还将其用作开发或测试机器，那就不同了！

Finally, looking at the third item, expenses on life necessities. The strategy for expenses on life necessities certainly shouldn’t be not eating or drinking, which is obviously not very wise. In today’s world, saving even internet costs is no different from being a primitive person. Excessively restraining oneself isn’t really an advantageous strategy, especially when considering the irreplaceability of the ultimate experience.
最后，看看第三项，生活必需品的费用。生活必需品的开支策略当然不应该是不吃不喝，这显然不是很明智。在当今世界，即使节省互联网成本也与成为原始人没有什么不同。过度克制自己并不是一个真正有利的策略，尤其是在考虑终极体验的不可替代性时。

Distinguishing between “necessary” and “false necessities”
区分“必要”和“虚假必需品”
Some “necessities” are actually just “false necessities”. The term “false necessities” refers to the vanity that makes something seem necessary. South Koreans have an interesting term for this – “face protection fee”. Many “false necessities” only appear as “necessities” because of the psychology of saving face. Internet is a “necessity”, smartphones are a “necessity”, but is an iPhone really a “necessity” for some people? In reality, it’s probably just a “false necessity”- it’s actually completely replaceable.
有些“必需品”实际上只是“虚假的必需品”。“虚假必需品”一词是指使某事看起来必要的虚荣心。韩国人对此有一个有趣的术语——“面子保护费”。许多“虚假必需品”只是因为挽回面子的心理而以“必需品”的形式出现。互联网是“必需品”，智能手机是“必需品”，但iPhone真的是某些人的“必需品”吗？实际上，它可能只是一种“虚假的必需品”——它实际上是完全可以替代的。

There’s a particularly interesting phenomenon: at the outset of entering society, women often need to spend more on necessities than men, such as clothes and cosmetics. Men generally don’t need cosmetics, and they don’t have as high of requirements for clothing, but men often feel more embarrassed. Why? Because men always spend too much on “false necessities” (rather than “necessities”).
有一个特别有趣的现象：在进入社会之初，女性往往需要比男性在必需品上花费更多，比如衣服和化妆品。男人一般不需要化妆品，对服装的要求也没有那么高，但男人往往觉得比较尴尬。为什么？因为男人总是在“虚假必需品”（而不是“必需品”）上花太多钱。

Try to eliminate addictive spending
尽量消除成瘾性消费
Having a Starbucks latte every day is actually quite expensive. According to Starbucks prices in Beijing, a cup costs around 30 RMB, which is about 900 RMB a month. In a sense, despite the fact that the vast majority of women would vehemently disagree, a lot of beauty expenses (like face masks) are also addictive spending – they just become addictive, not because they have any actual effect.
每天喝一杯星巴克拿铁咖啡其实很贵。按照星巴克在北京的价格，一杯的价格在30元左右，也就是一个月900元左右。从某种意义上说，尽管绝大多数女性会强烈反对，但很多美容费用（如面膜）也是令人上瘾的支出——它们只是会上瘾，而不是因为它们有任何实际效果。

The principle is simple, but it’s extremely difficult to implement. I myself am a heavy coffee and tobacco user, and the accumulated amount I’ve spent on these over the years could definitely have bought a luxury car. Once you’re addicted to these, it’s really hard to quit.
原理很简单，但实施起来却非常困难。我自己是一个重度咖啡和烟草使用者，这些年来我花在这些上面的钱绝对可以买一辆豪车。一旦你沉迷于这些，就很难戒掉。

Later, I had an epiphany, acknowledging my own weaknesses. I was determined to make up for it using another method – finding ways to increase my passive income to offset these expenses… Life isn’t easy.
后来，我顿悟了，承认了自己的弱点。我决心用另一种方法来弥补它——想办法增加我的被动收入来抵消这些费用……生活并不容易。

Seeking help from parents.
寻求父母的帮助。

Originally posted 2024-04-06 11:08:02.