Why we make bad financial choices -- even when we know better | Your Money and Your Mind

Transcriber:

"Always wear sunscreen."

翻译人员: C Cheng 校对人员: Bruce Sung

“要擦抹防晒霜。”

"Eat a balanced diet."

“保持饮食均衡。”

"A penny saved is a penny earned."

“省一分钱，就是赚一分钱。”

You probably all learned these lessons as a kid,

你们小的时候可能 都学到过这些经验。

maybe from your parents,

这些经验可能是从父母那里学到的，

or if you grew up in the '80s, on the public service announcements

对于 80 年代长大的人来说， 也可能是从

at the end of every episode of the G.I. Joe cartoons.

《特种部队》卡通片每集 结束后的公益广告上学来的。

But chances are, despite knowing this,

但是，即便你已经知道这些经验，

you still stepped outside without putting on sunscreen,

还是有可能不涂防晒霜就出门，

devoured an entire bag of chips in one go

一口气吃光一整袋薯片，

or spent way more of your paycheck than you anticipated.

或者花掉的薪水远远超过了预期。

So why is that?

为什么会这样呢？

[Your Money and Your Mind] with Wendy De La Rosa

【财富与智慧】 【温迪·德·拉·罗莎】

A few years ago, two Yale professors coined the term "G.I. Joe fallacy"

几年前，耶鲁大学的两位教授首次 用 “《特种部队》谬误” 这个词

to describe this very phenomenon.

来形容这一现象。

It's the mistaken idea that knowing is half the battle.

它指的是这样一种错误看法， 即知情便是成功的一半。

But as it turns out, in most situations,

但事实证明，在大部分情况下，

just knowing something is not nearly enough

仅仅了解某件事是远远不够的，

for you to put it into practice.

这不足以令你将其付诸实施。

Information doesn't always change behavior.

资讯并不总能改变人的行为。

As a behavioral scientist helping families make better financial decisions,

作为一名行为科学家，我帮助人们 在家政理财上做出更明智的决策。

I've seen people struggle to save money,

我见到过人们如何为存钱，

to cut back on their expenses or to manage their debt,

为缩减开支，为管理债务 而苦苦挣扎，

even after they've taken a financial literacy class.

即便他们已经上过理财知识课程。

And the reality is that people fundamentally know

现实是，人们基本上知道，

what they need to do to improve their financial situation.

为了改善财务状况，应该做些什么。

We all do.

我们都知道该怎么做。

The equation is simple: they need to save more and spend less.

解决问题的公式很简单： 他们需要增加储蓄，减少开支。

But the thing is, that's just really hard to do.

但是问题是，做到这一点很困难。

It's easier said than done,

说起来容易，做起来难，

and I've been in this boat as well.

我也有过同样的处境。

So for example, I had a magazine subscription

比如，我订阅了一份杂志，

that I knew I should just cancel.

而且知道自己应该取消订阅。

I never read the magazine,

我从来没有看过这份杂志，

and every month, money was coming out of my checking account,

但是这笔钱每个月 都会从账户上被划走。

and every time I reviewed my budget, I saw it,

我每次审核预算时， 都会看到这笔开支。

I knew I had to cancel it, but I didn't.

我知道我必须取消订阅， 但是从来没有这么做。

It took me two years to cancel that magazine subscription.

我用了两年时间才取消了 那份杂志的订阅。

And I'm sure I'm not alone.

我确信，不止我一个人 遇到过这种状况。

You probably have some type of subscription

你可能也在定期支付某些会员费，

that you know you should cancel.

而且知道应该把它注销掉。

So the critical piece in all of this is to get rid of this belief

所以这一切的关键就在于，

不要认为财务安全是一个 通过传授经验就可以解决的问题。

that financial security is just a problem that we can teach away.

In the US, for example,

以美国为例，

we spend nearly 700 million dollars every year on financial education programs,

我们每年花在理财教育上的 钱差不多是 7 亿美元，

yet a team of researchers have found

但是一组研究人员却发现，

that these programs explained only 0.1 percent

人们在理财行为上存在着各种差异，

of the variance in financial behaviors.

而这些教育项目只 解释了其中的百分之 0.1。

Not zero, but pretty close to it.

不是零，却已经很接近了。

Meanwhile, 20 states mandate financial literacy classes in high school,

与此同时，虽然已有 20 个州 要求在高中开设理财知识课程，

but studies have found that unless these programs are well-implemented,

但是，研究表明，除非这些 课程计划得到良好实施，

they are unlikely to have any effect on a student's future credit score

否则不大可能会影响到 学生今后的信用评分，

or their likelihood to invest.

也不会影响到他们日后 进行投资的可能性。

A more significant predictor of how well you manage your finances

预测理财能力高低的 一个更重要的指标是

is your general ability to do math.

个人整体的数学能力。

From all of this, I've learned that behavior change

这一切让我了解到，改变行为方式

is not an educational pursuit.

是不可能通过教育来实现的。

It's an environmental one.

这要通过改变环境来解决。

If you are struggling,

你如果觉得做出改变很困难，

it's not because there's something fundamentally wrong with you.

这并不是因为你有什么本质性问题，

It's most likely because there is something wrong

很有可能是因为你周围的环境

with how your environment is set up.

出了问题。

Look around you.

看看周围。

The cues to spend money have gotten smarter,

提示我们花钱的信号 变得越来越聪明，

faster and more efficient.

越来越快，越来越有效。

Targeted ads are becoming more personalized,

定向广告变得越来越个性化，

corporate content is becoming more engaging,

企业发布的内容信息也更加吸引人，

and everything around you is focusing on spending.

你周围的一切都聚焦在 花钱这件事情上。

So let's change that.

所以，让咱们来改变现状。

You can reshape your environment and how you interact with it,

你可以改造周围环境， 改变你与环境之间的互动方式，

and I can guide you through it.

在这个过程中，我会为你提供指导。

Over the course of this series,

在整部系列里，

I'll take you through a step-by-step look

我将带你逐步了解

at how you can change your environment

你该如何改变环境，

and regain control of your finances.

如何重新掌控财务状况。

At the end of every episode,

在每集结尾，

I'll share practical tips based on research

我会和你分享一些基于 调查研究而得来的实用技巧，

on how to spend less and save more today --

告诉你如何现在就实现 少花钱，多储蓄——

not tomorrow, but today.

不要等到明天，从今天做起。

And your future self will thank you.

你将来会为此而感谢自己。