《穷爸爸富爸爸》第1章

I had two fathers, a rich one and a poor one. One was highly educated and intelligent; he had a Ph.D. and completed four years of undergraduate work in less than two years. He then went on to Stanford University, the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University to do his advanced studies, all on full financial scholarships. The other father never finished the eighth grade.

我有两个爸爸，一个富，一个穷。一个受过良好的教育，聪明绝顶，拥有博士的光环，他曾经在不到两年的时间里修完了四年制的大学本科学业，随后又在斯坦福大学、芝加哥大学和西北大学进一步深造，并且在所有这些学校都拿到了全奖；与之相反的是，我的另一个爸爸连八年级都没能念完。

Both men were successful in their careers, working hard all their lives. Both earned substantial incomes. Yet one struggled financially all his life. The other would become one of the richest men in Hawaii. One died leaving tens of millions of dollars to his family, charities and his church. The other left bills to be paid.

应该说两位爸爸的事业都相当成功，而且一辈子都很勤奋，因此，两人都有着丰厚的收入。然而其中一个人终其一生都在个人财务问题的泥沼中挣扎，另一个人则成了夏威夷最富有的人之一。一个爸爸身后为教堂、慈善机构和家人留下数千万美元的巨额遗产，而另一个爸爸却只留下一些待付的账单。

Both men were strong, charismatic and influential. Both men offered me advice, but they did not advise the same things. Both men believed strongly in education but did not recommend the same course of study.

其实我的两个爸爸都是那种生性刚强、富有魅力、对他人有着非凡影响力的人。他们两个人都曾给过我许多建议，但建议的内容却总不相同；他们两人也都深信教育的力量，但向我推荐的课程却从不一样。

If I had had only one dad, I would have had to accept or reject his advice. Having two dads advising me offered me the choice of contrasting points of view; one of a rich man and one of a poor man.

如果只有一个爸爸，我就只能对他的建议简单地加以接受或者拒绝；而两个爸爸给我截然对立的建议，这在客观上使我有了对比和选择的机会。现在回想起来，这实际上是一种在富人的观念和穷人的观念之间进行的对比和选择，而这种对比和选择的结果决定了我的一生。

Instead of simply accepting or rejecting one or the other, I found myself thinking more, comparing and then choosing for myself.

由于两个父亲的观念对立，使我得不到统一的说法，我便无法简单地对这些建议予以接受或拒绝，我发现自己有了更多的思考、比较和选择。

The problem was, the rich man was not rich yet and the poor man not yet poor. Both were just starting out on their careers, and both were struggling with money and families. But they had very different points of view about the subject of money.

问题是，在给我建议的时候，富爸爸还不算富有，而穷爸爸当时也并不贫穷，两人都刚刚开始他们的事业，都在为钱和家庭而奋斗。然而，他们对于钱的理解却是如此的迥然不同。

For example, one dad would say, "The love of money is the root of all evil." The other, "The lack of money is the root of all evil."

这就好像一个爸爸会说：“贪财乃万恶之源”；而另一个爸爸却会说：“贫困才是万恶之本”。

As a young boy, having two strong fathers both influencing me was difficult. I wanted to be a good son and listen, but the two fathers did not say the same things. The contrast in their points of view, particularly where money was concerned, was so extreme that I grew curious and intrigued. I began to start thinking for long periods of time about what each was saying.

他们之中谁会成功？谁会富有？应该听谁的？当时我还只是一个小男孩，对我而言拥有两个同样富有影响力的爸爸可不是一件好应付的事。我想成为一个听话的好孩子，但两个爸爸却说着完全不同的话，他们的观点是如此相修，尤其在涉及到金钱的问题上更是如此，这令我既好奇又迷惑，我不得不花很多时间对他们的话进行思考。

Much of my private time was spent reflecting, asking myself questions such as, "Why does he say that?" and then asking the same question of the other dad's statement. It would have been much easier to simply say, "Yeah, he's right. I agree with that." Or to simply reject the point of view by saying, "The old man doesn't know what he's talking about." Instead, having two dads whom I loved forced me to think and ultimately choose a way of thinking for myself. As a process, choosing for myself turned out to be much more valuable in the long run, rather than simply accepting or rejecting a single point of view.

我用了很多的时间，问自己诸如“他为什么会那样说”之类的问题，然后又对另一个爸爸的话提出同样的疑问。如果不经过自己的思考就简单地说：“噢，他是对的，我同意”，或是拒绝说：“这个老爸不知道自己在说些什么”，我想那会容易得多。然而，这两个我所爱的观点不同的爸爸却迫使我对每一个有分歧的问题进行思考，并最终形成自己的想法。这一过程，即自己去思考和选取而不是简单地全盘接受或全盘否定的过程，在后来的漫长岁月中被证明对我是非常有益的。

One of the reasons the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class struggles in debt is because the subject of money is taught at home, not in school. Most of us learn about money from our parents. So what can a poor parent tell their child about money? They simply say "Stay in school and study hard." The child may graduate with excellent grades but with a poor person's financial programming and mind-set. It was learned while the child was young.

我逐渐意识到富人之所以越来越富，穷人之所以越来越穷，中产阶级之所以总是在债务泥潭中挣扎，其主要原因之一在于他们对金钱的观念不是来自学校，而是来自家庭。我们中的绝大多数人是从父母那里了解钱是怎么回事的。一对贫困的父母在培养孩子的理财观念时，只会说：“在学校里要好好学习喔”。结果，他们的孩子可能会以优异的成绩毕业，但同时也秉承了贫穷父母的理财方式和思维观念——要知道，由于家长的灌输，这些观念在孩子很小的时候就已经开始形成了。

Money is not taught in schools. Schools focus on scholastic and professional skills, but not on financial skills. This explains how smart bankers, doctors and accountants who earned excellent grades in school may still struggle financially all of their lives. Our staggering national debt is due in large part to highly educated politicians and government officials making financial decisions with little or no training on the subject of money.

据我所知，迄今为止，在美国的学校里仍没有真正开设有关“金钱”的基础课程。学校教育只专注于学术知识和专业技能的教育和培养，却忽视了理财技能的培训。这也解释了为何众多精明的银行家、医生和会计师们在学校时成绩优异，可一辈子还是要为财务问题伤神；国家岌岌可危的债务问题在很大程度上也应归因于那些作出财务决策的政治家和政府官员们，他们中有些人虽然受过高等教育，但却很少甚至几乎没有接受过财务方面的必要培训。

I often look ahead to the new millennium and wonder what will happen when we have millions of people who will need financial and medical assistance. They will be dependent on their families or the government for financial support. What will happen when Medicare and Social Security run out of money? How will a nation survive if teaching children about money continues to be left to parents-most of whom will be, or already are, poor?

我常常在想，当我们的社会有成百万的人需要医疗救助时该怎么办？当然，家人和政府会救济他们。可是，当医疗基金和社会保障基金用尽时又该怎么办？这并非是杞人忧天，如果我们继续把教子理财的重任交给那些由于自身缺乏财务知识，正濒于贫困边线或已陷入贫困境地的父母的话，很难想像仅靠家人和社会的救济能够根治他们的“穷”病，实现整个社会的富裕。

Because I had two influential fathers, I learned from both of them. I had to think about each dad's advice, and in doing so, I gained valuable insight into the power and effect of one's thoughts on one's life. For example, one dad had a habit of saying, "I can't afford it." The other dad forbade those words to be used. He insisted I say, "How can I afford it?" One is a statement, and the other is a question. One lets you off the hook, and the other forces you to think. My soon-to-be-rich dad would explain that by automatically saying the words "I can't afford it," your brain stops working. By asking the question "How can I afford it?" your brain is put to work. He did not mean buy everything you wanted. He was fanatical about exercising your mind, the most powerful computer in the world. "My brain gets stronger every day because I exercise it. The stronger it gets, the more money I can make." He believed that automatically saying "I can't afford it" was a sign of mental laziness.

由于我有两个对我有影响力且可以向其学习的爸爸，迫使我不得不去思考每个爸爸的意见，由此，我认识到一个人的观念对其一生的巨大影响力。例如，一个爸爸爱说“我可付不起”这样的话，而另一个爸爸则禁止用这类话，他会说：“我怎样才能付得起呢？”这两句话，一个是陈述句，另一个是疑问句，一个让你放弃，而另一个则促使你去想办法。那很快就致富的爸爸解释道，说“我付不起”这种话会阻止你去开动脑筋想办法；而问“怎样才能付得起”则开动了你的大脑。当然，这并不意味着人们必须去买每一件你想要的东西，这里只是强调要不停地锻炼你的思维——实际上人的大脑是世界上最棒的“计算机”。富爸爸时常说：“脑袋越用越活，脑袋越活，挣钱就越多”。在他看来，轻易就说“我负担不起”这类话是一种精神上的懒惰。

Although both dads worked hard, I noticed that one dad had a habit of putting his brain to sleep when it came to money matters, and the other had a habit of exercising his brain. The long-term result was that one dad grew stronger financially and the other grew weaker. It is not much different from a person who goes to the gym to exercise on a regular basis versus someone who sits on the couch watching television. Proper physical exercise increases your chances for health, and proper mental exercise increases your chances for wealth. Laziness decreases both health and wealth.

虽然两个爸爸工作都很努力，但我注意到，当遇到钱的问题时，一个爸爸总会去想办法解决，而另一个爸爸则习惯于顺其自然。长期下来，一个爸爸的理财能力更强了，而另一个的理财能力则越来越弱。我想这种结果类似于一个经常去健身房锻炼的人与一个总是坐在沙发上看电视的人在体质上的变化。经常性的体育锻炼可以强身健体，同样地，经常性的头脑运动可以增加你获得财富的机会。懒惰必定会使你的体质变弱、财富减少。

My two dads had opposing attitudes in thought. One dad thought that the rich should pay more in taxes to take care of those less fortunate. The other said, "Taxes punish those who produce and reward those who don't produce."

就像我前面所说的，我的两个爸爸存在着很多观念上的差异。一个爸爸认为富人应该缴更多的税去照顾那些比较不幸的人；另一个爸爸则说：“税是惩勤奖懒”。

One dad recommended, "Study hard so you can find a good company to work for." The other recommended, "Study hard so you can find a good company to buy."

一个爸爸说：“努力学习能去好公司工作”；而另一个则会说：“努力学习能发现并将有能力收购好公司”。

One dad said, "The reason I'm not rich is because I have you kids." The other said, "The reason I must be rich is because I have you kids."

一个说：“我不富的原因是我有孩子”；另一个则说：“我必须富的原因是我有孩子”。

One encouraged talking about money and business at the dinner ,table. The other forbade the subject of money to be discussed over a meal.

一个禁止在晚饭桌上谈论钱和生意，另一个则鼓励在吃饭时谈论这些话题。

One said, "When it comes to money, play it safe, don't take risks." The other said, "Learn to manage risk."

一个说：“挣钱的时候要小心，别去冒险”；另一个则说：“要学会管理风险”。

One believed, "Our home is our largest investment and our greatest asset." The other believed, "My house is a liability, and if your house is your largest investment, you're in trouble."

一个相信“我们家的房子是我们最大的投资和资产”，另一个则相信“我们家的房子是负债，如果你的房子是你最大的投资，你就有麻烦了”。

Both dads paid their bills on time, yet one paid his bills first while the other paid his bills last.

两个爸爸都会准时付账，但不同的是：一个在期初支付，另一个则在期末支付。