Because students leave school without financial skills, millions of educated people pursue their profession successfully, but later find themselves struggling financially. They work harder but don’t get ahead. What's missing from their education is not how to make money, but how to spend money. What to do after you make it. It’s called financial aptitude. What to do with your money once you make it. How to keep people from taking it from you, how long you keep it, and how hard that money works for you. Most people cannot tell why they struggle financially because they don’t understand cash flow. A person can be highly educated, professionally successful, and financially illiterate. These people often work harder than they need to because they learned how to work hard, but not how to have their money work for them.
由于學生們在學校時并沒有獲得財務技能，所以成千上萬受過良好教育的人雖然取得了事業上的成功，卻發現自己仍在財務問題中掙扎。他們努力工作，卻并無進展，他們的教育中缺少的不是如何掙錢，而是如何花錢，即掙了錢后該怎么辦？它被稱為“理財態度”，即在你賺了錢之后如何處理這些錢，又怎樣防止別人從你手中拿走這些錢？你能擁有這些錢多久？你如何讓錢為你工作？大多數人不明白自己為什么會遭遇財務困境，這是因為他們不明白現金流。一個受過高等教育且事業有成的人，同時也可能是財務上的文盲。這種人往往太過努力地工作，因為他們只知道努力工作，卻不知道如何讓錢為他們工作。
The moving picture show of hardworking people has a set pattern. Recently married, the happy, highly educated young couple move in together in one of their cramped rented apartments. Immediately, they realize that they are saving money because two can live as cheaply as one.
下面的動態圖顯示了努力工作的人們所具有的模式。一對快樂的、受過高等教育的新婚夫婦租住在一套擁擠的公寓里，他們很快就意識到這樣很省錢，因為兩個人的日常花銷和一個人的差不多。
The problem is the apartment is cramped. They decide to save money to buy their dream home so they can have kids. They now have two incomes, and they begin to focus on their careers. Their incomes begin to increase.
但問題是，公寓太擁擠了，于是他們決定攢錢買一棟理想的房子，這樣就能計劃要孩子了。現在，他們有兩份收入，并開始專心干事業。他們的收入開始增加。
As their incomes go up, their expenses go up as well.
隨著收入的增加，支出也增加了。
The number one expense for most people is taxes. Many people think it’s income tax, but for most Americans, their highest tax is Social Security. As an employee, it appears as if the Social Security tax combined with the Medicare tax rate is roughly 7.5 percent, but it’s really 15 percent since the employer must match the Social Security amount. In essence, it is money the employer cannot pay you. On top of that, you still have to pay income tax on the amount deducted from your wages for Social Security tax, income you never received because it went directly to Social Security through withholding. Then their liabilities go up.
對大多數人而言，第一項支出是稅。許多人以為是個人所得稅，但對大多數美國人而言，最高的稅是社會保險。作為一名雇員，表面上社會保險和醫療保險共計約7.5％，實際上卻是15％，因為雇主必須為你付7.5％的社會保險。關鍵是，雇主是拿他本該支付給你的錢去支付的。此外，你還得為你工資中已經扣除的社會保險的那部分錢繳納所得稅，而這些錢是你從未拿到手的，因為它們通過預扣直接進入了社會保障體系之中。接著，他們的債務開始增加。
This is best demonstrated by going back to the young couple. As a result of their incomes going up, they decide to go out and buy the house of their dreams. Once in their house, they have a new tax, called property tax. Then they buy a new car, new furniture, and new appliances to match their new house. All of a sudden, they wake up and their liabilities column is full of mortgage debt and credit card debt. They’re now trapped in the Rat Race.
通過對這對年輕夫婦情況的描述能最好的表現這一點：隨著收入的增加，他們決定去買一套自己的房子。有了房子后，他們就得繳納一項新的稅——房地產稅，然后他們買了新車、新家具等，以與新房子相配。最后，他們突然發覺他們的負債項充斥著抵押債務和信用卡債務。他們落入了“老鼠賽跑”的陷阱。
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