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The middle class finds itself in a constant state of financial struggle.
中產階級發現自己總是在財務問題上掙扎。
Their primary income is through wages. And as their wages increase, so do their taxes.
他們最主要的收入就是工資，而當工資增加的時候，稅收也就增加了。
Their expenses tend to increase in equal increment as their wages increase: hence, the phrase "the Rat Race."
更重要的是他們的支出也和收入同步增加，接著是新一輪的"老鼠賽跑"。
They treat their home as their primary asset, instead of investing in income-producing assets.
他們把房子作為最主要的資產，而沒有把錢投在那些能帶來收入的資產上
This pattern of treating your home as an investment,
這種把房子當資產的想法
and the philosophy that a pay raise means you can buy a larger home or spend more, is the foundation of today's debt-ridden society.
以及那種認為錢越多就能買更大的房子或更多東西的理財哲學就是今天這個債臺高筑的社會的基礎。
This process of increased spending throws families into greater debt and into more financial uncertainty,
過多的支出把家庭拖入債務和財務不穩定的旋渦之中，
even though they may be advancing in their jobs and receiving pay raises on a regular basis.
即使人們工作業績優秀、收入固定增長，也會出現這種情況。
This is high-risk living caused by weak financial education.
而這種高風險的生活正是由于缺乏財商教育造成的。
The problem with simply working harder is that each of these three levels takes a greater share of your increased efforts.
問題是如果你只懂得努力工作，以上三方從你那兒拿走的勞動成果也就會更多。
You need to learn how to have your increased efforts benefit you and your family directly.
你需要學會怎樣才能使你的努力更直接地為你和你的家人帶來好處。
Once you have decided to concentrate on minding your own business-how do you set your goals?
假如你決定集中精力創建自己的事業，又該怎樣確立目標呢？
For most people they must keep their profession and rely on their wages to fund their acquisition of assets.
對大多數人而言，他們的目標是保住他們的工作并靠工資取得他們想要的資產。
As their assets grow, how do they measure the extent of their success?
隨著資產的增加，他們應怎樣衡量自己是否成功了呢？
When does someone realize that they are rich, that they have wealth?
他們知道自己有錢了，可那就等于擁有財富嗎？
As well as having my own definitions for assets and liabilities, I also have my own definition for wealth.
如同我有自己的關于資產和負債的定義一樣，我也有對于財富的定義。
Actually, I borrowed it from a man named R. Buckminster Fuller.
實際上這是我從一個名叫巴克敏斯特·富勒的人那兒借用的。
Some people call him a quack, and others call him a living genius.
有人叫他騙子，而另一些人則稱他為"生活大師"。
Years ago he got architects buzzing because he applied for a patent in 1961 for something called a geodesic dome.
在1961年他申請了一種圓頂結構的專利，這在建筑業引起了頗多爭議。
But in the application, Fuller also said something about wealth.
在申請中，富勒講了一些關于"財富"的話。
It was pretty confusing at first, but after reading it for a while, it began to make some sense:
起初他的話的確令人迷惑，但是讀過之后，你就會覺得他說得有道理。
Wealth is a person's ability to survive so many number of days forward
他是這樣定義的：財富就是支撐一個人生存多長時間的能力
or, if I stopped working today, how long could I survive?
或者說，如果我今天停止工作，我還能活多久？
