SECTION 4

OK, so we've been looking at the attitudes of various social and cultural groups towards the management of their personal finances - how important they feel it is to save money, and what they save their money for.

好的，我们已经看过了不同的社会和文化群体对于个人财务管理的态度——他们认为存钱有多重要，以及他们存钱用来干什么。

One aspect that we haven't yet considered is gender.

一个我们还没有考虑过的方面是性别。

So if we consider gender issues we're basically asking whether men and women have different attitudes towards saving money, and whether they save money for different things.

所以如果我们考虑性别的问题，我们基本是在问男人和女人在存钱和存钱为了什么方面的不同态度。

Back in 1928 the British writer George Bernard Shaw wrote in his Intelligent Women's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism that 'A man is supposed to understand politics, economics and finance and is therefore unwilling to accept essential instruction.'

回溯到1928年，英国作家萧伯纳在他的《智慧女性之社会主义和资本主义指南》一书里写到：“男性被寄予希望了解政治、经济和金融，因此不太乐意接受基本的讲解。”

He also said, 'A woman, having fewer pretensions, is far more willing to learn'.

他还提到：“女性，因为没有那么自命不凡，所以更乐于学习。”

Now, though these days people might question a lot of the assumptions contained in those statements, recent research does suggest that there are some quite fundamental differences between men and women in their attitudes to economic matters.

现在，尽管人们可能会质疑这些论断中的很多假定，但最近的研究表明在男人和女人对待经济问题的态度上有着一些比较根本的不同。

Let's look at what men and women actually save for.

让我们看看男人和女人实际都为什么存钱。

Research studies of women in North America have found that women are far more likely to save for their children's education and they are also more likely to save up in order to buy a house one day.

对北美地区女人的研究发现女人更倾向于为她们孩子的教育存钱，她们还可能存钱为了以后可以买一栋房子。

The same studies have found that men, on the other hand, tend to save for a car, which by the way takes a surprisingly large amount of the household budget in North America.

同一个研究还发现另一方面，男人通常攒钱买车，这在北美地区的家庭预算中占有令人吃惊的较大比例。

But the other main priority for men when saving money is their retirement.

但是男人存钱的另一个主要优先考虑的因素是他们的退休。

When they're earning, they're far more likely to put money aside for their old age than women are.

他们挣钱的时候，他们比女人更倾向于把钱放起来留到岁数大了再用。

Now this is rather disturbing, because in fact the need for women to save for their old age is far greater than for men.

现在这就比较令人不安，因为实际上女人为年老存钱的需求远比男人要大得多。

Let's consider this for a moment.

让我们现在来考虑一下这件事。

To start with, it is a fact that throughout the world, women are likely to live many years longer than men, so they need money to support them during this time.

首先，事实是，在世界各地，女人都可能比男人寿命长很多年，所以他们需要钱在这期间来养活自己。

Since women are likely to be the ones left without a partner in old age, they may therefore have to pay for nursing care, because they don't have a spouse to look after them.

由于女人可能在年老时会失去伴侣，所以她们可能要支付护理费，因为她们没有配偶来照顾她们。

Furthermore the high divorce rates in North America are creating a poverty cycle for women.

此外，北美地区的高离婚率为女人创造了一个贫穷的循环。

It is the divorced women who will most often have to look after the children and thus they need more money to look after not just themselves but others.

离婚的女人通常要照顾孩子，因此她们不仅需要更多的钱照顾自己，还要照顾别人。

So what can be done about this situation?

因此，对于这种局面可以做些什么呢？

The population in North America is likely to contain an increasing number of elderly women.

北美地区的人口里老年女性的数量可能在增长。

The research indicates that at present for women it takes a crisis to make them think about their future financial situation.

研究表明，现在女人需要经历一个危机，才能让她们考虑一下自己未来的财务状况。

But of course this is the very worst time for anyone to make important decisions.

但是，对于任何人，这当然是作出重要决定的最差时机。

Women today need to look ahead, think ahead - not wait until they're under pressure.

现在的女人需要朝前看，提前想——而不是等到压力到来时。

Even women in their early twenties need to think about pensions, for example, and with increasing numbers of women in professional positions there are signs that this is beginning to happen.

比如，女人甚至在自己二十岁出头的时候就要考虑养老金的问题，伴随着越来越多的女人成为职业女性，种种迹象表明这已经开始发生了。

Then research also suggests that women avoid dealing effectively with their economic situation because of a lack of confidence.

研究还表明由于缺乏自信，女人逃避有效的处理她们的经济状况。

The best way for them to overcome this is by getting themselves properly informed so they are less dependent on other people's advice.

解决这个问题最好的方法是让她们获得合理的知识，所以她们可以不那么依赖别人的建议。

A number of initiatives have been set up to help them do this.

一些积极的行动已经开始帮助她们完成这件事。

This College, for example, is one of the educational institutions which offers night classes in Money Management, and increasing numbers of women are enrolling on such courses.

比如，这所学院是提供财务管理晚课的几所教育机构之一，越来越多的女性开始报名这类的课程。

Here, they can be given advice on different ways of saving.

在这儿，她们会获得有关不同储蓄方法的建议。

Many women are unwilling to invest in stocks and shares, for instance, but these can be extremely profitable.

比如，很多女性不愿意投资股票，但是这个的利润非常丰厚。

It is usually advised that at least 70% of a person's savings should be in low-risk investments but for the rest, financial advisors often advise taking some well-informed risks.

通常会建议一个人至少70%的储蓄应该用于低风险的投资，但是对于剩下的，理财顾问通常建议承担一些了解透彻的风险。

Initiatives such as this can give women the economic skills and knowledge they need for a comfortable, independent retirement.

像这样的行动可以给女性一些经济技能和知识，帮助她们享受退休后舒适独立的生活。

The increasing proportion of elderly women in the population is likely to have other economic consequences ...

人口中退休女性数量的增加可能还会有另一个经济后果……