如何与你的孩子谈钱？
在一些家长看来，这是比聊性更让人尴尬的话题。
测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
ponder 仔细考虑；衡量['pɒndə]
catch sb off guard 措手不及
outright 痛快地[aʊt'raɪt]
tension 使紧张；使拉紧['tenʃ(ə)n]
inheritance 继承；遗产[ɪn'herɪt(ə)ns]
resentment 愤恨，怨恨[rɪ'zentm(ə)nt]
beneficiary 受益人[benɪ'fɪʃ(ə)rɪ]
life expectancy 平均寿命
dialogue 对话；意见交换['daɪəlɒg]
阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。
如果您读完全文用时为： 那么，您的阅读速度相当于 每分钟阅读的英文单词数
7分8秒 母语为英语者的朗读速度 140
4分48秒 母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度 250
2分51秒 母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度 350
1分42秒 母语为英语的速读高手 1000
Talking to your children about money（1020words）
By Jason Butler
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My eldest daughter recently caught me off guard with a tricky question. It wasn’t about sex, relationships or her future career, but about money. Or to be more precise, my money and how much of it I had.
Like all young people approaching university, her question was probably inspired mainly by her concern that I will be able to help support her financially during her degree. But I suspect it was also driven by curiosity. I pondered how best to answer her.
If I answered it outright, how would it affect her? Would she be more or less motivated to work hard at university? Would she be more or less careful about her spending? How would it affect her relationship with me? Would she tell her friends, inevitably ensuring that their parents knew my financial position? Would those parents be pleased, envious or sorry for me? Why should I care?
I could, of course, have chosen not to answer her. But I asked myself whether this might become a cause of tension, distrust or contention between us. It might make it easier — or harder — to involve her in my finances when she is older. Is my financial position any of my daughter’s business anyway?
Many people find it hard to talk about money. This is understandable, because we relate to money on an emotional, not rational, level. Because our money thoughts and feelings are influenced by our emotions, this can lead us to procrastinate or make poor decisions. For some people, money defines their feelings of self-worth, social status and sense of achievement. Others see money as a force for good, while others see it as a necessary evil. Money can be a source of pleasure or pain.
Depending on your level of wealth, discussing your financial situation with your teenage or young adult children can be fraught with difficulties. Most people want their children to be motivated to make their own way in the world and not to think they can sit back and rely on a future inheritance. Resentment can sometimes be caused when children see their parents spending their wealth on exotic holidays, expensive cars or other luxuries.
The next 30 years will see the largest ever transfer of wealth take place, with recent estimates suggesting that at least $16tr of global wealth will pass to the next generation. The majority of which will be transferred over the next 10-30 years. About $830bn of that wealth transfer will occur in the UK. The question is, will the next generation be prepared for it?
A key beneficiary of the wealth tsunami in the UK is likely to be the state. The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that receipts from inheritance tax in the UK will continue to rise, with nearly £21bn expected to be paid by estates between 2017-2021. The extent to which families can reduce their potential inheritance tax depends, to a large extent, on their personal values, priorities and ability to plan their finances on a family-wide basis.
Another key consideration is life expectancy. With rising life expectancy, many of us can expect to live into our 90s. This means that wealth transfer upon death is increasingly happening when the beneficiaries are in their 50s or 60s, unless wealth transfers have been made during lifetime. Most people are naturally unwilling to give away substantial amounts of their wealth in their lifetime, if they think they might need it to fund their own lifestyle needs.
Generation X — those born between the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s — can also find it difficult to discuss money with their parents. The baby boomer generation grew up after the second world war when rationing was still in place and most people had relatively modest living standards. Many people born before the war grew up during the depression of the 1930s, when times really were tough and waste was frowned upon. In both cases, people in their 60s, 70s and 80s have a very different view of money from their adult children and grandchildren.
One financial adviser firm I know runs regular wealth workshops for adult children of their clients, where they explain basic financial planning concepts and give a generic overview of the type of planning done by their parents and grandparents. This helps create awareness and understanding about family wealth without going into specifics, while also building a relationship between the advice firm and the younger generation, before any transfer of wealth arises.
Another way of developing a dialogue about family finances is to have regular structured family financial planning meetings. Many good financial advice firms are happy to provide this service either as part of their core planning service or for a modest additional fee. These meetings are an ideal forum to discuss things like the appointment and role of trustees, guardians, executors and attorneys.
At the very least it is a good idea to create a “What to do if we die or get seriously ill” document which summarises who the next generation should contact about various financial issues. Together with a statement setting out what assets you own, this should help your adult children or grandchildren make sense of your financial world, even if you haven’t discussed things beforehand.
Back to my daughter and her question about my net worth. I answered: “We have enough money to have a nice lifestyle; for me to choose what type of work I want to do; for us to fund your education and help you buy a house or start a business; for us to support various charities; and for your mother and I not to be a burden on you when we are old.”
My daughter replied: “I get it, Dad. What you are saying is you’ve opened the door for me but it’s up to me to walk through it, right?” I smiled to myself — that’s the answer I’d expect from someone studying the classics. She continued: “But one day I do want to know what you’re worth.”
One day she will. I’m just not sure if that will be while I’m alive or when I’m dead!
请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：
1. Which topic caught the author off guard from eldest daughter recently?
A. money
B. sex
C. relationships
D. future career
2. Why do many people find it hard to talk about money?
A. they relate to money on an rational level
B. they relate to money on an emotional level
C. parents’ financial position is a secret
D. children always compare it with friends
3. When the enormous wealth pass to the next generation, what is the question in the author’s view?
A. Would those parents be pleased?
B. How would it affect the relationship between the next generation and parents?
C. How would it affect the next children’s career?
D. Will the next generation be prepared for it?
4. What can a financial adviser firm do as mentioned?
A. explain basic financial planning concepts
B. give a generic overview of the type of planning done
C. provide the service to have regular structured family financial planning meetings
D. all
[1] 答案 A. money
解释：是关于是否应该在她攻取学位期间提供经济支持。
[2] 答案 B. they relate to money on an emotional level
解释：这一点是可以理解的，因为我们常常把钱放在感性层面去认知。
[3] 答案 D. Will the next generation be prepared for it?
解释：作者担心下一代是否准备好了接受上一辈的财富。
[4] 答案 D. all
解释：金融理财咨询公司可以提供以上的服务。
