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.
由于学生们在学校时并没有获得财务技能，所以成千上万受过良好教育的人虽然取得了事业上的成功，却发现自己仍在财务问题中挣扎。他们努力工作，却并无进展，他们的教育中缺少的不是如何挣钱，而是如何花钱，即挣了钱后该怎么办？它被称为“理财态度”，即在你赚了钱之后如何处理这些钱，又怎样防止别人从你手中拿走这些钱？你能拥有这些钱多久？你如何让钱为你工作？大多数人不明白自己为什么会遭遇财务困境，这是因为他们不明白现金流。一个受过高等教育且事业有成的人，同时也可能是财务上的文盲。这种人往往太过努力地工作，因为他们只知道努力工作，却不知道如何让钱为他们工作。
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.
下面的动态图显示了努力工作的人们所具有的模式。一对快乐的、受过高等教育的新婚夫妇租住在一套拥挤的公寓里，他们很快就意识到这样很省钱，因为两个人的日常花销和一个人的差不多。
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.
但问题是，公寓太拥挤了，于是他们决定攒钱买一栋理想的房子，这样就能计划要孩子了。现在，他们有两份收入，并开始专心干事业。他们的收入开始增加。
As their incomes go up, their expenses go up as well.
随着收入的增加，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.
对大多数人而言，第一项支出是税。许多人以为是个人所得税，但对大多数美国人而言，最高的税是社会保险。作为一名雇员，表面上社会保险和医疗保险共计约7.5％，实际上却是15％，因为雇主必须为你付7.5％的社会保险。关键是，雇主是拿他本该支付给你的钱去支付的。此外，你还得为你工资中已经扣除的社会保险的那部分钱缴纳所得税，而这些钱是你从未拿到手的，因为它们通过预扣直接进入了社会保障体系之中。接着，他们的债务开始增加。
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.
通过对这对年轻夫妇情况的描述能最好的表现这一点：随着收入的增加，他们决定去买一套自己的房子。有了房子后，他们就得缴纳一项新的税——房地产税，然后他们买了新车、新家具等，以与新房子相配。最后，他们突然发觉他们的负债项充斥着抵押债务和信用卡债务。他们落入了“老鼠赛跑”的陷阱。
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