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The middle class finds itself in a constant state of financial struggle.
中产阶级发现自己总是在财务问题上挣扎。
Their primary income is through wages. And as their wages increase, so do their taxes.
他们最主要的收入就是工资，而当工资增加的时候，税收也就增加了。
Their expenses tend to increase in equal increment as their wages increase: hence, the phrase "the Rat Race."
更重要的是他们的支出也和收入同步增加，接着是新一轮的"老鼠赛跑"。
They treat their home as their primary asset, instead of investing in income-producing assets.
他们把房子作为最主要的资产，而没有把钱投在那些能带来收入的资产上
This pattern of treating your home as an investment,
这种把房子当资产的想法
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.
以及那种认为钱越多就能买更大的房子或更多东西的理财哲学就是今天这个债台高筑的社会的基础。
This process of increased spending throws families into greater debt and into more financial uncertainty,
过多的支出把家庭拖入债务和财务不稳定的旋涡之中，
even though they may be advancing in their jobs and receiving pay raises on a regular basis.
即使人们工作业绩优秀、收入固定增长，也会出现这种情况。
This is high-risk living caused by weak financial education.
而这种高风险的生活正是由于缺乏财商教育造成的。
The problem with simply working harder is that each of these three levels takes a greater share of your increased efforts.
问题是如果你只懂得努力工作，以上三方从你那儿拿走的劳动成果也就会更多。
You need to learn how to have your increased efforts benefit you and your family directly.
你需要学会怎样才能使你的努力更直接地为你和你的家人带来好处。
Once you have decided to concentrate on minding your own business-how do you set your goals?
假如你决定集中精力创建自己的事业，又该怎样确立目标呢？
For most people they must keep their profession and rely on their wages to fund their acquisition of assets.
对大多数人而言，他们的目标是保住他们的工作并靠工资取得他们想要的资产。
As their assets grow, how do they measure the extent of their success?
随着资产的增加，他们应怎样衡量自己是否成功了呢？
When does someone realize that they are rich, that they have wealth?
他们知道自己有钱了，可那就等于拥有财富吗？
As well as having my own definitions for assets and liabilities, I also have my own definition for wealth.
如同我有自己的关于资产和负债的定义一样，我也有对于财富的定义。
Actually, I borrowed it from a man named R. Buckminster Fuller.
实际上这是我从一个名叫巴克敏斯特·富勒的人那儿借用的。
Some people call him a quack, and others call him a living genius.
有人叫他骗子，而另一些人则称他为"生活大师"。
Years ago he got architects buzzing because he applied for a patent in 1961 for something called a geodesic dome.
在1961年他申请了一种圆顶结构的专利，这在建筑业引起了颇多争议。
But in the application, Fuller also said something about wealth.
在申请中，富勒讲了一些关于"财富"的话。
It was pretty confusing at first, but after reading it for a while, it began to make some sense:
起初他的话的确令人迷惑，但是读过之后，你就会觉得他说得有道理。
Wealth is a person's ability to survive so many number of days forward
他是这样定义的：财富就是支撑一个人生存多长时间的能力
or, if I stopped working today, how long could I survive?
或者说，如果我今天停止工作，我还能活多久？
