第1484期:Being super-rich

Do you consider yourself to be rich? Do you have plenty of cash and no financial worries? Or maybe, like me, is it something you can only dream about? For most of us, the closest chance of becoming a millionaire would be to win the lottery but if you don't buy a lottery ticket, are there others ways of becoming super-rich?

你认为自己很有钱吗？你有足够的现金并且没有财务担忧吗？或者，也许，像我一样，这是你只能梦想的事情吗？对于我们大多数人来说，成为百万富翁的最接近的机会就是中彩票，但如果你不买彩票，还有其他方法可以成为超级富豪吗？

A 'super-rich' person is often defined as someone with over $30 million dollars of assets – so it's not just about having a suitcase stuffed full of banknotes! They usually own property, an expensive yacht or eat in swanky restaurants. And there appear to be more and more of these people, as it's reported that the number of super-rich is expected to increase by 43% over the next decade.

非“超级富豪”通常被定义为拥有超过 3000 万美元资产的人——所以这不仅仅是一个装满钞票的手提箱！他们通常拥有房产、昂贵的游艇或在高档餐厅用餐。而且这些人似乎越来越多，据报道，未来十年超级富豪的数量预计将增加 43%。

If you save your pennies, make the right investments and work hard, could you be one of them? It's unlikely because a report last year highlighted inequality in the world, saying the richest 62 individuals owned as much as the poorest 50%. But for those lucky ones who are loaded, what is it that they splash the cash on? One academic in the UK, Emma Spence, has been researching just that - and her answer is yachts! It's the ultimate status symbol but she also says "a superyacht is essentially a black hole of wealth" – in other words, it continually eats your money and doesn't increase in value like an art collection might.

如果您节省便士，进行正确的投资并努力工作，您会成为其中的一员吗？这不太可能，因为去年的一份报告强调了世界上的不平等，称最富有的 62 个人拥有的财富与最贫穷的 50% 一样多。但对于那些满载而归的幸运儿，他们把现金砸在什么上面呢？英国的一位学者 Emma Spence 一直在研究这一点——她的答案是游艇！这是终极地位的象征，但她也说“超级游艇本质上是一个财富黑洞”——换句话说，它会不断吞噬你的钱，并且不会像艺术品收藏品那样增值。

But if you've got the spare cash, why not have one! It's an excuse to show off your wealth and position in society. Interestingly, Emma Spence found that the size of someone's yacht shows their place in the pecking order. This is a good example of conspicuous consumption – buying something so someone else notices.

但是，如果您有闲钱，为什么不拥有一个！这是炫耀自己的财富和社会地位的借口。有趣的是，Emma Spence 发现某人游艇的大小显示了他们在优先顺序中的位置。这是炫耀性消费的一个很好的例子——买东西让别人注意到。

In the past you may have expected to find a super-rich, yacht-owning, billionaire to live in developed countries like the USA but now the wealthy can be found hanging out in most corners of the world. According to a report by Knight Frank, Vietnam is the country expected to have the fastest growth of super-rich over the next 10 years – an amazing 170% increase.

过去，您可能希望找到一个超级富豪、拥有游艇的亿万富翁住在像美国这样的发达国家，但现在可以在世界大多数角落找到富人。根据莱坊的一份报告，越南有望成为未来 10 年超级富豪增长最快的国家——增幅高达 170%。

If all this makes you feel poor, remember that being wealthy doesn't necessarily make you happy. You don't have to waste time worrying about what to spend your money on. And you can feel rich in other ways by having good friends and family, good health or just a happy life - things that don't cost the earth. And if you really want a yacht, how about a toy one to play with in the bath?! How rich do you feel today?

如果这一切让你感到贫穷，请记住，富有并不一定会让你快乐。您不必浪费时间担心花钱买什么。你可以通过拥有好朋友和家人、身体健康或过上幸福的生活来以其他方式感到富有——这些事情不会让地球付出代价。如果你真的想要一艘游艇，那么在浴缸里玩一个玩具怎么样？！你觉得今天有多富有？

词汇表

rich 富有的
financial worries 经济上的烦恼，财政方面的困扰
millionaire 百万富翁
lottery 彩票，抽奖
asset 资产，财产
banknote 钞票
swanky 时髦而高档的，奢华的
save your pennies 存钱，攒钱
loaded （口语）有钱的
splash the cash 挥霍钱财
status symbol 身份和地位的象征
black hole （吸金的）无底洞
pecking order 等级排序
conspicuous consumption （贬义）炫耀性消费
billionaire 亿万富翁
cost the earth 花费天价