跟讀練習: Explaining Basic Financial Concepts YOU Should Understand - 通過影片學習英語口語

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Taxes.
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Picture this.
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Imagine you just had a hard month at work, slaving away flipping burgers at your local McDonald's.
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You're in bed when you get an email from them.
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It says you've been paid $2,000, but your bank account only gets $1,456.
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You scroll down the stub.
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Federal income tax, state tax, social security, Medicare.
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This is the modern ritual of giving away a chunk of your money to invisible forces, and they expect you to say thank you.
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Here's the deal.
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Taxes are the cost of civilization.
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You pay, the government builds roads, funds schools, makes sure your favorite taco truck isn't infested with rats, and sends billion dollar missiles to places you've never been.
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But there are different types of taxes.
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Income tax, which hits the money you make.
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Sales tax, which hits the money you spend.
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Capital gains tax, which hits the money your investments made while you were asleep.
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The government takes a little bit of every dollar.
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Nearly everyone also pays social security tax and medicare tax.
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Basically, social security tax is like the government forcing you to save for your retirement.
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They force you to save money now, and you get it paid back to you, over time when you retire.
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Medicare, however, is a health insurance tax that goes to supporting older people, or people with serious health issues.
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Now comes filing your taxes?
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Oh boy.
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The government knows how much you owe, but it makes you guess.
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How cool.
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If you're right, no worries.
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But if you're wrong, you're cooked.
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When it comes to actually paying taxes, some people pay every few months.
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Some people pay yearly.
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And then there's those people that don't pay at all and end up in documentaries.
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I get that taxes are annoying, but it's not all bad.
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Countries with higher tax rates generally have a higher quality of life all round.
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Banks.
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So, you walk into a bank, hand the cashier your money, they count it, smile, and tell you it will be added to your account.
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You walk out and think, great, now it's sitting in a vault somewhere, being guarded by a dragon.
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But in reality, that money's already gone.
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Most people think of banks like a big safe with only one job, guarding people's money.
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But in reality, they are just a middleman, or a matchmaker for financial transactions.
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When you deposited that $1,000, the bank took $900 of it and gave it to someone who wants to buy a jet ski.
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That system is called fractional reserve banking, which basically relies on the idea that they only actually need to keep a fraction of the money on hand,
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because not everyone is going to show up at the same time asking to withdraw 100% of their account.
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That is, unless it's 2008, of course, when people lined up to withdraw the entirety of their account, which caused the entire system to crumble.
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Banks make money by lending your money at a higher interest rate than they are giving you.
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That's really it.
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You're the supply of money, and the person borrowing is the demand.
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The banks entice you to deposit your money because of a few reasons.
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It's much easier and more convenient to spend on a card
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or transfer than carrying around cash all the time They are
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literally paying you to hold your money with them in the
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form of interest It is much safer to keep your money
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in a bank than in a shoebox in your room in
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the US most banks are insured up to $250,000 per person meaning no matter what the government assures you
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that your money up to 250k is safe Interest imagine you borrow a thousand dollars you have to pay back $1,280.
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Why?
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Because of interest.
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Interest is money's way of charging rent to exist in someone else's hands.
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When you borrow, interest is the price tag for using someone else's cash.
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When you lend or save, interest is the reward for being patient and boring.
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There are two main types.
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Simple interest is like, here's a flat fee, thanks for playing.
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Compound interest is, every dollar I gave you now has clones, and they also want rent.
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Let's say you owe 20% interest on a credit card.
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You miss a payment.
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Now your interest is earning interest.
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Soon, your $12 burrito turns into a $50 regret.
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On the flip side, investing at 7% annual compound interest?
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your money duplicating itself like a cheat code. $100 becomes $200, then $400, then one day you wake up and you're old, rich and a little smug about it.
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This is why interest is the silent engine behind both wealth and debt.
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In loans, it's the slow burn that turns small mistakes into financial fires.
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In investments, it's the time bomb that turns small gains into massive wins.
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So what's the hack?
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If you're paying interest, kill it fast.
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If you're earning interest, let it sit, feed it, and give it time.
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Interest is either your worst enemy or your best unpaid employee.
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The choice is in who's collecting it.
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Inflation.
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Okay, so you bought a bag of chips.
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Open it up and it looks like it's already been half eaten.
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You check what you paid, 30% higher than last time.
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Then you realize you've just been hit by inflation.
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Inflation is what happens when money slowly gets less valuable over time.
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Not overnight, not with fireworks, just a slow erosion.
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Your $5 bill?
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Still technically $5, but it buys less instant noodles, less gas, and doesn't actually have as much value as it did before.
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So what actually causes it?
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Sometimes people just have too much money.
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Everyone's got cash and they all want to spend it on the same stuff.
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Let's say 2,000 people want this $500 TV, but the business only has 1,000 TVs for sale.
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So the business goes, oh, everyone wants this TV?
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That'll be $800 now.
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Sometimes it's supply chains with hiccups or problems, making the cost of producing a good or service more expensive, meaning the cost of that good or service must rise.
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Or sometimes, just cause.
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Expectations can cause inflation.
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If people think prices are rising, they'll spend more now, driving prices up faster.
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It's a self-fulfilling economic prophecy.
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A little inflation is normal, even good.
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2% a year?
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That's fine, predictable.
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But if it spikes, savings die, wages lag.
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The government tries to fight inflation when this occurs, by raising interest rates.
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When the government raises interest rates, people are paying more interest, or it's more expensive to get a loan, meaning they have less money to spend on things like TVs.
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This causes a reduction in the amount of spending, pretty much cooling off the economy.
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Recessions.
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A recession is when the economy decreases for at least two quarters, or six months in simple terms.
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One day you're fine, you've got a job, bills are paid, you might even be planning a trip with the family.
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But suddenly there's layoffs, the stock markets only going down.
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In a recession, jobs vanish, companies cut costs, and everyone saves their money for necessities instead of buying things they don't need.
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Why does a recession happen?
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It could be a range of things.
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It could be high interest rates, making borrowing too expensive.
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It could be a global crisis.
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War, pandemic, rogue container ship.
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It could just be the economic cycle doing what it does best.
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Boom, peak, bust, reset.
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Think of the economy as a party.
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In the boom phase, everyone's dancing, drinks are flowing.
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But eventually, the lights flicker.
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Reality hits.
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Someone checks their bank account.
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And suddenly, the DJ's playing sad, lo-fi beats about corporate downsizing.
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Recessions aren't forever.
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They're resets.
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Painful ones.
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Governments might lower interest rates, send out stimulus, or just hope people start buying overpriced coffee again.
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Eventually, spending returns.
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Businesses rebuild.
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Growth resumes.
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But not without scars.
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Credit scores.
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A credit score is a shadowy algorithm that knows your name, your past, and how many times you paid your credit card late in college.
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A three-digit number that decides whether you get a house, a car, or a soul-crushing 27% interest rate on your new TV.
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This number isn't about wealth.
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It's about trust.
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Lenders want to know, if I give this person money, will they actually pay me back?
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The score has a range from 300 to 850.
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Below 580, you're a walking red flag.
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Over 750, you're sparkling with adult credibility.
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Most people?
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Stuck somewhere between 640 and 790.
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How is a credit score calculated?
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Payment history.
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Do you pay on time?
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This is the big one.
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Credit utilization.
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How much credit are you using versus how much you could?
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Credit age.
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How long you've had accounts?
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Credit mix.
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Cards, loans, mortgages, variety helps.
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New credit.
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Too many recent applications?
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All of these things are the ways it is calculated.
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But to actually increase your score, you have to make the required payments on each of your loans before you enter the late period.
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If you enter the late period, your score decreases.
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Your credit score is like a pet dog.
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Ignore it, and it poops all over your life.
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Take care of it, and someday it might help you buy a house.
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It's not about being good with money.
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It's about looking good to lenders.
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You can have zero debt and still have a trash score if you don't have a credit history.
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So yes, the game is rigged.
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But if you learn the rules, you can rig it back.
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Currency, or money.
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The weird part about currency and or money is that it's actually not real.
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Humans have developed money in order to make the world better.
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Money makes trading easier, makes it easier to build systems and to organize society.
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In saying that, there is no more legitimacy between a dollar bill and a Bitcoin.
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People believe a dollar bill has more legitimacy.
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And maybe it does, for now.
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But only because people believe it does.
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The same can be said for a dollar bill, and a stick.
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The only reason a dollar bill can buy something, and a stick cannot, is the fact that we as a society have agreed that a dollar bill is worth something, while a stick is not.
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So how does money actually work?
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Well, the government prints it, the central banks regulate it, and everyday people trade it in exchange for goods and or services.
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The reason the banks have to regulate it is because if the government prints too much, then inflation kicks in and everyone's money becomes monopoly money.
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If the banks make it so there is too little money, no one can afford to live.
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Currency, or money, is a social construct built on a shared belief and trust.
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Investing.
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So you know what inflation is now, and the best way to combat inflation so your money doesn't become less valuable, is investing.
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Investing is what happens when your money stops sitting around and starts working for you.
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Instead of trading your time for money, you're trading money for more money.
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The problem is there is risk involved.
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What What can you actually buy?
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Tiny ownership slices of companies.
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If the company grows, your slice becomes more valuable.
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Basically, you loan money to a government or company and they pay you back with interest.
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Collections of stocks and bonds so you don't have to play financial games one by one.
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Real estate.
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Property you hope someone else pays to live in.
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Forever.
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Of course, there are other things, but they are considered the main ones.
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Investing isn't about being lucky.
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It's about being early, diversified, and patient.
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wealthy people didn't win the lottery.
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They just gave compound growth 30 years to do its thing.
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And yes, investing comes with risk.
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Markets go up, markets go down.
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But the real danger isn't losing money.
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It's never investing and watching inflation quietly steal your future.
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Value.
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This one is more complex, but everyone should understand it.
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Imagine you pick up a rock.
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It's just a rock.
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Now imagine that rock is shiny and yellow.
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That's gold.
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It's rarer than an average rock, so there's a higher value placed on it.
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Gold is not actually worth more than the average rock, it's just worth more to humans because we place a higher value on it.
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Understanding this is what allows people to become rich.
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If you provide a lot of value, you will earn a lot of money.
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Steve Jobs created the iPhone you're most likely watching this on right now.
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He created something with a large amount of value, so millions of people gave him thousands of dollars for that bit of value.
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It's the same reason that doctors and lawyers earn so much money.
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The value they provide is large, and people are willing to pay a large amount of money for their service.
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Value is the same reason Gucci or Louis Vuitton can sell the same handbag as Target, but charge 100 times the price.
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People perceive it as more valuable, so it is.
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If you can figure out how to create value, even if it's not real value, you can make a lot of money.
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Time.
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Time is the most valuable asset in the world.
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And the best part?
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Almost everyone starts with a lot of it.
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You probably have a lot of it left.
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But no one gets an unlimited supply.
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Most people work jobs where time is traded directly for money.
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One hour, one paycheck.
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Simple math.
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The top earners have figured out how to make their time worth millions.
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And the difference isn't magic.
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It's skills, leverage, and how well you've trained your hours to work for you.
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But nowhere does time work harder than in investing.
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There is no greater force in wealth building.
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Not luck.
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Not income.
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Time.
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Because wealth isn't built in days.
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It's built in decades.
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Money that sits quietly in an investment doesn't just grow, it multiplies.
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Slowly at first, then faster.
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That's why ordinary people with modest paychecks can retire with seven figures.
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They didn't beat the system, they used the system.
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A little money, invested consistently, given enough time, becomes a lot of money.

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關於本節課

在這一節課中,您將學習一些基本的金融概念,包括稅收和銀行的功能。通過分析這些內容,您將練習相關的英語詞彙和短語,這將有助於您在與他人討論財務時更加自信。此外,本節將幫助您理解在實際生活中如何與財務資訊進行互動,從而增強您的英語能力,特別是在雅思口語練習中。

關鍵詞彙與短語

  • 稅收 (Taxes) - 政府向個人徵收的款項,用於公共支出。
  • 收入稅 (Income tax) - 針對個人收入徵收的稅。
  • 銷售稅 (Sales tax) - 在商品銷售時徵收的稅。
  • 資本利得稅 (Capital gains tax) - 針對投資收益徵收的稅。
  • 社會保障稅 (Social Security tax) - 用於支援退休人士的稅。
  • 醫療保險稅 (Medicare tax) - 針對老年人和重病患者的健康保險的稅。
  • 分級儲備銀行 (Fractional reserve banking) - 銀行只需要保留一部分存款,餘下的可用於貸款的系統。
  • 利率 (Interest rate) - 銀行向借款人收取的費用比例。

練習建議

在練習本節課中的對話時,建議使用shadow speak技術來跟隨影片的語速和語調。您可以重複聽,並模仿影片中的講述者如何表達每個金融概念。可以先從慢速開始,然後逐漸加快,直到您能夠自然流利地表達。注意他們的發音、停頓以及情感表達,這將幫助您提高語言流暢性。

同時,您可以在看YouTube學英語時,選擇相應的片段進行迴圈練習。每次重聽和模仿都能鞏固您的記憶,並提升您的雅思口語練習能力。練習時,不妨在鏡子前進行,這樣可以觀察自己的口型和麵部表情,更好地融合語音的情感表達。

影片中的語法

說話人最常用的結構,並附上影片中的原話:

結構影片中的用法
條件句 if + 從句,will/would + 動詞 — 條件及其結果If people think prices are rising, they'll spend · if I give this person money, will they
被動語態 be + 過去分詞 — 強調發生了什麼,而不是誰做的you've been paid · isn't infested · will be added
現在完成時 have/has + 過去分詞 — 過去發生但與現在仍有關聯的事you've been paid · you've never been · it's already been

什麼是跟讀法?

跟讀法 (Shadowing) 是一種有科學依據的語言學習技巧,最初開發用於專業口譯員的培訓,並由多語言者Alexander Arguelles博士普及。這個方法簡單而強大:您在聽英語母語原聲的同時立即大聲重複——就像是一個延遲1-2秒緊跟說話者的影子。與被動聽力或語法練習不同,跟讀法強迫您的大腦和口腔肌肉同時處理並模模擬實的講話模式。研究表明它能顯著提高發音準確性,語調,節奏,連讀,聽力理解和口語流利度——使其成為雅思口語備考和真實英語交流最有效的方法之一。

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