第一批90后快要破产了？

导读

在朋友圈中，不少年轻人都过着光鲜亮丽的生活，但或许他们的存款并不超过两位数。而这样的“隐形贫困人口”，近期也在网上引发热议……

 

 

When Wang Yuan, a 27-year-old saleswoman in Beijing, fell in love with a dress, she didn’t hesitate long before buying it, although it cost much more than her budget.

27岁的女销售王媛（音译）在北京工作，她看中了一条裙子，可她没犹豫多久就将那条裙子买下了，尽管价格比她的预算要高多了。

 

“I don’t really mind if I am unable to save this month – if I hadn’t bought the dress I wanted, I would probably have spent the money on other things, anyway,” she told China Daily.

“我不是很在意自己这个月能否存下钱 —— 如果我没买那条裙子，大概也会把钱花在其他地方上的。”她在接受《中国日报》采访时表示。

 

Wang is just another member of a group in China given the nickname “the invisible poor”, which has become a popular phrase online recently. It doesn’t refer to poor people, but those who often spend more money than they earn. They usually live a good life and spend a lot of money on things such as clothing, a gym membership and travel. However, many of them spend all their wages every month, and some even have to depend on credit cards for daily expenses.

王媛正是近期网络热词“隐形贫困人口”的一员。“隐形贫困人口”指的并非是穷人，而是常常过度超前消费的人。他们通常过着光鲜的生活，在服饰、健身卡会籍和旅游上花大价钱。然而，不少人每个月都是“月光族”，一些人甚至还得依赖信用卡来支持自己的日常开销。

 

This phenomenon is not unique to young Chinese people, however. According to a study by US personal finance company Credit Karma, almost 40 percent of young people in the US spend more money than they actually have on things like travel, sporting events or social activities.

然而，这种现象并不仅仅发生在中国年轻人身上。据美国个人信贷公司Credit Karma的一份研究显示，将近40%的美国年轻人在旅行、体育赛事或社交活动上过度消费。

 

A major reason for this phenomenon is a fear of missing out (FOMO), according to CBS. This refers to the anxiety caused by the thought that your peers are doing better things than you are. Indeed, FOMO pushes people to keep up with their friends’ lifestyles, regardless of their financial situation.

据哥伦比亚广播公司报道，这一现象的主要原因在于“错失恐惧症”，指的是认为同龄人都比自己优秀所引发的焦虑。的确,“错失恐惧症”让人们跟随朋友们的生活方式，而不顾自身经济状况。

 

 

This is further fueled by the wide use of social media, on which people tend to compare their own lives to others’, reported US News & World Report. For many people, they often feel inferior when they see their friends’ seemingly perfect lives posted online.

据《美国新闻与世界报道》消息，社交媒体的广泛使用加剧了这一点，人们更容易倾向于将自己的生活与他人的进行比较。对于许多人而言，看到朋友们在网上发布的看似完美的生活照常常让他们觉得自卑而不如他人。

 

“It’s natural for consumers to compare themselves to their peers, especially when it comes to finances and affording the good things in life like tropical vacations and pricey dinners out,” Michelle Brownstein from Personal Capital, a US digital wealth management firm, told US News & World Report.

“消费者们自然而然地就会和同龄人进行比较，尤其是在经济和生活中的光鲜事物方面，如前往热带度假以及在高级餐厅吃晚餐”来自美国数字财务管理公司的Personal Capital 的米歇尔·布朗斯坦在接受《美国新闻与世界报道》采访时表示。

 

However, even if people understand that they have a problem with money, it could be difficult for them to overcome it. “People often have the misconception that they can spend now because they’ll save more tomorrow, but unless they’re making real changes, that just isn’t going to happen,” said Brownstein.

然而，就算人们知道自己很缺钱，他们也很难克服这一局面。“人们常常有种错觉，认为他们今天花了钱，明天多存点钱就好了，但除非他们做出了一些真正的改变，否则这一切都不会发生，”布朗斯坦说道。

 

According to Time magazine, however, the key to being happy and not overspending is to focus on your own life, instead of admiring the lives of others.

而据《时代周刊》报道，感到快乐又不过度消费的关键在于关注自身的生活，而不是羡慕他人的生活方式。

 

“When you spend all that time staring in envy at [other people’s lives], keep one thing in mind: It’s your life you’re missing out on.”

“当你一直在嫉妒（别人的生活）时，记住这一点：你将会错失自己的生活。”