I am a city planner, and I make $62,000 a year.

我是名城市規劃師，我的年薪是 62,000 美元。

My personality is to worry about everything,

我的個性是會擔心所有事，

so money is one of them, of course,

錢這方面當然也是其中之一，

but in general, I think my husband and I manage our finances very well.

但一般來說，我覺得我的丈夫跟我都把財務管理得很好。

We lead a comfortable life.

我們過著蠻舒適的生活。

We get to enjoy the things that we want to.

我們可以享受我們想要的事物。

We get to go out to dinner, go on vacation,

我們想要在外面吃晚餐、去度假、

visit our family, so I don't think that we're wanting for much.

拜訪我們的親戚，所以我覺得我們想要的不多。

When my husband and I first moved to New York City,

當我跟我的丈夫剛搬到紐約市時，

my salary was quite a bit lower than it is now.

我的薪水比現在低一些。

I was making about $50,000 a year,

我當時年薪在 50,000 美元，

so we picked what we thought was a more affordable place in Queens,

所以我們在皇后區找了一個我們認為負擔得起的住所，

about $1,800 a month for a one-bedroom apartment.

單臥房公寓大約一個月 1,800 美元。

As my salary increased and as his salary increased,

當我的薪水上升，以及當他薪水增加時，

we were itching to move to a new neighborhood to live closer in so that we...

我們很想要搬新家，想要住得近一點，這樣我們 ...

We wanted to not have to commute via subway every day,

我們想要住在不用每天坐地鐵通勤的地方，

so we looked toward moving to Manhattan.

所以我們想要搬到曼哈頓。

Living in Manhattan wouldn't have been possible under the initial salary that we were hired on when we moved to New York City.

以當初我們剛搬來紐約市時被雇用的最初薪資來說，要住在曼哈頓是不可能的。

That's only possible because our salaries have grown over the last 3 and half years.

因為我們在最後三年半的薪資有成長，才有可能住在這。

Also, living in a neighborhood that you like that has a lot of fun amenities

還有，住在一個你喜歡的鄰里，那裏有許多有趣的便利設施，

means that you're tempted by those amenities, those restaurants,

代表你會被些便利設施引誘，那些餐廳、

those places to shop, get ice cream, get coffee.

購物場所、吃冰的地方、喝咖啡的地方。

I think we spend a lot more doing things outside of the house than we did before,

我覺得我們比以前花更多時間在戶外，

partly because there's a lot nearby but also because our apartment's really small,

一部分是因為那些場所都很近，還有部分也是因為我們的公寓真的很小，

and we don't like spending a lot of time in our apartment.

我們不喜歡老是待在公寓裡。

When we meet up with friends, we don't host them.

當我們要跟朋友聚會，我們不會在家招待他們。

We used to do that when we lived in Virginia and in Queens,

當我們住在維吉尼亞州、住在皇后區的時候我們會這麼做，

and now, we go out to dinner with friends,

現在我們會跟朋友一起外出用餐，

so those are things that I don't think about regularly

那些事我不會經常想到，

but are definitely a factor of my increased salary.

但肯定是我的薪水上升的原因之一。

My husband and I have always made decisions together really easily,

我丈夫跟我總是一起做決定，

so it made sense when we got married to combine our income into one bank account rather than keep it separate.

所以當我們結婚時，我們理所當然地把收入合併進同一個帳戶，而非各自分開。

We actually found that when we were dating it was really challenging to keep separate accounts,

其實我們發現，當我們在約會的時候，使用各自的帳戶是件不容易的事，

and the reason was we were always trying to figure out

原因是我們要一直計算出

what percentage we each contributed toward a certain thing

在某一個事物上我們各自要負擔多少百分比，

depending on how much our respective incomes were

這比例取決於我們各自的收入，

to make sure it was fair, you know,

以確保這樣分配是公平的，

so I have always actually made less than my husband,

所以我實際上總是負擔得比我丈夫少，

so it would be 40% of my paycheck toward rent

所以會變成以我的薪水來說，我在租金上負擔 40%，

and then 40% toward this and that,

然後這個東西 40% ，那個東西 40%，

and it actually seems like more work to keep our finances in separate bank accounts for our purposes,

為了用各自的帳戶管理我們的財務，其實似乎會有更多工作要做，

and we knew that we trusted each other to make certain decisions

而我們都知道我們相信對方做的決定，

or to spend as we wished and talk about it later,

或是依照我們想的花這筆錢，然後我們會再討論，

so we were able to work through those kinds of issues really well.

所以我們能在那樣的問題上處理得很好。

Of course, that still comes up regularly, like,

當然，定期還是會有些爭執，像是

"I can't believe you just spent $150 to buy new clothes,"

「你剛剛花了 150 美元買新衣服，真是難以置信。」

or something like that,

或是這類的事，

so those are conversations that we will always continually have,

那些是我們一直持續存在的對話，

but it's really so much easier to have our incomes combined to one bank account

但將我們的收入合併進一個銀行帳戶裡，

to just pay all of our expenses directly from that rather than doing the math every month.

用這個銀行帳戶來繳交我們的開支比每個月算數學要簡單的多。

My husband tends to be more interested in the numbers and the Excel sheets,

我丈夫比較喜歡用數字跟試算表來管理財務，

and so he actually has an Excel sheet that allows him to project out in the future

所以他其實有一份試算表讓他可以計劃

how much will be in our bank account after X, Y and Z bill comes through,

未來付完 X、Y、Z 帳單後，我們的帳戶還剩多少錢，

and he enjoys knowing that to make sure there's enough money in our account to cover certain debit payments.

他喜歡確保有足夠的錢在帳戶哩，好支付某些款項。

I don't think that's how I would manage the money if I was living alone,

如果我自己住，我覺得我不會這樣管理財務，

but it's really great, and it works for both of us.

但這樣蠻好的，而且對我們兩個都有用。

My husband and I talk about how our spending is going,

我跟我的丈夫會討論我們的花費在哪，

not every day but at least every week.

不是每天，但至少每周都會討論。

We kind of check in, and I think we both have a sense, whether or not we look at the Excel sheet, how we're doing.

我們會紀錄，而且我覺得不論我們是不是看著試算表，我們都知道自己在做甚麼。

We know, for example, we just got back from a trip.

我們知道，舉例來說，我們剛旅遊回來。

We went out to eat.

我們去外面吃飯。

We took our friends out.

我們跟朋友一起出去。

We did a lot of fun things that, you know,

我們做了很多有趣的事，

this month we'll have to be a little lighter on our spending while we're in the city.

這個月我們在城市的生活開支就必須要減少一點。

We both want to retire at a reasonable age,

我們都想要在適當的年紀退休，

so I think that drives a lot of our decisions,

我覺得那樣的想法驅使我們做出很多決定，

and doing things like taking out contributions toward retirement in a pre tax system

像在稅前提出退休供款，

rather than waiting to make that decision after you get your paycheck,

而不是等到領薪水後才做這個決定，

that helps me forget about that money.

那會幫我遺忘這筆錢。

I pretend that that money doesn't even exist when it goes toward our retirement account.

當這筆錢進到退休帳戶時，我假裝這筆錢根本不存在。

Right now, my husband and I have about $100,000 in retirement combined.

現在，我跟我丈夫兩人合計約有 100,000 美元在退休帳戶裡。

Our goal is to put as much into that account early on in our careers

我們的目標是在職涯初期盡可能存多一點錢進退休帳戶，

and maybe slow that down over time.

然後隨著時間過去，或許可以慢慢減少。

My old job, I worked for the University of Virginia,

我之前的工作，在維吉尼亞大學工作時，

and they matched my retirement contributions,

他們的薪資名目符合我的退休供款，

and I felt that my retirement account grew a lot bigger more quickly when I was working at the University of Virginia

我覺得當我在維吉尼亞大學工作時，退休帳戶數字成長速度有比較快一點，

because of that supplementary investment on behalf of the university.

因為有大學名義的額外投入。

At my current job, the city does not contribute toward my retirement account.

在我現在的工作，市政府不會提出供款到我的帳戶。

All the money that goes into my 401(K) is taken directly from my paycheck.

所有進入我的 401(K) 帳戶的錢都是直接從我的薪水扣款。(401(K) 為美國退休福利計畫，相關規定明訂在國稅法第 401(K) 條中，故簡稱為 401(K) 計畫。)

I think in the future, you know,

我想在未來，

of course, I want a job that I enjoy,

當然，我想要一份喜歡的工作，

hopefully working on climate change,

希望是在氣候變遷領域上工作，

hopefully working as a city planner,

希望能當城市規劃師，

but another thing I would consider moving forward is

但另一件我會考慮得更多的是，

does the employer contribute to your retirement account

雇主是否會提出供款到你的退休帳戶，

because that can make a world of a difference.

因為這會使得一切都不一樣。

I would like to start focusing more on saving for a down payment for a house.

我會想要開始為房子的頭期款存錢。

I think it would be really great to have that investment secured

我想那樣有保障的投資是很好的，

so that worrying about rent every month doesn't kind of hang over our heads,

這樣我們不用每個月煩惱資金的事，

and instead of saying goodbye to $2,400 a month,

而且我們不用每個月將 2,400 美元丟進水裡，

we're reinvesting that back in ourselves,

這是對我們自己的再投資，

and I think that will pay off in the long term when we think about retirement, as well.

還有當我們想到退休這件事時，長期來看買房子會是很值得的。

We also have a small savings set aside for both of our nieces.

我們也為了我們的姪女留了一些積蓄。

We try to contribute semi-regularly to that fund, so that's not a fund for us,

我們定期存錢進這個基金，那不是為我們而設的基金，

but I think I'm hopeful that we can do for our nieces what my grandparents did for me,

但我希望我們可以為我們的姪女做這件事，就像我的祖父母為我做的一樣。

and maybe there will be a little bit of money for them to go to college

或許可以有一些錢讓她們讀大學，

or for them to have a down payment in the future,

或是讓她們在未來有頭期款可用，

so I'm hopeful that we can keep contributing to that, as well.

所以我也很希望我們可以繼續存錢進去。