5 Tips For Managing Your Personal Finances Over The Next 4 Years
未来四年管理好个人财务的五大建议
Nov 4, 2024
Regardless of the U.S. presidential election results, the next four years hold immense potential for shaping your personal finance. Whether you’re a recent graduate, a young professional, an entrepreneur, a person nearing retirement, or someone simply looking to take control of your finances, a well-structured financial plan can be your compass. This article discusses tips and strategies to navigate your financial journey, setting you on a path toward financial security and prosperity.
无论2024年美国总统选举结果如何，未来四年都将是塑造个人财务状况的重要时期。无论你是刚毕业的学生、年轻职业人士、企业家、即将退休的人，还是单纯想掌控自己财务的人，一个结构清晰的财务计划可以成为你的指南针。本文将探讨一些实用的建议和策略，帮助你在财务之旅中，朝着财务安全和富足的方向顺利前行。
1.Assess Your Current Financial Situation
评估当前财务状况
A clear understanding of your current financial situation is the first step toward effective financial planning. This assessment gives you a baseline from which you can set practical goals and make informed decisions for the next four years.
清楚了解自己的财务现状是制定有效财务计划的第一步。这一评估为你提供了一个基准，使你能够设定切实可行的目标，并为未来四年做出明智的决策。
Gauge Your Cash Flow And Net Worth
了解现金流和净资产
List all sources of income, including your salary, freelance work, or passive income streams. Then track your monthly expenses, separating fixed costs like rent or mortgage payments from variable ones such as groceries or entertainment.
列出所有收入来源，包括工资、自由职业收入或被动收入。然后记录每月支出，将固定费用（如房租或房贷）与可变费用（如日用品或娱乐）区分开来。
A positive cash flow indicates you have more income than expenses, allowing room for saving or investing. If your cash flow is negative, adjustments may be necessary to reduce spending or increase income.
如果现金流为正，说明收入高于支出，你可以腾出空间进行储蓄或投资；如果现金流为负，则需要调整支出或增加收入。
You should also calculate your net worth, which is the difference between your total assets and liabilities. Assets include savings, investments, and property, while liabilities are any outstanding debts, such as loans or credit card balances. This figure provides a snapshot of your financial health, showing whether you are building wealth or accumulating debt.
此外，你还需计算净资产，即总资产减去总负债的差额。资产包括储蓄、投资和房产，负债则是尚未偿还的债务，如贷款或信用卡欠款。净资产能直观反映你的财务健康状况，显示你是处于积累财富还是增加债务的状态。
Evaluate Your Emergency Fund
评估应急基金
While reviewing your overall finances, it’s also important to evaluate the state of your emergency fund. Ideally, you should have three to six months’ worth of living expenses saved in a liquid, accessible account. This fund acts as a buffer against unexpected financial shocks, such as job losses or medical emergencies, and is a key indicator of your financial preparedness.
在审视你的整体财务状况时，评估你的应急基金也很重要。理想情况下，应急基金的金额应覆盖三到六个月的生活开支，并存放在流动性高、易于提取的账户中。这笔基金可以在突发情况（如失业或紧急医疗）中充当缓冲，是财务准备的重要指标。
If you find that you have little to no emergency fund, this should be a priority. Aim to save a fixed amount every payday, no matter how small, to gradually build up your rainy day funds.
如果你发现自己的应急基金不足，应将其设为优先补充的选项。每次发薪时固定存入一定金额，即使金额较小，也可以逐步积累出一笔“雨天基金”。
2.Set Clear Personal Finance Goals
设定明确的个人财务目标
Financial goals provide direction and motivation, helping you allocate resources effectively and make informed decisions about saving, spending, and investing.
财务目标为你提供方向和动力，帮助你有效分配资源，并在储蓄、消费和投资时做出明智决策。
Distinguish Between Short- And Long-Term Goals
区分短期和长期目标
Short-term goals are typically achievable within the next year or two, such as saving for a vacation, building an emergency fund, or paying off a specific debt. Long-term goals often span several years or even decades, such as saving for retirement, purchasing a home, or building a substantial investment portfolio.
短期目标通常可在一年或两年内实现，如储蓄旅游资金、建立应急基金或还清特定债务。长期目标则需要数年甚至几十年，如储备退休金、购置房产或建立大额投资组合。
Your four-year goals will fall somewhere in between, often encompassing mid-term objectives that require sustained effort but are achievable within this time frame. For example, you might aim to pay off a significant portion of student loan debt, save for a down payment on a house, or grow your investment portfolio.
四年的目标处于短期目标和长期目标之间，属于中期目标，需要持续努力但在这一时间范围内可实现。例如，还清大部分学生贷款债务、为购房首付储蓄或扩展投资组合。
These goals are critical because they represent meaningful progress toward larger life aspirations while also providing the flexibility to adapt as your financial situation changes.
这些目标非常重要，因为它们不仅能代表向更大人生愿望迈进的重要步骤，还提供了随着财务状况变化而调整的灵活性。
Be Methodical
有条理地设定目标
One way to do this is to use the SMART method. You should make your goals specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound. For instance, instead of setting a vague goal like save more money, a SMART goal would be: Save $10,000 in my emergency fund within 12 months by setting aside $833 per month. This clarity helps you stay focused and provides a clear benchmark to track your progress.
设定财务目标时，可以采用 SMART原则。即目标应具体（Specific）、可衡量（Measurable）、可实现（Achievable）、相关性强（Relevant）、有时间限制（Time-bound）。例如，与其设定模糊的“多存点钱”目标，不如设定一个SMART目标：“在12个月内存入1万美元应急基金，每月存入833美元。”这种清晰的目标有助于保持专注，并为你提供一个追踪财务进展的明确基准。
Remember, when setting financial goals, prioritization is key. Some goals, such as building an emergency fund or paying off high-interest debt, may need to take precedence because they directly impact your financial stability.
请记住，设定财务目标时，应注重优先次序。某些目标（如建立应急基金或还清高利率债务）可能需要优先考虑，因为它们直接影响财务稳定性。
Other goals, like saving for a down payment on a home or increasing retirement contributions, can be addressed once your financial foundation is secure. By ranking your goals based on urgency and importance, you’ll ensure that your resources are directed toward the most critical areas first.
其他目标（如为购房储蓄或增加退休金缴纳）可以在财务基础稳固后再逐步实现。通过根据紧迫性和重要性对目标排序，确保你的资源优先用于最关键的领域。
3.Create A Savings And Investment Strategy
制定储蓄和投资策略
Being strategic will help you achieve your objectives over the next four years. This strategy ensures that your money is working efficiently, helping you build wealth, grow your savings, and prepare for long-term financial security.
通过有策略的规划，可以帮助你在未来四年实现目标。这种策略能让你的资金有效运转，帮助积累财富、增加储蓄，并为长期财务安全做好准备。
Make Saving A Habit
养成储蓄习惯
A successful savings strategy starts with consistency. To ensure this, you can automate your savings to ensure you’re regularly setting aside money for your goals. Whether you’re building an emergency fund or saving for a major purchase, setting up automatic transfers from your checking account to your savings or investment accounts eliminates the temptation to spend that money elsewhere.
成功的储蓄策略始于坚持。可以通过自动化储蓄的方式，确保你定期为目标存钱。无论是建立应急基金还是储备大额开支，通过设立自动转账，将资金从支票账户转入储蓄账户或投资账户，可以避免将这笔钱用于其他用途。
This pay-yourself-first approach makes saving a regular habit, reducing the mental effort required to stick to your strategy.
这种“先向自己付钱”的方法让储蓄成为一种常规习惯，减少在你坚持自己的储蓄策略过程中所需的精力。
You should also take advantage of retirement plans as part of your strategy. If your employer offers a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, contribute to it regularly. Ask if there are matching contributions from your employer and ensure that you trigger this match to increase your savings. This is a convenient and easy way of building your wealth. You may also consider making maximum contributions to tax-advantaged accounts such as Individual Retirement Accounts or Health Savings Accounts, which can provide tax benefits and boost your overall savings.
此外，利用退休计划也是储蓄策略的重要组成部分。如果雇主提供 401(k)或403(b)计划，你应定期缴纳。询问雇主是否提供匹配缴费，并确保你达到相应条件以激活这项匹配，从而增加储蓄。这是一种简单便捷的财富积累方式。还可以考虑向个人退休账户（IRA）或健康储蓄账户（HSA）等税收优惠账户进行最大化缴费，这些账户不仅有税收优惠，还能提升整体储蓄能力。
Simplify Investing
简化投资
Your investment choices depend on your risk tolerance –the level of risk you’re comfortable taking in exchange for potential returns. Younger investors with a longer time horizon may be able to take on more risk by investing in higher-growth assets like stocks, while those nearing retirement might prefer more stable investments like bonds.
投资选择应取决于你的风险承受能力，即愿意承担的风险水平与潜在回报的平衡。年轻投资者时间跨度较长，可以选择风险较高的增长型资产（如股票）；而临近退休者则可能偏好更稳定的投资（如债券）。
One way to simplify investing is dollar-cost averaging. This involves investing a fixed amount of money at regular intervals, regardless of market conditions. By doing so, you avoid trying to time the market, which can be unpredictable and risky. Over time, dollar-cost averaging helps smooth out market volatility, allowing you to buy more shares when prices are low and fewer when prices are high, which can lower your overall cost per share.
一种简化投资的方法是“定投法”（Dollar-Cost Averaging），即不论市场状况如何，在固定时间间隔内投资固定金额。通过这样做，可以避免试图“择时市场”的风险。长期来看，定投法能够平滑市场波动，使你在价格较低时购买更多资产、价格较高时购买较少资产，从而有效降低整体持仓的平均成本。
It is crucial to note that whatever your approach to investing, your goal should be to build a well-diversified portfolio to manage risk. By spreading your investments across different asset classes, you reduce the impact of poor performance in any one area, ensuring a more balanced approach to growth.
无论采取何种投资方式，目标都应是建立多元化投资组合以管理风险。通过将投资分散到不同资产类别，可以减少单一领域表现不佳的影响，确保更平衡的增长。
4.Manage Your Debt
管理债务
Debt can be a tool for achieving key goals when used responsibly, but it can quickly become a financial burden if left unchecked. List all your outstanding debts, including credit cards, student loans, auto loans, mortgages, or any other liabilities. For each, note the balance, interest rate, and minimum monthly payment.
合理使用债务可以是实现重要目标的工具，但如果管理不当，可能迅速成为财务负担。列出所有未偿债务，包括信用卡、学生贷款、汽车贷款、房贷或其他负债，并标注出这些债务的余额、利率和最低还款额。
Prioritize Debt Repayment
优先还债
You may use the snowball method and payoff the smallest debts first to build momentum. Or you can use the avalanche method and focus on the debts with highest interest rates first to save more money in the long run.
你可以采用“雪球法”优先还清较小的债务以积累势能，也可以使用“雪崩法”先还清高利率债务以节省更多资金。
Consolidation or refinancing may also be beneficial. Debt consolidation combines multiple debts into one loan, making it easier to manage and reducing the overall interest paid over time. Similarly, refinancing high-interest loans like student loans or mortgages can lower your monthly payments and free up additional cash flow for other financial goals.
债务整合或再融资也可能是有益的选择。债务整合将多笔债务合并为一笔贷款，简化管理，并减少长期利息支出。同样，将高息贷款（如学生贷款或房贷）再融资为低利率贷款，可以降低月供，释放更多现金流用于其他财务目标。
It’s important to carefully evaluate these options and ensure that they align with your long-term financial plans. You should avoid taking on new, unnecessary debt while you’re focused on paying down existing balances. This means curbing the use of credit cards, delaying major purchases that require financing, and being mindful of your overall spending habits. Staying disciplined in your debt repayment efforts will help ensure that you make steady progress towardbecoming debt-free.
在评估这些选项时，应确保它们与长期财务计划一致。同时，在专注于还债的过程中，应避免新增不必要的债务。这意味着你要减少信用卡的使用、推迟需要贷款的大额购买，并养成谨慎的消费习惯。保持自律是稳步迈向无债务生活的关键。
Mind Your Credit Score
注意信用评分
Maintaining a healthy credit score is another important aspect of managing debt. Your credit score is influenced by your debt levels, payment history, and credit utilization rate, among other factors.
保持良好的信用评分是债务管理的另一个重要组成部分。信用评分受到债务水平、还款记录和信用使用率等因素的影响。
Paying off debt consistently and on time can improve your credit score, which in turn can lead to better borrowing terms in the future, such as lower interest rates on loans or mortgages. It’s also important to keep your credit utilization low by not maxing out credit cards, even if you’re working to pay them down
持续按时还债并逐步减少负债有助于提高信用评分，这将使您在未来获得更优的借贷条件，例如更低的贷款或房贷利率。此外，保持低信用使用率也非常重要，避免信用卡透支，即使在偿还信用卡的过程中，也要尽量不让信用卡的余额达到上限，以维护良好的信用评分。
5.Stay Informed
保持信息的最新状态
Over the next four years, it will be crucial to monitor developments in key areas such as tax laws, Social Security, and healthcare policies. By keeping up with these changes, you can adjust your strategies to take advantage of new opportunities or mitigate risks, ensuring your financial plan remains aligned with current realities.
未来四年，关注税收政策、社保和医疗保健政策等关键领域的发展至关重要。通过跟进了解这些变化，你可以调整策略，抓住新机遇或减轻风险，确保财务计划与当前现实相符。
Monitor Tax Laws
关注税收政策
Tax policiescan change, impacting everything from your income tax bracket to the deductions and credits you’re eligible to claim. Staying informed about federal, state, and local tax updates is essential to minimizing your tax liability and maximizing savings. For instance, changes in tax brackets, standard deductions, or tax credits for education, childcare, or energy-efficient home improvements could affect your annual tax returns.
税收政策的变化可能影响从个人所得税税率到可申报的扣除和抵免等方方面面。了解联邦、州和地方的税收更新是减少税负、增加储蓄的关键。例如，税档、标准扣除额或针对教育、儿童保育、节能家居改善等的税收抵免的调整，都可能影响年度报税。
One key area to watch is how retirement accounts are treated under thetax code. Adjustments to contribution limits for accounts like 401(k)s or IRAs, as well as any potential changes to capital gains taxes, could directly influence your savings strategy. Keeping up with these developments allows you to make timely decisions, such as increasing contributions or adjusting your investment strategies to optimize tax efficiency.
注意退休账户在税法中的待遇至关重要。401(k)或IRA的缴费限额调整，以及资本利得税的可能变化，都会直接影响你的储蓄策略。通过及时了解这些变化，你可以在增加缴费或调整投资策略方面做出明智决策，从而优化税收效率。
Tax laws may also affect estate planning, including inheritance taxes and gift exemptions. If you’re in a position to pass on wealth, being aware of these changes can help you plan more effectively to reduce the tax burden on your heirs. Consulting with a tax advisor or using trusted financial resources to stay updated can make a significant difference in how much wealth you’re able topreserve.
税收法律还可能影响遗产规划，包括遗产税和赠与豁免。如果您有财富传承的计划，了解这些变化将有助于更有效地减少继承人的税收负担。咨询税务顾问或利用可靠的财务资源保持信息更新，可以显著影响你能够保留的财富数量。
Keep Track Of Healthcare Policies
紧跟医疗政策
Healthcare is one of the most significant and often unpredictable expenses that individuals face. Policy changes related to healthcare, whether at the federal or state level, can directly affect your access to care and the cost of insurance. Major reforms in healthcare laws—such as adjustments to the Affordable Care Act or the expansion of Medicare—can alter the cost of premiums, out-of-pocket expenses, and the coverage available to you.
医疗保健是个人面临的最重要且最难以预测的开支之一。无论在联邦层面还是州层面，与医疗保健相关的政策变化都会直接影响您获得医疗服务的途径和保险费用。医疗保健相关的重大法律改革，例如对《平价医疗法案》（Affordable Care Act）的调整或医疗保险（Medicare）的扩展，可能会改变你的保费、自付费用以及可享受的保障范围。
For those who plan to retire before becoming eligible for Medicare, understanding the healthcare options available through ACA exchanges or private insurers will be vital. Even for Medicare recipients, staying informed about changes to premiums, deductibles, and the services covered under Medicare Parts A, B, and D is essential for budgeting and ensuring adequate coverage.
对于计划在达到医疗保险（Medicare）资格之前退休的人来说，了解通过《平价医疗法案》（ACA）交易所或私人保险公司提供的医疗保障选项至关重要。即使是已经享受医疗保险的人，了解保费、免赔额以及Medicare A、B和D部分所涵盖的服务变化也同样重要，这将有助于您进行合理的预算并确保获得充分的保障。
As healthcare costs continue to rise, particularly for aging populations, it’s important to stay informed about your insurance options and to consider whether purchasing long-term care insurance or investing in an HSA makes sense for your situation.
随着医疗成本，尤其是老年人群体的医疗支出持续上升，了解您的保险选项变得尤为重要。同时，你还应根据你个人的情况，考虑是否购买长期护理保险（Long-term Care Insurance）或投资健康储蓄账户（HSA）。
The Bottom Line
结论
By following these steps, you can create a comprehensive plan that sets up your personal finances over the next four years. Remember, financial planning is an ongoing process. Regularly reassess your goals, adjust your strategies as needed, and stay informed about economic trends and policy changes. By taking a proactive approach to your finances, you can achieve your long-term objectives and build a secure financial future.
通过遵循这些步骤，你可以制定一个全面的计划，为未来四年的个人财务打下基础。请记住，财务规划是一个持续的过程。定期重新评估你的目标，根据需要调整策略，并保持关于经济趋势和政策变化的信息更新。通过采取积极主动的财务管理方式，你将可以实现长期目标，建立一个安全的财务未来。
This article is intended for learning English and gaining financial knowledge through reading the original English text. It does not constitute any investment or financial advice.
本文旨在通过阅读英语原文学习语言和了解财务知识，并不构成任何投资或理财建议。
The English original was published on November 4, 2024, the day before the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
英语原文发表于2024年11月4日，即2024年美国总统大选前一天。
