目 录 上一节 下一节 
美国的保险业务 An insurance agent called me this morning. This particular agent wanted to discuss my automobile coverage, but the next agent to call might be interested in my life insurance program, my health insurance, or fire protection for my home and furniture. The American consumer often feels constantly disturbed by insurance agents. Many agents selling many different policies call us by phone and sometimes even come to our doors. These insurance agents are always friendly, well dressed, and eager to be of help. 一位保险公司代理人今天上午拜访了我。这位打扮得过分讲究的代理人想要讨论我的汽车保险的承保范围，那么下一位再来拜访我的保险公司代理人就有可能对我的人寿保险项目，我的健康保险，甚至对我的房产和家具火灾保险感兴趣。美国的消费者都会经常觉得不断地受到保险公司代理人的骚扰。很多代理人为了兜售不同险种的保险单都会给我们打电话，有时甚至登门造访。这些保险公司的代理人总是彬彬有礼，衣冠楚楚并急于热情为您服务。 Yet few Americans really enjoy visiting with these eager, helpful men and women. We are not happy when they call us; we are on guard when they visit our homes. They are never really our friends; at best, they are a necessary evil. 可是几乎没有美国人会真正喜欢这些急于热情助人的男男女女前来拜访。他们打来电话，我们不高兴；他们来我们家拜访，我们都怀有戒心。他们永远也不会成为我们真正的朋友；最多，他们代表我们必须与之打交道的魔鬼或灾难。 Three reasons why we are unwilling to discuss insurance can be suggested. First of all, insurance is expensive. A young father who purchases a fairly small life insurance policy agrees to pay a sum of $200 every year for 40 years - a total of $8,000. Many college students pay $800 to $1,000 per year for car insurance. In effect, they pay as much for the insurance as they do for the car itself. Health insurance that pays for modern medical miracles often costs Americans as much as $2,000 every year. Adequate insurance is expensive; it is a major item for most families. 我们之所以不愿讨论保险的三个原因可表述如下：第一，保险费太贵。有一位年轻的父亲，买了相当小的一份人寿保险单。他同意每年支付的保险费钱数是200美元，连续支付40年--总额共达8000美元！许多大学生每年支付小汽车保险费800到1000美元。实际算起来，他们支付保险费的钱数跟他们购买那辆汽车本身的钱数是一样多的。通常美国人每年都要支付2000美元的健康保险费，用这笔钱来支付现代医药界所创造出的一些奇迹。全方位的投保太费钱了。各方面都投保的费用是绝大多数家庭的主要开支项目。 Insurance also reminds us that we live in an unsafe world. We are human and we must face the possibilities of illness, injury, death, and financial loss. Our rational minds recognize the many unfortunate events that can occur, but in our hearts we hope that we might be spared. Serious injury or death is not a pleasant subject to discuss or even consider. We are afraid; we would rather talk about football or the weather or what we had for lunch. 第二，保险也使我们想到我们是生活在一个不安全的世界里。我们必须面对可能生病、受伤、死亡和财产损失这些灾祸。尽管我们的头脑在理性上能意识到很多灾难性的事故有可能发生，但是我们心理上都希望我们最好能幸免于难。重伤或死亡并不是一个令人愉快的讨论话题，这些我们甚至连想都下敢想。我们害怕；我们倒宁可聊一聊美式橄榄球，聊聊天气或者聊聊我们午餐所吃的东西。 
最后，保险是很难弄懂很复杂的问题。除了极小数的保险业的专家在讨论起车险，寿险和重病医药险等险种的承保范围时会高谈阔论而外，没有任何人能完全懂得保险业务。我们觉得自己没有足够的保险业务知识，因而避免讲座保险问题，以便掩饰我们自己的无知。 Yet these three reasons for not discussing insurance provide three excellent reasons why we should learn more about it. Insurance is expensive. In a lifetime, many of us spend as much on insurance as we do on the purchase of a home. If we are to spend our money intelligently, we need information about the products and services available. We don't depend entirely on salespeople when we buy a car, a house, or a suit of clothes. Neither should we depend entirely on the agent when we buy insurance. We need a basic knowledge of insurance coverages if we are to be intelligent consumers. 可是，这不愿讨论保险问题的三个原因也正是我们应该更多地学些保险知识的三个充足的理由。保险费太贵。我们很多人，一辈子花的保险费跟购买房子的费用是一样多的。如果我们要把钱花得明智一些，我们就将需要获得有关购买产品或服务项目的一些信息资料。在我们买小汽车、买房子或买一套衣服时，我们不能完全相信销售人员；在我们买保险时，我们也不应该完全相信或依靠保险公司的代理人。如果我们打算要做明智的消费者，我们就需要有承保范围或者叫保险涵盖方面的知识。 The intelligent consumer looks problems in the face. Although accident, illness, and death are not pleasant subjects, each of us knows we face these possibilities. It is better that we plan for these situations by finding means to deal with them than to just hope that they will somehow go away. 明智的投保人要正视种种问题。尽管事故，疾病和死亡都不是令人愉快的话题，但是我们每个人都知道我们都有发生这些灾害的可能。针对这些可能发生的情况，我们计划一下找出对付灾害的办法，这总比我们只是凭空希望这些灾害会不知不觉地自动消失要好得多。 Although insurance can be complex, its basic concepts are neither difficult nor impossible to learn. Quite the opposite. Insurance fundamentals can be understood by those willing to study them. Serious study provides knowledge. The study of insurance is an effective, proven method of dealing with the insurance ignorance faced by many American families. 尽管保险可能是复杂的，但是保险的一些基本概念既不是很难懂的，也不是不可能学会的。恰恰相反，只要是愿意学习保险知识的人，都能弄明白保险的基本原则。认真地钻研就能获得保险的知识。钻研保险知识是很多美国家庭用来对付不懂保险情况的一种行之有效的切实可行的方法。 What Is Money and What Are Its Functions? 金钱及金钱的功用是什么？ 
钱是人一生中所非常熟悉的东西。实际上，很可能你已经认为自己就是这方面的专家了。你总是用钱来衡量你所拥有的一切东西的价值。你的口袋里和银行往来帐户上也总是有一定数量的钱。可是经济学家们对于金钱是什么，对于怎样来衡量金钱，却有许许多多不同的意见，你若知道了这一情况或许会大吃一惊。钱的功能和作用有很多，给金钱所下的任何定义必须能把金钱的一切功用都包括进去。 The four major functions of money are as a medium of exchange, a standard of value, a standard of deferred payment, and a store of value. 钱的四种主要的功能和作用就是：交易媒介、价值标准、赊账标准、价值储备。 A Medium of Exchange. As a generally accepted medium of exchange, money rules out the need for barter, the direct exchange of one item for another. Barter is a very inconvenient means of trading because it requires the double coincidence of wants. A seller with a good or service to offer must search for a buyer who has exactly what the seller desires. For example, if a baker wants meat, he must search for a person who sells meat and wants bread under a barter system. Because money is generally accepted as payment for may purchase, a baker who sells bread for money can use the money to buy meat or anything else he wants. 交易媒介。因为一般人都把金钱当然交易媒介，这就不必再进行物物交换了，即不必再以一种商品去交换另一种商品了。物物交换是一种很不方便的交易方式，因为买卖双方的需要都能吻合才行。想出售商品或劳务的卖主必须搜找这样一个买家，在这个买家手里正好有卖主想要得到的东西。例如，用物物交换的交易方式，如果一个卖面包的想要得到肉，那他就必须找一个想得到面包的卖肉的人才能交易。因为钱是一般人都能接受的一种购买任何商品的支付手段，所以一个卖面包的，卖了面包得到了钱，就可以用钱去买肉或者去买他所想买的任何别的东西。 A Standard of Value. Money provides a unit of account that serves as a standard to measure value. The value of an item is a measure of what a person will sacrifice to obtain it. How much is a two-week vacation in Hawaii worth to you? If you're like most people, you'll probably respond to such a question by valuing the vacation in dollars - way $2,000 - rather than in terms of other things (like your car). Whether or not you're conscious of it, you're constantly valuing items in dollars. As a standard of value, money allows the addition of values of many different items as automobiles, repairs, and all other goods and services. The concept of GNP is useless without a standard of value such as the dollar. 价值标准。钱是一种计算单位，用这个计算单位可作为衡量价值的标准。一件商品的价值要由一个人为得到该商品应付多少钱来衡量。一个人到美国夏威夷州去度假两周该花多少钱？如果你像大多数人一样，也许你若回答度这一次假的价值的问题，你会用钱数来回答，比如你回答说$2000，而不会用其他东西的（例如汽车）的数字来回答。不管你意识到没有，反正你总是用美元来衡量某些开支项目的价值。金钱，作为价值标准，能把许多不同的开支项目，比如各种汽车、大修理费和所买的其他所有的商品和劳务费用，加到一起，总共花了多少钱。如果没有像美元之类的价值标准，那么国民生产总值这类概念就毫无用处。 A standard of Deferred Payment. Many contracts involve promises to pay sums of money in the future. The unit of account for deferred payment of debts is also money. If you borrow money to buy a car, the loan contract specifies how much you must pay back every month and the number of months required to satisfy your obligation. However, money serves its function as a standard of deferred payment only if its purchasing power remains fairly constant over time. If the price level rises, the future purchasing power of money over time will go down. Similarly, a decrease in the price level will increase the future purchasing power of money. 赊账标准。许多合同里都有保证将来分几次付款的诺言。分期付款债务的计算机单位也是钱。如果你贷款去买一辆汽车，那么借贷合同上就规定了你每月要偿还多少钱，规定了你偿清债务所需的月份数字。可是，只有在金钱的购买力在一段时间内保持相对稳定的条件下，金钱才能起到赊账延期支付标准的作用。如果物价水平在上涨，那么在将来的一段时期内金钱的购买力就会下降。同样道理，如果物价水平在下降，那么金钱的购买力就会上涨。 
价值储存。金钱也能起到储存价值的作用，所储存的价值可以迅速转化成商品或者劳务。金钱既然是实际上的交易媒介，它是完全可以流通的。也就是说金钱可以立即转换成任何商品或任何劳务而不会有任何不便之处，不须付出任何代价。可是其他资产若作为价值储存起来，要想转换就必须首先把它卖掉，这才能使之转换成一般人都能接受的交易媒介，而在变卖其他资产时，还经常要支出一些附加费用，这很不方便。可是有了具有储存价值的金钱，就可以免去了日常买卖中的交易费用。
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