VOA慢速英语:How an Allowance Helps Children Learn About Money

Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance. The purpose is to let children learn from experience at an age when financial mistakes are not very costly.
许多孩子通过得到零花钱第一次了解钱的价值。目的是让孩子在无需为理财错误付出惨痛代价的年龄学习经验。

The amount of money that parents give to their children to spend as they wish differs from family to family. Timing is another consideration. Some children get a weekly allowance. Others get a monthly allowance.
父母们给孩子的零花钱数量因家庭而异。时间是另外一个方面。一些孩子每周都有零花钱，有的孩子则每月领取零花钱。

In any case, parents should make clear what, if anything, the child is expected to pay for with the money.
无论在哪种情况下，只要有给零花钱,父母都应该清楚告诉他们这些零花钱应该如何使用.

At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If they do this, they will learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget. Parents are usually advised not to offer more money until the next allowance.
首先，年幼的孩子拿到零花钱后可能很快就会花光。如果这样的话，他们很快就会得到惨痛的教训，花钱应该有预算。通常建议家长们，不要在下次发放零花钱的日期之前再给孩子更多钱。

The object is to show young people that a budget demands choices between spending and saving. Older children may be responsible enough to save money for larger costs, like clothing or electronics.
目的是让小孩子懂得，预算要求你在支出和储蓄之间做出选择。年龄稍微大一点的孩子可能已经懂得存钱来应对较大的开支，例如衣服或电子产品。

Many people who have written on the subject of allowances say it is not a good idea to pay your child for work around the home. These jobs are a normal part of family life.
许多曾经写过关于零花钱文章的人说，让孩子做家务活来赚取零花钱并不是一个好主意。这些工作是家庭生活的正常组成部分。

Paying children to do extra work around the house, however, can be useful. It can even provide an understanding of how a business works.
但是，让孩子做额外的工作来赚零花钱则是有用的。这甚至可以帮助孩子理解生意是如何运作的。

Allowances give children a chance to experience the things they can do with money. They can share it in the form of gifts or giving to a good cause. They can spend it by buying things they want. Or they can save and maybe even invest it.
零花钱可以给孩子提供机会来体验他们可以钱做哪些事情。他们可以购买礼物，或者捐给慈善事业。他们可以购买自己想要的东西，或者存起来，甚至可以进行投资。

Saving helps children understand that costly goals require sacrifice: you have to cut costs and plan for the future.
储蓄帮助孩子们理解，昂贵的目标需要作出牺牲：必须削减目前的支出来为未来做计划。

Requiring children to save part of their allowance can also open the door to future saving and investing. Many banks offer services to help children and teenagers learn about personal finance.
要求孩子们将部分零花钱存起来还可以对未来的储蓄和投资起到帮助。许多银行提供服务帮助儿童和青少年学习个人理财。

A savings account is an excellent way to learn about the power of compound interest.
开设储蓄账户是让孩子了解复利的强大的一个好方法。

Compounding works by paying interest on interest. So, for example, one dollar invested at two percent interest for two years will earn two cents in the first year. The second year, the money will earn two percent of one dollar and two cents, and so on.
复利指的是连本带息进行计算。例如，以2%的利息存入一美元，存期为两年。第一年你可以获得2分的利息。第二年，你将获得一美元加2美分的2%的利息，以此类推。

That may not seem like a lot. But over time it adds up.
这看上去似乎不多。但是随着时间的推移将不断增加。