1、本科毕业论文（设计） 外 文 翻 译 原文 ： An In-Depth Look at Family Cash-Flow Management Practices Time orientation. Although rarely stated explicitly, time orientation clearly is a consideration for the informants. All the informants are focused on short-term safety. They offered little thought of long-term plannin
2、g in their comments other than some nonspecific goals. Lorrie indicated her time orientation when she talked about “savings being important,” but not important enough to cut “their current life style.” She went on, “Saving is something people are interested in, but in reality, people want to enjoy w
3、hat they have right now.” Each managers focus was on the short term (“Does the proposed expense fit?”). Long-term issues were not typically included in the managers perspective, with Angie and Bob being the exceptions. Ease and convenience. Managers constantly looked for ways to make cash-flow manag
4、ement easier. Sam, Lorrie, Sandy, and Nora all remarked that the practices recommended by textbooks and promoted in the popular press are neither easy nor convenient. Ease is a reason for visual clues and automatic bill payments. Another tool is the development of routines to help minimize planning
5、that, in turn, minimizes the commitment of mental resources. Informants established routines such as using insurance companies who “billed every month,” paid the “same amount every month” on credit card bills and spent “the same on groceries each week. Some of the informants indicated that consisten
6、t paychecks helped. The most frustrating change when Karl took his new job, according to Sandy, was not the decrease in pay but that, when he went to an hourly position, his take-home pay varied each pay period, making planning more difficult. Other ease and convenience factors included selecting a
7、bank by location and “readability of statements” for Gary. Credit cards are convenient because they are: (1) a tool to match demands with income, (2) “the easiest way to pay for them concert tickets,” and (3) useful “when out of town.” Automatic transfers from savings to checking prevent overdrafts.
8、 Sam admitted to keeping small checking accounts open “because if I have to borrow money, I can borrow from these places in a hurry.” Ease and convenience also arose when questioning how and where the informants gathered financial information. Informants said, “we heard,” “everyone says,” or “I read
9、 it somewhere.” Information came from coworkers, friends, “our banker and insurance representative,” “the father of a friend,” newspapers, and magazines, such as Glamour, Womans Day, McCalls, and Good Housekeeping. Several informants gathered information from “junk credit card mail.” Two of the info
10、rmants, Angie and Gary, use the assistance of a financial planner. The use of the information is dependent on the trust the financial manager has in the source. Information from a trusted individual is more likely to be used than information from an unknown source. Safety. Another consideration is t
11、he financial managers need to feel a sense of safety in personal finances. Safety means, “having the funds available to cover current bills,” “providing protection if funding gets tight,” and “avoiding an overdraft.” Sam does this by having a line of credit tied to his checking account. Cindy, Lorri
12、e, Nora and Angie all use “false balances,” a balance that remains when the check register shows a zero balance, done to protect against overdrafts. Angie creates her false balance with “mind games,” as she records $240 for her $238 insurance payment or pays the health insurance bill one month ahead
13、. Another part of safety is the informants knowledge of the “float” period, or the time from when a check is written until it will actually be deducted from ones account. Financial attitudes. Several attitudes or feelings emerge from the data, items important in the familys cash-flow management patt
14、erns. The first is a general idea that the family is “doing okay,” as expressed by Cindy, Lorrie, and Sam. Nora said she feels “lucky.” Sandy commented, “Life is good.” Lorrie stated, “Every month we do okay and . . . nobody is knocking on my door.” Sandy said they “are doing better financially” tha
15、n when they were first married. Only Nora feels like “we are losing ground.” Feelings also are at work in Sandys, Sams, and Noras comments that “we always manage,” in reference to unexpected expenses. Believing they are normal is an important need among the informants. They want to feel and seem lik
16、e everyone else. In conversations before and after the tape recorder was running, the informants asked about the purpose of the study. Initially Sandy, Nora, and Cindy were hesitant about participating in the study, saying, “I dont do things correctly, why would you want me?” As discussions continue
17、d they commented, “I am normal” when comparing their cash-flow processes to those of others. All the informants at some time commented about “being normal” or like their peers in how they handle their finances. Lorrie indicated she was like everyone else and “lived from paycheck to paycheck” spendin
18、g most of what they made, “as do most people.” Conclusions Four major conclusions can be drawn concerning the management practices of the seven families in this study. First, the financial managers in this study seem generally pleased with their overall financial situations and their corresponding a
19、pproach to financial management. Second, they focus on the short term, an important consideration for educators and planners. The concerns and issues of the financial manager revolved around current cash flow versus the broader financial resource management tasks of budgeting, insurance, asset growt
20、h and net worth. Lead-in questions were asked about long-term issues, but the financial managers response focused on short-term safety. The financial managers goal is neither line item control nor an increase in net worth, but having enough money to meet current bills. The short-term focus brings wi
21、th it a lack of time and interest for long-term planning. The lack of focus on the long term was visible not so much by what informants said, but by what was not said in the interviews. Financial managers seldom discussed long-term cash-flow management issues. The long term was only discussed when the informant was asked a direct question or in passing, as an informant might refer to the future and a need to prepare. Typically, the need to prepare revolved around retirement and education of the children. Rarely did the
