WHAT would you do with $590m? This is now a question for Gloria MacKenzie, an 84-year-old widow who recently emerged from her small, tin-roofed house in Florida to collect the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in history. The blogosphere is full of advice for this lucky Powerball pensioner. But if she hopes her new-found lucre will yield lasting feelings off ulfilment, she could do worse than read “Happy Money” by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton.
如果你有
5.9
亿美金，你会拿这笔钱做什么？而如今居住在佛罗里达州小铁皮房子里
84
岁高龄的凯莱•麦肯齐，这位独自中了强力球史上金额最大的头奖失去丈夫的老太太，面临的新难题就是如何把这笔巨款花出去。网友们纷纷为还领着养老金的麦肯齐出谋划策，但是如果她想让这份天外飞财给自己带来更为持久的幸福感，那她不如去拜读一番由伊丽莎白•邓恩和迈克尔·诺顿合著的书《快乐理财》。
These two academics—she teaches psychologyat the University of British Columbia; he lectures on marketing at Harvard Business School—use an array of behavioural research to show that the most rewarding ways to spend money can be counterintuitive. Fantasies of great wealth often involve visions of fancy cars and palatial homes on remote bluffs.Yet satisfaction with these material purchases wears off fairly quickly. What was once exciting and new becomes old-hat; remorse creeps in. It is far better to spend money on experiences, say Ms Dunn and Mr Norton, like interesting trips, unique meals or even going to the cinema. These purchases often become more valuable with time—as stories or memories—particularly if they involve feeling more connected to others.
伊丽莎白•邓恩和迈克尔·诺顿同是以学者的身份著书，伊丽莎白在英属哥伦比亚大学教授心理学，迈克尔在哈弗商学院带营销课。二人运用一系列行为学研究方法证明了最具价值的花钱方法同样具有反直觉性质。通常巨额财富会伴随着许多幻想，比如奢华豪车，比如悬崖绝壁边上的古典城堡。不过，即使这些物质都握在手中，满足感也难以维系。曾经一度能让自己兴奋好久的事物，到手之后不过就像是老旧的礼帽；悔恨之情油然而生。所以用伊丽莎白和迈克尔的话说，这远不如把钱花在寻求体验上。像是有趣的一次旅行，一桌独一无二的餐饭，甚至可以只是去看一场电影。伴随着时间的印记，伴随着故事的升华，伴随着记忆的流金，尤以那些将他人串联在一起的因素发挥作用时，“买”这个字才变得更加有价值。
This slim volume is packed with tips to help wage slaves as well as lottery winners get the most “happiness bang for your buck”. It seems most people would be better off if they could shorten their commutes to work, spend more time with friends and family and less of it watching television (something the average American spends a whopping two months a year doing, and is hardly jollier for it). Buying gifts or giving to charity is often more pleasurable than purchasing things for oneself, and luxuries are most enjoyable when they are consumed sparingly. This is apparently the reason McDonald’s restricts the availability of its popular McRib—a marketing gimmick that has turned the pork sandwich into an object of obsession.
无论你是工资的奴仆，还是彩票的幸运儿，这本薄薄的册子都能最大化让你的荷包为你带来幸福。人们缩短上下班所耗费的时间，与家人朋友多待一阵，在电视机前少待一阵（平均每一位美国人一年之中要在电视机前消耗整整两个月，但是无聊的感觉却没能因此减少），似乎认为大家的生活就会好一些。通常情况下给别人买一份礼物或者捐助慈善机构所获得的快乐要比为自己做事多得多，如果能有节制的进行奢侈消费，那么奢侈品带来的愉悦是无可比拟的。这也就是为什么麦当劳限制出售旗下受欢迎的“去骨猪排三明治”的原因，为的就是在这一营销手段之下“去骨猪排三明治”不再是简单的香味四溢的三明治，还能散发出令人着迷的气息。
