We all know that saving is important and is something that we should be doing.
我们都知道省钱很重要，这是我们应该一直做的事情。
And yet, overall, we're doing less and less of it.
然而，总的来说，我们很少这么做了。
We know what we need to do. The question is: How do we do it? And that's what I'm here to teach you.
我们知道要怎么做。问题在于：我们该如何做？我在这里就是要回答这个问题的。
Your savings behavior isn't a question of how smart you are or how much willpower you have.
你的省钱行为与你的智商或者你有多强的意志力无关。
The amount we save depends on the environmental cues around us. Let me give you an example.
我们能省多少钱取决于我们周边的环境。我来举个例子。
We ran a study in which, in one group, we showed people their income on a monthly basis.
我们进行了研究，向其中一组的人们展示他们的每月收入。
In another group, we showed people their income on a weekly basis.
在另一组，我们以周为单位展示他们的收入。
And what we found was that people who saw their income on a weekly basis were able to budget better throughout the month.
我们的发现表明，被按周展示收入的人能够更好地调整整月的预算。
Now, it's important to know that we didn't change how much money people were receiving,
重要的是要知道我们并没有改变人们拿到多少薪水，
we just changed the environment in which they understood their income.
我们只是改变了他们理解收入的环境。
And environmental cues like this have an impact.
像这样的环境线索产生了影响。
So I'm not going to share tricks with you that you already know.
我不打算和你们分享你们已经知道的技巧。
I'm not going to tell you how to open up a savings account or how to start saving for your retirement.
我也不打算告诉你们如何开设储蓄账户，或者如何开始为你的退休计划存钱。
What I am going to share with you is how to bridge this gap from your intentions to save and your actions. Are you ready?
我要和你们分享的是如何更好地将省钱的意图付诸行动。准备好了吗？
Here's number one: harness the power of pre-commitment.
第一点：利用预先承诺的力量。
Fundamentally, we think about ourselves in two different ways: our present self and our future self.
我们通常用两种不同的方式看待自己：现在自我和未来自我。
In the future, we're perfect.
在未来，我们是完美的。
In the future, we're going to save for retirement, we're going to lose weight, we're going to call our parents more.
在未来，我们会为退休储蓄，我们会减重，会经常给父母打电话。
But we oftentimes forget that our future self is exactly the same person as our present self.
但我们常常忘记了未来的自己和现在的自己根本没有差别。
We know that one of the best times to save is when you get your tax return.
我们知道，最好的储蓄时间之一是当你收到你的纳税申报单时。
So we tried an A/B test.
所以我们做了个A/B测试。
In the first group, we texted people in early February, hopefully before they even filed for their taxes.
在第一组，我们在2月初给人们发短信，希望赶在他们报税前。
And we asked them, "If you get a tax refund, what percentage would you like to save?"
我们问他们，“如果你得到退税，会把其中多少钱存起来？”
Now this is a really hard question. They didn't know if they would receive a tax refund or how much.
这真是个很难回答的问题。他们不知道他们是否会得到退税或退了多少。
But we asked the question anyway.
但我们还是问了这个问题。
In the second group, we asked people right after they received their refund, "What percentage would you like to save?"
在第二组中，我们在人们收到退税后问他们，“你会把多少退税存起来？”
Now, here's what happened. In that second condition, when people just received their tax refund,
结果是这样的。在第二种情况下，当人们收到退税时，
they wanted to save about 17 percent of their tax refund.
他们想把退税额的17%存起来。
But in the condition when we asked people before they even filed their taxes,
但在人们填写纳税申报前就询问的这种情况里，
savings rates increased from 17 percent to 27 percent when we asked in February.
当我们在2月询问时，储蓄率从17%增至27%。
Why? Because you're committing for your future self, and of course your future self can save 27 percent.
为什么有这种差别？因为你对未来的自己做了承诺，当然未来自己能够存下27%。
These large changes in savings behavior came from the fact that we changed the decision-making environment.
这些较大的储蓄行为改变是因为我们改变了决策环境。
We want you to be able to harness that same power.
我们希望你们能够驾驭同样的力量。
So take a moment and think about the ways in which you can sign up your future self for something that you know today will be a little bit hard.
所以花点时间想想你可以用什么方式让未来的自己去做一些你今天知道会有点困难的事情。
Sign up for an app that lets you make savings decisions in advance.
注册一个应用程序，让你提前做出储蓄决定。
The trick is, you have to have that binding contract.
关键是，你的承诺要有约束力。
Number two: use transition moments to your advantage.
第二点：利用好转型期。
We did an experiment with a website that helps older adults share their housing.
我们在一个帮助老年人分享住房的网站做过一个实验，
We ran two ads on social media, targeted to the same population of 64-year-olds.
我们在社交媒体上投放了两个广告，都针对64岁的人群。
In one group, we said, "Hey, you're getting older. Are you ready for retirement? House sharing can help."
在一组中，我们说，“嗨，你正在老去。你准备好退休了吗？共享房子会有帮助。”

In the second group, we got a little bit more specific and said,
在第二组中，我们更加具体地讲：
"You're 64 turning 65. Are you ready for retirement? House sharing can help."
“你现在64岁，马上就65岁。你准备好退休了吗？共享房子会有帮助。”
What we're doing in that second group is highlighting that a transition is happening.
我们在第二组做的是强调转型正在发生。
All of a sudden, we saw click-through rates, and ultimately sign-up rates, increase when we highlight that.
突然之间，当我们强调这点时，我们看到点击率和最终的注册率都增长了。
In psychology, we call this the "fresh start effect."
在心理学中，我们称之为“新起点效应。”
Whether it's the start of a new year or even a new season, your motivation to act increases.
不管这是在一年之初还是在一个新的季度，你行动的动力会增加。
So right now, put a meeting request on your calendar for the day before your next birthday.
所以现在，在日历上为你下一个生日的前一天写一个会议请求。
Identify the one financial thing you most want to do. And commit yourself to it.
确定你最想做的一件理财事项。并尽量去实现。
The third and final trick: get a handle on small, frequent purchases.
第三点和最后一点技巧：控制好经常的小物品采购。
We've run a few different studies and found that the number one purchase people say they regret, after bank fees, is eating out.
我们做了几个不同的研究，发现人们在买单后最后悔的头号消费是外出就餐。
It's a frequent purchase we make almost every day, and it's death by a thousand cuts.
这几乎是我们每天都进行的消费，这真是让人剁手的事情。
A coffee here, a burrito there ... It adds up and decreases our ability to save.
来杯咖啡，再来个墨西哥卷饼...这些加起来显著降低了我们储蓄的能力。
Back when I lived in New York City, I looked at my expenses and saw that I spent over 2,000 dollars on ride-sharing apps.
回到我住在纽约那阵，我检查了一下我的花销，发现我在拼车应用上花了2000美元。
It was more than my New York City rent. I vowed to make a change.
比我在纽约的租金还高。我发誓要做出改变。
And the next month, I spent 2,000 dollars again -- no change, because the information alone didn't change my behavior.
接下来的一个月，我又花了2000美元--没有变化，因为信息本身并无法改变我的行为。
I didn't change my environment.
我没改变我的环境。
So now that I was 4,000 dollars in the hole, I did two things.
所以现在，我有4000美元的亏空了，我做了两件事情。
The first is that I unlinked my credit card from my car-sharing apps.
第一件事是我从拼车应用上解绑了我的信用卡。
Instead, I linked a debit card that only had 300 dollars a month.
反之，我将每个月只有300美元额度的借记卡绑在上面。
If I needed more, I had to go through the whole process of adding a new card,
如果我需要更多，我就得进行整个添加新卡的流程，
and we know that every click, every barrier, changes our behavior.
我们知道即便是一个点击，一个障碍，都可以改变行为。
We aren't machines. We don't carry around an abacus every day,
我们不是机器。我们不会每天都带着算盘，
adding up what we're spending, in comparison to what we wanted.
把我们花的钱加起来和我们想花的钱做比较。
But what our brains are very good at is counting up the number of times we've done something.
但我们的大脑很擅长计算我们做事情的次数。
So I gave myself a limit. I can only use ride-sharing apps three times a week. It forced me to ration my travels.
所以我给自己设限。我只能每周使用三次拼车应用。这迫使我限量出行。
I got a handle on my car-sharing expenses to the benefit of my husband, because of the environmental changes that I did.
为了我丈夫的利益，我控制住了与人共享汽车的费用，因为我所做的环境改变。
So get a handle on whatever that purchase is for you, and change your environment to make it harder to do so.
所以无论你买什么东西，都要控制好，改变你的环境，让你更难做这一点。
Those are my tips for you. But I want you to remember one thing.
这是我给你们的提示。但我想让你们记住一件事。
As human beings, we can be irrational when it comes to saving and spending and budgeting.
作为人类，在储蓄、花费和预算方面，我们并不理性。
But luckily, we know this about ourselves, and we can predict how we'll act under certain environments.
但幸运的是，我们有自知之明，我们可以预测出在特定的环境中，我们会如何行动。
Let's do that with saving. Let's change our environment to help our future selves.
把这一点用在储蓄上吧。让我们通过改变环境来帮助未来的自己。