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. If she hopes her new-found fortune will yield lasting feelings of fulfilment, she could do worse than read "Happy Money" by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton.
如果你有5.9亿美元，你会想做什么？葛罗瑞亚·马克肯泽尔正面对这个问题。她是一位84岁在弗罗里达拥有一座小房子的寡妇，最近获得了有史以来最大的彩票头奖。博客上到处是给这位幸运强力球奖金领取者的建议。但如果她希望她新得到的财富会让她产生持久的满足感，她可能需要读读伊丽莎白·唐恩和迈克尔·诺顿合著的《快乐理财》。
These two academics 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 extravagant homes. Yet satisfaction with these material purchases wears off fairly quickly. What was once exciting and new becomes old-hat; regret 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.
这两位学者，一位在英属哥伦比亚大学教授心理学，一位在哈佛商学院教授市场营销。在书中他们引用了一些列的行为学研究向读者表明最受益的消费方式可能具有反直觉性质。财富给人的感觉经常会意味着豪车和峭壁旁的富宅。不过，这些物质采购带来的满足感会很快消失。曾经让人兴奋和带来新奇的东西到手之后不过就像是老旧的礼帽；懊恼悄然而至。远不如把钱花在生活体验上，唐恩和诺顿说道，比如说旅行，特别的膳食及去电影院看电影。随着时间的流逝，这些体验往往会变得珍贵--成为人们的故事或记忆-如果其中包含了情感故事则更是这样。
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 trick that has turned the pork sandwich into an object of obsession.
无论你是工资的奴仆，还是彩票的幸运儿在这本薄薄的书，都能让你获得“金钱带来的快乐大爆发”。如果人们能够缩短他们的工作时间和看电视的时间而花更多的时间跟朋友和家人在一起会让他们的生活的品质更高。买礼物或捐助慈善机构往往会比给自己买东西更让人觉得开心。购买限售版奢侈品会让消费者更开心。这显然是麦当劳为什么限制受欢迎的烤汁猪排堡的出售量的原因--这个营销手段使人们为猪肉三明治着迷。
Readers of "Happy Money" are clearly a privileged lot, anxious about fulfilment, not hunger. Money may not quite buy happiness, but people in wealthier countries are generally happier than those in poor ones. Yet the link between feeling good and spending money on others can be seen among rich and poor people around the world, and scarcity enhances the pleasure of most things for most people. Not everyone will agree with the authors' policy ideas, which range from mandating more holiday time to reducing tax incentives for American homebuyers. But most people will come away from this book believing it was money well spent.
《快乐财富》的读者显然是生活富足的人，他们考虑的是生活的满足感而不是饥饿。金钱可能不能买到快乐，但是在更富裕国家的人们一般比贫穷国家的人们快乐。不过，不管是在富裕的国家还是贫穷的国家，感觉良好和消费在其他人身上的联系随处可见。对大多数人来说，稀缺性提升了很多事情的快乐。并不是每个人都同意笔者在从安排更多的度假时间到减少税收刺激美国购房者的观点。但是读完这本书，大多数的人会觉得它值得购买。