It isn't just the 'Real Housewives' who are over-leveraged and living large. Even after the economic crisis mowed down many of the indebted rich, the wealthy continue to borrow to support their lifestyles.
In a column in the Washington Post, market strategist Barry Ritholtz said many of today's bankers, lawyers and doctors have become so dependent on their ever-increasing salaries that they become slaves to their jobs.
'The big banks, investment shops, law firms and accountants have learned how profitable it is to have 'golden handcuffs' on their best employees. These highly-leveraged, debt-laden wage slaves will work harder, put in longer hours and stay with the firm longer than those debt-free workers.'
He added that 'over-leveraged employees do not leave to work at a new start-up or a smaller, more family friendly competitor.'
This is true to an extent. But the wealthy don't need their companies to encourage spending-the larger culture of wealth and spending does it for them. According to data from Moody's Analytics, the top earning 5% of Americans now account for 36% of consumer outlays. More incredible, this group (with an average income of $342,000 in 2008) have the lowest savings rate in the country: 1.4% compared with more than 8% for the rest of the population.
That means that people earning more than $300,000 a year save less than one fifth as much as the bottom 40% of earners.
Yes, there are plenty of thrifty 'Millionaires Next Door' among the wealthy and high-earners. But the statistics suggest that the financial crisis and recession has barely affected the highly leveraged lifestyles of the wealthy.
Do you think today's high-earners use leverage to support their lifestyle?
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美國有錢人仍在借錢享受生活
並非只有在美國系列電視節目《貴婦的真實生活》(Real Housewives)中，人們才過著大肆借貸、揮霍無邊的生活。雖然經濟危機撂倒了很多債台高築的有錢人，但仍有很多富豪為維持自己的生活方式而繼續舉債。
市場策略師裡薩茲(Barry Ritholtz)在《華盛頓郵報》(Washington Post)的專欄文章中說，如今很多銀行家、律師和醫生都嚴重依賴其不斷增加的薪資，以至於變成了工作的奴隸。
文章說：大型銀行、投資公司、律師事務所和會計師事務所都知道，給最好的員工戴上“金手銬”對公司來說是有利可圖的事。較之無債一身輕的員工，這些借貸過度、負債累累的“工資奴隸”工作起來會更拼命，加班時間更長，受雇於一家公司的時間也更長。
裡薩茲還說，借貸過度的員工一般不會輕易辭職，去剛剛起步的新公司或規模較小、但能讓自己有更多時間照顧家庭的競爭對手那裡去工作。
從某種程度上來說，的確是這樣。但有錢人並不需要雇主來鼓勵自己增加開支，因為有關財富和消費的大文化環境就在鼓勵他們這樣做。據穆迪分析(Moody's Analytics)的統計，佔美國總人口5%的最高收入人群消費支出佔全國消費支出的比例是36%。更讓人難以置信的是，這一群體(2008年平均收入34.2萬美元)的儲蓄率全國最低，只有1.4%，而其他95%的美國人儲蓄率在8%以上。
這意味著年收入超過30萬美元的人所攢的錢還不及佔總人口40%的最低收入群體積蓄的五分之一。
沒錯，富豪和高收入者當中，也有很多勤儉節約、舉止平民化的百萬富翁。但數據顯示，金融危機和經濟衰退幾乎沒有影響富豪高負債的生活方式。
你覺得高收入人群是通過舉債來維持自己的生活方式嗎？
文章說：大型銀行、投資公司、律師事務所和會計師事務所都知道，給最好的員工戴上“金手銬”對公司來說是有利可圖的事。較之無債一身輕的員工，這些借貸過度、負債累累的“工資奴隸”工作起來會更拼命，加班時間更長，受雇於一家公司的時間也更長。
裡薩茲還說，借貸過度的員工一般不會輕易辭職，去剛剛起步的新公司或規模較小、但能讓自己有更多時間照顧家庭的競爭對手那裡去工作。
從某種程度上來說，的確是這樣。但有錢人並不需要雇主來鼓勵自己增加開支，因為有關財富和消費的大文化環境就在鼓勵他們這樣做。據穆迪分析(Moody's Analytics)的統計，佔美國總人口5%的最高收入人群消費支出佔全國消費支出的比例是36%。更讓人難以置信的是，這一群體(2008年平均收入34.2萬美元)的儲蓄率全國最低，只有1.4%，而其他95%的美國人儲蓄率在8%以上。
這意味著年收入超過30萬美元的人所攢的錢還不及佔總人口40%的最低收入群體積蓄的五分之一。
沒錯，富豪和高收入者當中，也有很多勤儉節約、舉止平民化的百萬富翁。但數據顯示，金融危機和經濟衰退幾乎沒有影響富豪高負債的生活方式。
你覺得高收入人群是通過舉債來維持自己的生活方式嗎？
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living large--揮霍無邊的生活
mowed down---撂倒
He added that---他還說
to an extent---從某種程度上來說
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