扒车喵最近，美国知乎Quora网站贴出一个问题：相比中国人，为什么西方人的储蓄率低很多？（Why do people living in the west have much lower savings rates than the Chinese?），引起了国外网友热议。
【以下是quora网友的回答】
Tom McGregor, Editor/Commentator at CCTV.com (2015-present)
Answered Wed
As an American, I can speak from personal experiences to answer the questions here. As a child, I grew up in a family where we were encouraged to save money and not spoiled so that if we wanted to purchase something dear to our hearts, we had to earn the money ourselves to buy it.
As a saver, you are required to boost your willpower, maintain self-discipline and remain patient when finding yourself in a shopping mood. These are good personal traits to have and I encourage all others to make efforts to act in a similar manner.
我是美国人，以下是个人经历。
我在一个崇尚节约的家庭中长大，没被宠坏，想买东西，自己挣钱。
作为节俭的人，意志力要强，保持自律。
Nonetheless, for a few years after graduating from college, I diverted from my good habits on saving and transformed into an overspender, racking up debts. Numerous factors were at play for my behavior but we should still take responsibility for our actions, regardless of circumstances.
So let’s flash forward to my arrival in Beijing in Oct. 2010, when I still had shown a reluctance to save money, but since I had more control over my finances, I was more careful about how I spent my money.
尽管如此，大学毕业几年后，从节俭的人变成了花钱大手大脚的人，债台高筑。个中因素很多，不管怎样，我们都要为自己的行为负责。
回顾一下2010年10月我到北京的时候，那时我仍不愿意存钱，由于赚的钱都是自己管，我对如何花钱就更谨慎了。
After I met my future wife, Zhou Yawei, a Chinese native, she offered to help me with saving money. At first, I was reluctant since her plans involved taking control of my ATM card and just providing me with an allowance for each month, which is a Chinese custom. But she pledged to save the money and alert me on any added purchases on her part.
It was not easy for the first few months to stay so careful on my spending habits, but after reviewing my bank statements, three months later, I discovered we had much more money in the bank.
遇见未婚妻中国人周雅薇（Zhou Yawei）后，她主动帮我省钱。一开始，我不乐意，她要收我的卡，只给我每个月的零花钱，这是中国人的习惯。她发誓要把钱省下来。
开始几个月很难熬，花钱瞻前顾后的，3个月后回头看存款，发现存款变多了。
And just like any regular American, who discovers access to extra money, I wanted to go on a spending spree to celebrate, but Zhou Yawei had prevented me from doing so, warning that anything bad could happen in the future, so it’s better to keep the money in the savings account.
She was proven right in the years ahead. While living in China I had enjoyed many moments of career highs, but also career lows. In some places I was hired and earned higher than expected salary, but at other times I had lost jobs and at one point I was unemployed for a nearly 8 months.
和其他美国人一样，有存款后，我很想血拼庆祝一番。但Yawei阻止了我，说要预防未来的不测，最好把钱存在银行里。
今后几年，她被证明是对的。在中国期间，我经历多次职业生涯巅峰，也经历过低谷时期。有时候拿到比预期更高的薪水，有时候失业，一度失业8个月呢
Fortunately, I moved on to bigger and better things even after some scary sufferings, but in China you never know if the next day is your dooms day. It can be frightening at times, but let’s be honest: life is not fair.
Many Chinese have similar attitudes about life and hence they recognize the enormous value of saving money for a rainy day. Meanwhile, it makes them more hard working and determined to succeed in life.
幸运的是，痛苦过后，迎来了春天。
在中国，你永远不知道明天是否就是末日。有时让人害怕，老实说：生活是不公平的。
很多中国人对生活抱着相似的态度，觉得需要存钱以备不时之需。与此同时，存钱让他们变得更有动力，决心在生活中取得成功。
They tend to be more risk-averse by nature, but as I reflect on my most foolish mistakes in life, I realized that I had taken too many risks and so when failures had struck me, it seemed like a forgone conclusion.
Additionally, the credit craze has not yet taken a hold of Chinese society. Yes, more and more Chinese are using credit cards, but they are smart enough to treat them like bank debit cards and rarely go over the limit on monthly spending.
中国人天生就有风险意识。
反思人生中的错误，发现自己经历了太多风险，当失败降临，似乎就成了必然。
另外，信贷热潮还未对中国社会产生影响。对，越来越多的中国人使用信用卡，但他们花钱，跟用储蓄卡一样，很少会去过度透支的。
WeChat Pay and AliPay are popular for Chinese consumers so they can make purchases on their smartphones, but you have to put money in the e-accounts before you can buy anything, so there’s no imminent danger of going into debt.
So, it’s my opinion that one of the strengths of China’s economy relies on the Chinese mentality to work hard and save money. If the domestic economy places too much emphasis on consumption to spur economic growth that may lead to short-term benefits and long-term consequences.
Saving for the future is better than satisfying your shopping spree whims today and going into debt tomorrow.
微信支付和支付宝很受中国消费者欢迎，方便使用手机购物，电子账户中必须有钱，这样就不会有负债危险了。
我认为中国人勤奋的心态及省钱习惯，是中国经济优势之一。
如果国内经济过分强调消费刺激经济增长，可能会带来短期利益和长期后果。
比起满足今天心血来潮的购物欲让明天负债，为未来省钱更明智。
Paul Denlinger, Have lived in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong; fluent in Mandarin (written, spoken)
Answered May 5, 2017
Because Americans worship at the altar of individualism, and believe that everything about individualism must have come from the Big Man in the Sky himself.
因为美国人崇拜个人主义。
信奉个人主义，怎么会有积蓄呢？
Let’s take a comparison:
Most Americans believe that they need to own their own home, so they take out a mortgage for each generation of Americans. This means that the debt load on each generation is at least one home mortgage. Compare this to the Chinese mentioned in my answer, where two generations are effectively paying one home mortgage where three generations live under one roof.
Daycare. Americans pay for daycare, while Chinese keep that money within their own family because the grandparents take care of the grandchild in return for cooking, shopping and other routine household duties.
比较一下：
很多美国人认为需要有自己的房子，每一代人贷款买房。相比中国人，两代人实际上只供一套住房抵押贷款，三代人住在同一屋檐下。
托儿所。美国人花钱找日托，而中国人将钱省在了家里，祖父母会帮忙照顾孙儿，会帮忙做饭，帮忙做家务。
In the US, healthcare is treated as an expense instead of a human right, which means that insurance companies and big pharma corporations are free to rape needy Americans on a regular basis. (If you are rich, then it’s not your problem because you will have no trouble getting insurance.) This is why Americans have the shortest life expectancy among developed nations.
Of course, the banks are happy to see Americans go heavily into debt as long as they can pay back their loans.
The Chinese prefer to keep the savings at the family level.
Who’s smart? Who’s dumb?
在美国，医疗保健被当成花销而不是人权，也就是说保险公司和大型制药公司定期榨干美国穷人（如果你很有钱，这不算问题）。所以在发达国家中，美国人的平均寿命是最短的。
当然，银行乐见美国人债务缠身，只要他们能还清贷款就行。
中国人更喜欢储蓄。谁聪明，谁笨呢？
Gabriel Chan, Overseas Chinese（華僑）
Answered May 5, 2017
I think Mainland Chinese and people in most developing nations have higher savings rates because social security nets are unreliable, with the exception of US-Americans for having very low savings and no safety nets. However, the global economy salutes the irrationality of the USA. As long as US consumers keep spending, the world economy does well.
我认为，中国大陆人以及大多数发展中国家的国民有更高的储蓄率，是因为社会保障并不健全。美国人的储蓄率低。然而，全球经济对美国的非理性表示欢迎。只要美国消费者继续花钱，世界经济就能运转良好。
你绝对这些网友说的对吗？怎么看？
