[ti:Ready to Save Like There's No Tomorrow?] [ar:Shirley Griffith] [al:Economics Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English Economics Report. [00:04.74]Are you a saver or a spender? [00:08.23]"A penny saved is a penny earned." [00:11.78]This old saying calls attention [00:15.98]to the wisdom of saving money. [00:18.73]"Putting money away for a rainy day" [00:22.03]is another way to talk about saving for the future. [00:26.17]People who hate to spend money are known as "tightwads," [00:31.81]while those who like to get the most value [00:35.07]for their money are called "thrifty." [00:38.22]A thrifty person is different from a "spendthrift." [00:42.97]A spendthrift is someone who spends wastefully. [00:47.86]People like that are often said to spend money [00:52.16]"like a drunken sailor" or "like there's no tomorrow." [00:57.41]In the United States, [00:59.97]people who want to start a savings account [01:03.57]have different choices of where to put their money. [01:07.63]These include banks and credit unions. [01:11.94]Credit unions are cooperatives for people [01:16.19]who have some kind of connection. [01:18.88]For example, the members might work for a university [01:23.62]or a government agency. [01:26.13]Most credit unions are nonprofit organizations. [01:31.13]Credit unions, banks and other financial institutions [01:37.22]pay interest on savings accounts. [01:40.92]But the interest rates are low. [01:43.96]Certificates of deposit pay higher returns. [01:48.29]With a certificate of deposit, or CD, [01:52.74]a person agrees not to withdraw the money [01:57.04]for a certain period of time. [01:59.44]This term could be anywhere from a few months to several years. [02:05.35]Longer terms, and larger amounts, pay higher interest. [02:11.56]People can withdraw their money early [02:14.45]but they have to pay a penalty. [02:17.40]Another way to save is through a money market fund. [02:22.34]This is a kind of mutual fund. [02:25.75]Mutual funds invest money from many people. [02:30.45]The money is sometimes placed in short-term government securities. [02:36.04]Money market funds, however, may not be federally guaranteed [02:41.58]like other kinds of savings. [02:43.88]The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation guarantees savings [02:49.99]up to two hundred fifty thousand dollars. [02:53.60]In a number of countries, [02:56.78]people have been saving less over the years. [03:00.40]The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [03:05.55]is a group of thirty-four countries. [03:09.53]The OECD says in nineteen ninety, [03:14.47]Americans had a household savings rate of seven percent. [03:20.40]This year, that rate is expected to be a little more [03:25.59]than four percent. [03:27.99]Many European countries have higher rates, [03:31.08]but Americans save more than families [03:34.56]in countries like Japan and South Korea. [03:38.21]And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. [03:42.99]To read, listen and learn English, [03:46.34]go to 51voa.com. [03:50.29]You can also find our captioned videos [03:53.84]at the VOA Learning English channel on YouTube. [03:58.71]I'm Shirley Griffith.