祝贺你们，2013届的毕业生们。你们顺利毕业了！现在该学点真正有用的东西了。在攻克了所有那些课业难关之后，现在你可以接着掌握理财方面的实用技能了。幸运的是，如今的经济状况比几年前好了，大学毕业生的整体失业率大约是全美总人口失业率的一半，这对你的就业前景来说是一个好兆头。
Congratulations, 2013 graduates. You did it! Now it's time to learn something really useful.
如果你学会了管理薪水，量入为出，存一些钱以备将来之用，你就可以将所受教育学以致用了，不管你选择做什么工作。
Having conquered all those classes, now you can move on to mastering the practical skill of managing money. Luckily, the economy is in better shape than it was a couple of years ago, and the overall unemployment rate for college grads is roughly half that of the total U.S. population, boding well for your job prospects.
下面是让你走上正确之路的一些建议。
If you learn to manage a paycheck, spend less than you earn and stash away some money for later, you can put that education to good use, no matter what you choose to do.
1. 善待父母。父母除了在你找到工作之前给你一个安身之处以外，可能还会为你的健康保险买单。如果你买的是学生险，保险可能会在八月中旬到期。到时如果你不能通过就业获得保险，你要马上开始购买其它保险。
Here's some advice to get you on the right path.
按照现行的《平价医疗法案》(the Affordable Care Act)，年轻人一直到25岁都可以纳入父母的医疗保险计划，但是如果他们曾经保过学生险，那就需要重新登记。在你找到工作以后，可能需要三个月以后才有资格享受保险待遇，因此你可以选择参加父母的医保计划或者一个短期的医保方案。（短期方案一般不会承保投保前已有的疾病。）
• Be nice to your parents. In addition to giving you a place to stay until you find a job, they might pay for your health insurance. If you have insurance under a student plan, it probably will end in mid-August. If you're not going to get coverage through a job by then, start working on other plans right away.
如果你的父母不能做你的靠山，你可能需要买一份保期到一月份的短期保险，到了一月份个人就可以通过新市场、联邦或州经营的交易所购买常规医疗保险了，这些交易所可以提供各家保险公司的标准医疗保险计划。报名开放的时间是在10月份。
Under the Affordable Care Act, young people can stay on a parent's health-insurance plan through age 25, but they need to re-enroll if they've been on a student plan. After you're hired for a job, it could take three months to qualify for insurance, so a parent's plan or a short-term health plan can be an option. (Short-term plans typically don't cover pre-existing conditions.)
不管你选择做什么工作，都不要遗漏了购买保险。哪怕是年轻、健康的人也需要它，因为一起车祸或无法预见的疾病都会让你陷入巨大的财政困难。
If your parents aren't a fallback, you might need to buy a short-term policy until January, when individuals will be able to buy conventional health insurance through new marketplaces, federal or state-run exchanges that offer standard health-insurance plans from various carriers. Open enrollment begins in October.
2. 减少债务。估计今天三分之二的毕业生离校时都会身背学生贷款，借款人的平均负债额接近27,000美元。债务是一个沉重的负担，因此好几年时间的节衣缩食，甚至推迟念研究生的计划来偿还至少部分的债务，都是值得的。那样会节省你的利息成本，让你在后二十年甚至更长的时间里有更大的灵活性。
Whatever you do, don't skip getting insurance. Even those who are young and healthy need it, since a car accident or unforeseen illness can put you in a giant financial hole.
看看一笔利率为6.8%的20,000美元的10年期联邦贷款吧。如果每月的月还款总额是230美元，那么贷款期间支付的利息总额累计会达到7,600美元左右。如果每月多还款20美元，还款的年限就可以缩短到九年，整个贷款期间可以省掉900美元的利息。如果每月还款总额为400美元──可能也就是偿还汽车贷款的数目──五年就可以还清贷款，节省的利息会超过4,000美元。
• Reduce debt. An estimated two-thirds of today's graduates will leave with student loans, and the average borrower balance is almost $27,000. Debt is such a burden that it's worth scrimping for a few years, and even delaying graduate school, to pay off at least some of the debt. That will save you in interest costs and give you far more flexibility in your later twenties and beyond.
由于贷款通常是以学年为单位发放的，毕业生们可能会有好几笔不同利率的贷款。学生营销公司Edvisors.com的出版人马克•坎特罗威茨(Mark Kantrowitz)建议先还清利率最高的那一笔贷款，并通报贷款服务机构，这是针对利率最高那笔贷款，不是针对时间排序为下一笔的贷款。
Consider $20,000 in 10-year federal loans at 6.8% interest. The total monthly payments would be $230, and total interest would add up to about $7,600 over the loans' life. Paying just $20 a month extra will shorten the repayment period to nine years and save you $900 in interest over the life of the loans. Paying a total of $400 a month
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