好英语网培养神童：如何规划财务预算
Alina Adams’ 12-year-old son, Gregory, has a gift. He is passionate about computer programming and exceptionally good at it, with talents that belie his young age.
爱丽娜·亚当斯 (Alina Adams) 12 岁的儿子格雷戈里就拥有一项天赋。 他热衷并且特别擅长于计算机编程，拥有着这个年龄不相称的天赋。
When he was 10, he was accepted into a prestigious programming course at a university, but then told he was too young to attend.
10 岁的时候，他曾被一所大学的知名编程课程录取，但却随后被告知年纪太小而不能参与该课程。
“So he got mad and he built his own website where everyone can learn how to code, whatever age they are,” said Adams, 46, who lives in New York City.
46 岁的亚当斯住在纽约。她说：“被拒这件事让他很抓狂，于是他便架设了自己的网站，在那里，不管多大岁数，每个人都能够学习编程。”
As Gregory has gotten older, funding his interest has gotten more expensive. “Some of the things he wants to develop now require hardware,” Adams said, “and that costs money.”
随着格雷戈里的慢慢长大，他的兴趣所耗费的资金也越来越高。 亚当斯说：“他现在想要开发的一些东西是有硬件要求的，那就很费钱了。”
Then there’s the price of travel and events. Two years ago Gregory attended Young Rewired State, a conference in the UK for young “digital makers.” He applied for and received a grant that covered travel expenses for both himself and his father to attend. But the cost has prohibited him from returning. “I explained to him, ‘No grant, no trip to Europe,” Adams said.
还有一个就是旅行和活动的花费。 两年前格雷戈里参加了“重接线青年邦” (YRS) 活动，一场面向年轻“数字创客”的讨论会。 他申请并收到了包含他和父亲两人参加活动的旅费补贴。 但后来他没有获得经费补贴因此没能再次参加。 亚当斯说：“我跟他解释过了，没有补贴，就去不了欧洲。”
Gregory pointed out that the UK conference had satellite events in various countries — and asked if they could have one in New York. So last summer, Adams organised a local YRS event so he and other local kids could participate. “My son had the time of his life,” Adams said in a blog on the subject. “I…came close to having a nervous breakdown.”
格雷戈里指出英国的讨论会能够在多个国家进行同步活动——并问父母他们能不能也在纽约举办个活动。 就在去年夏天，亚当斯就组织了一场当地的 YRS 活动，格雷戈里和其他当地的孩子也以此得以参与到这项活动中来。亚当斯在博客中提到这件事时，写着：“我儿子过得非常愉快……我自己差点就精神崩溃了。”
Meanwhile, Adams keeps things in perspective. “If money were unlimited, I would allow him to take all the classes he wanted,” Adams said. However, she also has two other children whose needs she must meet. “There’s a reasonable amount that gets put into his interest, but we’re not going to go overboard,” she said.
与此同时，亚当斯对待这件事的时候也很客观。 她说：“如果钱足够多的话，我会让他去参加自己喜欢的课程。” 但是，她毕竟还要满足另外两个孩子的需求。
在有限预算和定制课程之间做好平衡确非易事。
While there’s no real measure of how many kids are gifted, the US National Association of Gifted Children places the number of academically gifted and talented students at 6% to 10% of the total American student population. That doesn’t account for kids who shine in music, sports, or a specific subject area, like computer programming.
尽管并没有什么真正的措施可以衡量拥有天赋的儿童数量，美国天才儿童协会（US National Association of Gifted Children）还是将学术方面的天才儿童的数量定为国内学生总数的 6% 到 10%。 这其中并不包括那些在音乐、运动或者计算机编程等特定学科领域具有非凡表现的孩子。
Of course, many parents think their children are exceptional. A quarter of parents of high school athletes hope their children will go on to play professional sports. (Reality check: Only 1% do.)
当然，很多家长都认为自己的孩子天赋异禀。四分之一高中运动员的父母希望孩子能够继续努力，成为职业运动选手。（现状核实：只有 1% 的孩子做到了）
But for parents of truly gifted children, it's often a financial struggle to balance a limited budget with private lessons, pricey coaches, and travel to national and international events. Here’s how to keep your equilibrium.
但对那些真正拥有天才子女的父母来说，要想在有限的预算与定制课程、私人教练、国内国际活动旅费之间做好平衡，的确是件难事。 下列建议将帮助你保持好平衡能力。
What it will take: You’ll need to balance your own financial priorities against your desire to give your child what they need to excel — and resist peer pressure. “The competitiveness between parents is often as intense as it is between the child prodigies,” said Hank Mulvihill, a financial planner with Mulvihill Asset Management in Texas in the US. “You end up, as a family, making a decision to build your entire family life around supporting that effort.”
有哪些付出： 你需要在培养孩子成功成材和自己的财务状况之间做好平衡，同时对抗来自其他父母的压力。美国德克萨斯州马尔维西尔资产管理公司 (Mulvihill Asset Management) 财务计划师汉克·马尔维西尔 (Hank Mulvihill) 表示：“父母之间的竞争通常与天才儿童之间的竞争一样激烈， 作为一个家庭，最终全家人都要围绕着培养孩子这个目标而努力。”
How long you need to prepare: Before throwing money at the situation, sit down with a financial planner and make sure you have all of your bases covered. “I am astonished at the financial commitments that people make,” Mulvihill said. “When people tear apart a financial plan to fund a private coach or endless travel, it’s very difficult to re-establish those savings.”
该准备多长时间： 在为孩子的天赋投资之前，应当坐下来与财务顾问谈谈，并确保自己考虑到了所有需求。 马尔维西尔表示：“我总会惊诧于人们所做的财务规划， 当人们因为支付私人教练和各种旅费而把财务规划弄得一团糟的时候，想要重新存钱就很难了。”
Do it now: Set a budget. Most parents want to do everything possible to help their children grow and succeed. But, be sensible about how much you can reasonably spend, Mulvilhill said. “Figure out if you can afford it. And if you can’t, don’t.”
立即行动：筹划预算。许多父母都希望能竭尽所能，帮助孩子成长成才。 马尔维西尔却认为，他们应当明确自己的合理花费是多少。 “要清楚自己能否负担得起。 如果不能，且莫任性。”
Think about what you want. “How much do you want to put your child on the public stage as a prodigy, because that means performances,” said Ellen Winner, a psychology professor at Boston College in the US and author of Gifted Children: Myths and Realities. “Once you make the decision to go public and have your children win competitions, there’s even more motivation to hire these kinds of special coaches and tutors.”
思考自己想要的是什么。《天才儿童：神话与现实》一书的作者，美国波士顿学院心理学教授艾伦·温纳 (Ellen Winner) 表示：“你迫切地希望将自己孩子的天赋展现在众人面前？因为那就意味着一场表演。一旦你决定要让孩子走上公众舞台，让他们去赢得竞赛，便会拥有更多的动力去为他们聘请各种相关的特别教习。”
Cultivate on a small scale. “It is expensive to have a child prodigy,” Winner said. “You’re going to want to have a good teacher or coach, and that costs money.” But, if your budget is tight, there are other ways to nurture nascent talent. If your child is gifted at art, for example, buy her good quality art materials. Take her to museums and galleries. Keep a portfolio of her work so she can watch her own development.
小规模培养。温纳说：“孩子拥有天赋是一件很费钱的事。 你会想要聘请好的老师和教练，这就要花不少钱了。” 但是如果你的预算很紧，还可以选择其他方法来培养天才。举例来说，如果你的女儿在艺术方面有天赋的话，可以给她买些高质量的美术用品。 带她去博物馆和画廊。 把她的作品收藏成册，这样她便能够看到自己的进展。
“Do everything possible to nurture and stimulate the gift, whatever the domain,” Winner said. “But there’s a difference between enabling the gift and pushing the child to become a public spectacle.”
温纳还说：“无论孩子的天赋属于哪个领域，都要尽心培养，予以激励。 “但培养天赋与把孩子推向公众舞台可是两码事。”
Use your local resources. Take your child to local libraries and get to know your local universities and colleges. They may have free lectures or even early-access programs. “Find experts in the fields that your child is interested in,” said Julia Chung, a financial and estate planner with JYC Financial in Langley, British Columbia, in Canada. “Talk to them and ask them for help and support. You’d be surprised how many people are willing to help.”
使用本地资源。 带孩子去本地的图书馆，了解本地的一些高等院校。 这些地方可能会举办免费讲座或者预录取项目。 加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省兰利市 JYC 财务公司财务及房产规划师茱莉娅·钟 (Julia Chung) 表示：“找到孩子所钟情领域的专家。和他们多聊聊并向他们寻求帮助与支持。 你会惊讶地发现：原来有这么多人愿意帮忙。”
Keep your own savings on track. Yes, it’s important to encourage your virtuoso to develop his violin skills. But don’t do so at the expense of your golden years. “Parents spend way too much, and don’t make [retirement] contributions as they should,” said Scot Hanson, a financial planner with EFS Advisors in Minnesota in the US. “Then I notice now, 20 years later, long after their kids have given up their sport, the parent needs to work longer and cannot retire when anticipated.”
让你的积蓄有迹可循。 不错，鼓励你的小提琴手发展自己的技能诚然很重要。 但别因此就要拿自己的金色年华来做代价。美国明尼苏达州 EFS 咨询公司财务计划师斯科特·汉森 (Scot Hanson) 表示：“父母总会花费太多，而不是适可而止、尽应尽之责退休金都赌上了。 那么我就注意到，20 年以后，在他们的孩子早已放弃自己的天赋之后，他们还需要工作更长的时间，而无法在预定的年纪退休。”
Do it later: Look for help. “There are definitely scholarship programs and many foundations that are interested in supporting the development of talent of these students,” said Rene Islas, executive director at the US National Association for Gifted Children. “Start with your school to help you develop, and once you start not having your child’s needs met within the school environment, there are scholarship programs.”
晚点再做：寻求帮助。 美国天才儿童协会执行董事雷内·伊斯拉斯 (Rene Islas) 说：“当然会有奖学金项目和许多基金会感兴趣于支持这些学生的天赋培养。 刚开始，学校会帮助你培养天赋，一旦脱离了学校环境能够满足的儿童需求，还可以求助于一些奖学金项目。”
Keep your head on your shoulders. Sure, your child is good at hockey. But, the chances of him getting rich as a professional hockey player are minuscule, so don’t ruin yourself financially in the pursuit of greatness. “People don’t make reasonable decisions in this area,” Mulvihill said. “I’ve seen people liquidate [retirement accounts] to fund these efforts.”
要保持清醒。 你的孩子擅长曲棍球，这当然是好事。 但是成为职业曲棍球选手、大把捞金的可能性却微乎其微，所以别因为追求遥不可及的梦想而使自己陷入财务窘境。 马尔维西尔表示：“在这种事上，人们做出的决定并不明智。 我曾见过有些人，清空自己的"退休账户"来支援这些追求。”
That’s not to say that your child can’t have a rewarding experience or enjoy competing as a non-professional. At a certain level it may be possible to secure local business donations or corporate sponsors, and if your child is really good — as in, Olympics good — there can be money in medaling. (Just don’t bet your retirement on it.)
这并非说你的孩子就不能拥有有益的体验，或者不能以非职业的身份去享受比赛。 在一定程度上，当然也能够获得当地的商业捐助或公司赞助，如果你的孩子真的表现得很棒，和奥运比赛的水准相当，那么肯定就会有为金牌而愿意投钱的机构。（只是别把自己的退休金都赌上。）
Do it smarter: Remember that your gifted child is a child. “They may be able to process a great deal of information but they’re still, physically and emotionally, children,” said Julia Chung. “They need to play. They need friends, which can be hard, because they’re so different. Seek out support and social groups for both you and your child.”
明智举措：记住就算有天赋，孩子也是孩子。 茱莉娅·钟表示：“孩子们可能可以处理大量的信息，但是无论从生理上还是心理上，他们还是孩子。 他们需要玩耍。 他们需要交朋友，但他们的与众不同却让交友成了一件难事。 因此，就应当为你和你的孩子寻求支持和社会团体活动。
It’s important, too, to remember to show your child that they have value as a person, outside of being gifted. “They will still seek your approval,” Chung said. “Make sure it’s not just for being really smart.”
记得告诉你的孩子，除了天赋之外他们还有生而为人的价值，这点同样重要。 茱莉娅·钟还说：“他们依然会希望你的肯定赞赏。千万要记住，别只是赞赏他们的聪明天赋。”