[00:00.100]From VOA Special English,
[00:02.000]this is the Economics Report.
[00:05.690]Are you a saver or a spender?
[00:08.880]"A penny saved is a penny earned."
[00:12.520]This old saying calls attention
[00:15.210]to the wisdom of saving money.
[00:17.790]"Putting money away for a rainy day"
[00:21.590]is another way to talk about saving for the future.
[00:25.870]People who hate to spend money are known as "tightwads,"
[00:31.190]while those who like to get the most value
[00:34.370]for their money are called "thrifty."
[00:37.620]A thrifty person is different from a "spendthrift."
[00:42.660]A spendthrift is someone who spends wastefully.
[00:47.130]People like that are often said to spend money
[00:51.420]"like a drunken sailor" or "like there's no tomorrow."
[00:57.250]In the United States,
[00:59.650]people who want to start a savings account
[01:02.830]have different choices of where to put their money.
[01:07.010]These include banks and credit unions.
[01:11.650]Credit unions are cooperatives for people
[01:15.530]who have some kind of connection.
[01:18.170]For example, the members might work for a university
[01:23.590]or a government agency.
[01:25.830]Most credit unions are nonprofit organizations.
[01:31.310]Credit unions, banks and other financial institutions
[01:37.130]pay interest on savings accounts.
[01:40.310]But the interest rates are low.
[01:43.450]Certificates of deposit pay higher returns.
[01:48.180]With a certificate of deposit, or CD,
[01:52.060]a person agrees not to withdraw the money
[01:55.250]for a certain period of time.
[01:57.790]This term could be anywhere from a few months to several years.
[02:04.660]Longer terms, and larger amounts, pay higher interest.
[02:10.340]People can withdraw their money early
[02:14.030]but they have to pay a penalty.
[02:17.010]Another way to save is through a money market fund.
[02:21.440]This is a kind of mutual fund.
[02:25.030]Mutual funds invest money from many people.
[02:29.310]The money is sometimes placed in short-term government securities.
[02:35.340]Money market funds, however, may not be federally guaranteed
[02:40.970]like other kinds of savings.
[02:43.560]The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation guarantees savings
[02:49.190]up to two hundred fifty thousand dollars.
[02:52.920]In a number of countries,
[02:55.810]people have been saving less over the years.
[02:59.390]The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
[03:04.430]is a group of thirty-four countries.
[03:07.460]The OECD says in nineteen ninety,
[03:11.950]Americans had a household savings rate of seven percent.
[03:16.400]This year, that rate is expected to be a little more
[03:21.130]than two percent.
[03:24.020]Many European countries have higher rates,
[03:28.280]but Americans save more than families in Japan.
[03:32.630]And that's the Economics Report.