Personal Finances

TASKS

- Talking about personal finances

- Giving a friend financial advice

- Talking about the cost of living

- Writing about your personal finances

VOCABULARY

Afford [UK] [əˈfɔːd] [US] [əˈfɔːrd] verb to have enough money or time to be able to buy or to do sth

Benefit [UK] [ˈbenɪfɪt] [US] [ˈbenɪfɪt] noun an advantage that you get from a company in addition to the money that you earn; money from an insurance company

Borrow [UK] [ˈbɒrəʊ] [US] [ˈbɑːroʊ] verb to take money from a person or bank and agree to pay it back to them at a later time

Broke [UK] [brəʊk] [US] [broʊk] adj. having no money

Budget [UK] [ˈbʌdʒɪt] [US] [ˈbʌdʒɪt] noun the money that is available to a person or an organization and a plan of how it will be spent over a period of time

Circumstance [UK] [ˈsɜːkəmstəns] [US] [ˈsɜːrkəmstæns] noun the conditions and facts that are connected with and affect a situation, an event or an action

Claim [UK] [kleɪm] [US] [kleɪm] verb to ask for money from the government or a company because you have a right to it

Utility [UK] [juːˈtɪləti] [US] [juːˈtɪləti] noun a service provided for the public, for example an electricity, water or gas supply

Tax [UK] [tæks] [US] [tæks] noun money that you have to pay to the government so that it can pay for public services. People pay tax according to their income and businesses pay tax according to their profits. Tax is also often paid on goods and services

Construction [UK] [kənˈstrʌkʃn] [US] [kənˈstrʌkʃn] noun the process or method of building or making sth, especially roads, buildings, bridges, etc

Cost Of Living  noun the amount of money that people need to pay for food, clothing and somewhere to live

Daily [UK] [ˈdeɪli] [US] [ˈdeɪli] adj. happening, done or produced every day

Gradually [UK] [ˈɡrædʒuəli] [US] [ˈɡrædʒuəli] adv. slowly, over a long period of time

Look Up   to become better

Man [UK] [mæn] [US] [mæn] exclamation used to express surprise, anger, etc

Medicare [UK] [ˈmedɪkeə(r)] [US] [ˈmedɪker] noun (in the US) the federal insurance system that provides medical care for people over 65

No Big Deal   used to say that sth is not important or not a problem

Ongoing [UK] [ˈɒnɡəʊɪŋ] [US] [ˈɑːnɡoʊɪŋ] adj. continuing to exist or develop

Owe [UK] [əʊ] [US] [oʊ] verb to have to pay sb for sth that you have already received or return money that you have borrowed

Pay Sb Back (sth)|pay sth back (to sb) to return money that you borrowed from sb

Pension [UK] [ˈpenʃn] [US] [ˈpenʃn] noun an amount of money paid regularly by a government or company to sb who is considered to be too old or too ill/sick to work

Mortgage [UK] [ˈmɔːɡɪdʒ] [US] [ˈmɔːrɡɪdʒ] noun a legal agreement by which a bank or similar organization lends you money to buy a house, etc, and you pay the money back over a particular number of years; the sum of money that you borrow

Policy [UK] [ˈpɒləsi] [US] [ˈpɑːləsi] noun a written statement of a contract of insurance

Remain [UK] [rɪˈmeɪn] [US] [rɪˈmeɪn] verb to continue to be sth; to be still in the same state or condition

Salary [UK] [ˈsæləri] [US] [ˈsæləri] noun money that employees receive for doing their job, especially professional employees or people working in an office, usually paid every month

Savings  noun money that you have saved, especially in a bank, etc

Selfish [UK] [ˈselfɪʃ] [US] [ˈselfɪʃ] adj. caring only about yourself rather than about other people

Set Sb Back Sth   to cost sb a particular amount of money

Stable [UK] [ˈsteɪbl] [US] [ˈsteɪbl] adj. firmly fixed; not likely to move, change or fail

Strapped [UK] [stræpt] [US] [stræpt] adj. having little or not enough money

Take Sth Out (of sth) to obtain money by removing it from your bank account

Thrifty [UK] [ˈθrɪfti] [US] [ˈθrɪfti] adj. careful about spending money and not wasting things

Water [UK] [ˈwɔːtə(r)] [US] [ˈwɔːtər] noun a liquid without colour, smell or taste that falls as rain, is in lakes, rivers and seas, and is used for drinking, washing, etc

Loan [UK] [ləʊn] [US] [loʊn] noun money that an organization such as a bank lends and sb borrows

Loaded [UK] [ˈləʊdɪd] [US] [ˈloʊdɪd] adj. very rich

Little By Little   slowly; gradually

Lend [UK] [lend] [US] [lend] verb to give money to sb on condition that they pay it back over a period of time and pay interest on it

Landlord [UK] [ˈlændlɔːd] [US] [ˈlændlɔːrd] noun a person or company from whom you rent a room, a house, an office, etc.

Ironic [UK] [aɪˈrɒnɪk] [US] [aɪˈrɑːnɪk] adj. strange or amusing because it is very different from what you expect

Independent [UK] [ˌɪndɪˈpendənt] [US] [ˌɪndɪˈpendənt] adj. having or earning enough money so that you do not have to rely on sb else for help

Income [UK] [ˈɪnkʌm] [US] [ˈɪnkʌm] noun the money that a person, a region, a country, etc. earns from work, from investing money, from business, etc

Half [UK] [hɑːf] [US] [hæf] noun either of two equal parts into which sth is or can be divided

Get By (on/in/with sth) to manage to live or do a particular thing using the money, knowledge, equipment, etc. that you have

Gas [UK] [ɡæs] [US] [ɡæs] noun a particular type of gas or mixture of gases used as fuel for heating and cooking

Factor [UK] [ˈfæktə(r)] [US] [ˈfæktər] noun one of several things that cause or influence sth

Extension [UK] [ɪkˈstenʃn] [US] [ɪkˈstenʃn] noun an extra period of time allowed for sth

Electrician [UK] [ɪˌlekˈtrɪʃn] [US] [ɪˌlekˈtrɪʃn] noun a person whose job is to connect, repair, etc. electrical equipment

Dude [UK] [duːd] [US] [duːd] noun a man

Deduction [UK] [dɪˈdʌkʃn] [US] [dɪˈdʌkʃn] noun the process of taking an amount of sth, especially money, away from a total; the amount that is taken away

Deductible [UK] [dɪˈdʌktəbl] [US] [dɪˈdʌktəbl] noun the part of an insurance claim that a person has to pay while the insurance company pays the rest

Deduct [UK] [dɪˈdʌkt] [US] [dɪˈdʌkt] verb to take away money, points, etc. from a total amount

Debt [UK] [det] [US] [det] noun a sum of money that sb owes

Turn Around / Round | turn sth around/round if a business, economy, etc. turns around or sb turns it around, it starts being successful after it has been unsuccessful for a time

Unemployed [UK] [ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪd] [US] [ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪd] adj. without a job although able to work

Unpleasant [UK] [ʌnˈpleznt] [US] [ʌnˈpleznt] adj. not pleasant or comfortable

Talking about increases and decreases

 There are a number of verbs to describe increases. For example:

 

Bad news. Taxes are going up again.

My rent has increased twice in three years.

Oil prices have risen again.

My savings have grown a lot these last few years.

Oil prices have risen again.

There are also a number of verbs to describe decreases. For example:

The cost of transportation has gone down recently.

My savings are decreasing every month. I have to get a better job.

The price of gasoline has fallen again.

Deductions for my retirement plan reduce my salary every month.

Here are ways to describe a situation where there has been no change:

Oil prices remained stable.

There has been no change in the cost of utilities.

We can be more specific describing the changes by modifying the verbs with an adverb. Notice how the adverb can come either before or after the verb.

 

Prices are continually going up.

The cost of living is rapidly increasing.

The cost of technology has gradually decreased.

My taxes have gone up dramatically.

My salary has increased slightly.

Deductions for retirement reduce my salary significantly.

Describing regular expenses

The words daily, weekly, monthly and yearly describe things that happen on a regular schedule.

A monthly budget can help you manage your finances.

We have a weekly meeting in our office.

We pay our rent monthly.

How much do you earn yearly?

Use per or a + time to talk about ongoing income and expenses.

My rent sets me back $1,400 a month.

Her salary is $4,000 per month. That's $48,000 a year.

I pay taxes on my house twice a year.

We get paid two times per month.

   

You can also use the words each and every to describe regular expenses.

   

I pay $2,000 every month in insurance.

Food costs me around $200 each week.

How much do you earn yearly?

Deductions for retirement reduce my salary significantly.

Talking about your future

Use expressions like these to talk about your financial future:

- Gloria and I are consulting a financial planner.

- I'd like to build our investments.

- We should set up a college fund for the children.

Use expressions like these to talk about places you might want to live:

- My primary residence will be in Perth.

- But I'd like to buy a vacation home near the beach.

- Jill and I want to retire in the country.

Future Perfect.

Use future perfect to talk about something that will have happened before another future event. Say will have + past participle verb. The future event should be stated with a when, by or before expression in the present tense, unless the time is already understood.

 - I will have set up a college fund before my children turn 16.

 - I will have retired in the country by the time I'm 65. My kids will have graduated from college.

 - When I'm 60, I will have retired from my job and bought that beach house.

Future perfect questions and negatives are possible, but less common.

A: What will you have achieved by 2020?

B: We'll have set up a college fund, but we won't have made any significant investments.

Tense shifting

Try to use tenses consistently when you communicate. If you begin with the future, continue using the future from one clause or sentence to the next.

 

In five years' time, I will retire at the age of 65.

I am going to try to socialize a lot, or I will become very lonely.

Sometimes, however, you may need to shift from one tense to another. For example, you might use the past tense to report what someone said yesterday. Then you could switch to present to say how the person feels now:

Yesterday, Grandpa said that he felt lonely when he was young. He also said that now he is more sociable.

Scanning

When you read articles containing statistics, start by quickly scanning through for important numbers. For example, you are about to read an article about the world's aging population:

1. Look for ages.

2. Look for years.

3. Look for percentages.

Use scanning strategies to find the important information in the following sentence. Try not to read every word.

- In 2005, people who were 65 years or older made up 20 percent of the Japanese population.

 - Yesterday, Grandpa said that he felt lonely when he was young. He also said that now he is more sociable.