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注册时间: 2005-01-12
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Real People: LAPD green
Officer Mike Berretta and his wife Christina are speeding all the way to the bank.
警官麦克和他的妻子，克里斯蒂娜的财富/财产正在超速增长
BEND, Ore. – In the movies, the Los Angeles police officer lives in a rental apartment, works long hours for an average salary and thinks a 529 is dispatch code. Picture Russell Crowe in "L.A. Confidential."
Hollywood's stock characters in the beauty trades, meanwhile, are often daffy incompetents, like Reese Witherspoon's manicurist sidekick in "Legally Blonde" (Jennifer Coolidge).
Those stereotypes don't hold true in life for Mike and Christina Berretta. In fact, this L.A. police officer and former makeup artist are model financial citizens. With more than $308,000 in savings and home equity, in fact, the couple could be millionaires in 10 years. 事实上，这位洛杉矶的警察和前演员化妆师 是模范理财市民。 他们拥有超过 $308,000 的存款和家庭资产，实际上，这对夫妇可以在10年以内成为百万富翁。
When Mike joined the police force at age 22 he was following his heart, not his pocketbook. "I was really passionate about police work," he said. "If I weren't doing this I'd probably be in Iraq right now."
Now nearly 10 years into the job, he realizes that his career choice has some financial benefits as well. "I have a two-year degree and am making almost $100,000," said Mike, who makes a base salary of $75,000 plus about $20,000 a year in overtime.
Savvy career choices
精明的职业选择
"I've always been a saver," said Mike, 31. "I'll spend money on my wife and children, but if I want to buy a pair of new shoes I'll think about it for a month."
In addition to the $400 he puts away each month in his 457 retirement fund – the 401(k) equivalent for government employees – Mike is also earning a pension. Right now, its cash value is $36,000, but if he works until he's 55, that pension will pay him 90 percent of his salary. Retiring at 50, as Mike hopes to do, means earning about 75 percent of his salary.
另外，Mike警官每月将$400 投入 457 retirement fund （457退休基金），同样 Mike 还有养老金。目前的现金价值是 $36,000, 如果他工作到 55岁，那养老金会付给他目前工资的90%；如果像Mike 希望的那样，工作到 50 岁， 养老金会付给他目前工资的75%。
"It's not the easiest job in the world," said Mike, who works primarily in the gang unit. "The job is 98 percent pure boredom and 2 percent pure excitement."
After working as a makeup artist in the movie industry for more than a decade, Christina, 36, recently retired from her job to stay home with the couple's 18-month-old daughter Kaela. Their oldest, Althea, is 6 years old.
克里斯蒂娜，36岁，干电影演员的化妆师的工作超过了10年，目前她退休在家照顾 18月大的女儿Kaela，和6岁的Althea。
The crazy hours common with the film industry made her job anything but family friendly. "It's very hard to get a babysitter to come to your house at 3:00 a.m.," said Christina, who was a single mom when she met Mike five years ago.
Christina is now finishing her prerequisites for nursing school, which she plans to attend in autumn 2004. The program will take two years at a local community college, where tuition is inexpensive.
克里斯蒂娜正在完成她在护士学校中的必修课程，她计划在2004年的秋天毕业。她还计划在地方公立大学再学习两年，因为那里的学费不贵。
"This was a very practical decision on my part," said Christina. Indeed, with nurses in great demand, she should be able to find a job that works well with her family's schedule.
"Because Mike's benefits are so good, I could work on a per diem basis and make more money," she added. "Starting salary for nurses in this area is $37 to $40 an hour if you're per diem."
Spending foolishly is a crime
愚蠢的消费等于犯罪
One important lesson Christina took away from her career as a makeup artist was the importance of saving for the future. "I would make a big chunk of money from one job, but I often didn't know if I'd be working the next month," she said.
克里斯蒂娜，从她的演员化装师的工作中得出的最重要的教训是：为未来而存钱是十分重要的。
In her early twenties, Christina did have her share of credit card debt. "Then one day I added up the interest I was paying and realized just how much money I was wasting."
在她20岁的时候，克里斯蒂娜享有了信用卡透支权。“ 直到有一天我计算了我所付的银行利息，我才了解到我浪费了多少钱。”
Her decision to cease charging more than she could afford proved to be a good move financially and, as it turns out, romantically. "If she was a credit card spender we probably never would have gotten married," Mike quipped.
In 2000, the couple married and bought a three-bedroom house in Santa Clarita. They paid $205,000 for the house, with a $42,000 down payment. "Just last week one of our neighbors sold a similar house for $352,000," said Mike. As such, he estimates they now have about $190,000 in equity.
在2000年，这对夫妇结婚并购买了一套有3个卧室的房子。他们这所房子售价$205,000，他们付了$42,000的定金。就在上周，他们的邻居经类似的一套房子卖了$352,000。所以，麦克估价目前拥有的资产价值$190,000。
Other than their mortgage, the couple has no debt.
除了他们的抵押，他们就没有债务了。
Besides retirement saving, each month the couple automatically puts $75 in a vacation fund and $50 into each of their daughter's 529 college savings plans. They also pay an extra $100 a month to their mortgage. Depending on how much overtime Mike earns in a given month, they put another $200 to $1,000 in a savings account.
除了退休款，每个月他们还要自动放$75进入休假基金，$50给每个女儿的529大学存款计划。同时他们还额外多付出$100用于还贷。同时还根据麦克警官的每月加班费，每个月再存$200 到 $1,000到存款账户上。
"We'd like to get our cash savings to $30,000," said Christina. Their savings account now has a balance of $26,000, most of which is in a certificate of deposit. "Once we get to that level we'll consider eventually investing our extra savings or using it to buy rental property or land."
克里斯蒂娜说：我们希望我们的存款账户有$30,000。目前，他们的存款账户上有$26,000的存款，而且主要是凭证式存款。“当我们的存款达到我们的希望值时，我们计划考虑用额外的存款用于投资或购买可供出租的物产和地产。
Another possibility is eventually leaving Los Angeles. "We're really not big-city people," said Mike.
另一个可能是，我们最终离开洛杉矶。那样的话“我们就不是真正意义上的大城市人”。
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