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Is it possible to go from living like a character from Sex and the City to living on the streets of the city?
A new study on Generation X - people born between 1961 and 1981 - says that many women are at risk of becoming designer bag ladies.
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| Actress Sarah Jessica Parker inSex and the the Citywho plays the role of Carrie Bradshaw |
The study conducted by Oppenheimer, a mutual fund company, reveals that many young women are suffering from the Carrie Bradshaw syndrome. Carrie (played by actress Sarah Jessica Parker) is the stylish star of HBO's popular Sex and the City series. She writes a sex column for a newspaper, but she dresses as if she owns a media company.
Carrie and other women like her act as if it is more important to look affluent than it is to actually be affluent. The study says 75 percent of them think it's important to look prosperous than to actually have money.
Good Morning America's investment advisor Mellody Hobson says too many women between 18 and 35 live in the here and the now. She says they need to start spending less on DKNY and more on an IRA.
"The study found that 54 percent of women said they expect to accumulate 30 pairs of shoes before they save ,000 for retirement," said Hobson.
What they don't realize is that those 30 pairs of shoes could have a very serious impact on their future.
Hobson says that if a 25-year-old woman invested the approximately she spent on each one of those 30 pairs, assuming there is a 10 percent return on that money, those sandals and boots would be worth ,551 at a retirement age of 65.
Hobson says 47 percent of Gen-X women carry a credit card debt and more than half of the single young women in the U.S. are living paycheck to paycheck, compared to only 42 percent of single young men.
Generation Xers are at the lower rung of the job ladder in terms of seniority, which means they are often the first to lose their jobs during layoffs, said Hobson.
"Because Generation X grew up one of our greatest economic booms, they've been spoiled by good times, and have made assumptions about what would be there for them they shouldn't have," said Hobson.
According to the study, 51 percent of Generation X women didn't know how much they have saved for retirement, wouldn't respond, or had saved less than ,000. However 46 percent of Generation X expects to retire no later than age 60.
(Agencies)
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喜劇影集《欲望城市》（Sex and the City）里過著奢侈生活的摩登女郎，在現實生活中都市的馬路上能找到她的原形嗎？
"新新人類"是人們對出生于1961-1981年這段時間的人群的特殊稱呼，一項對這個群體的調查顯示，他們中的許多女性習慣于高消費，常常購買服飾大師們精心設計的手袋。
這項由一家叫做Oppenheimer的共同基金公司所做的調查發現，不少青年婦女患上了Carrie Bradshaw 綜合癥。Carrie Bradshaw（由莎拉-潔西卡-派克扮演）是HBO（Home Box Office 家庭票房電影院）電影臺大受歡迎的《欲望城市》里的時尚明星。這位劇中的女主人公是一家報紙的性專欄撰稿人，然而她的穿著打扮卻像媒體公司的老板。
Carrie 和她所代表的"新新女人"認為穿著華麗比實際富有更重要。調查稱75%的受訪對象認為看上去富有比真得腰纏萬貫更重要。
早安美國投資公司顧問美勒迪-霍伯森說許多年齡在18-35歲之間的女性過著"今朝有酒今朝醉'的生活，美勒迪-霍伯森認為這些人應該減少在諸如DKNY這些世界名牌服飾上的花銷，而把一部分的收入投向共同基金。
霍伯森說，調查顯示54%的女人只在乎自己是否擁有30雙風格各異的鞋子，而并不在乎是否已經攢足了3萬美元的退休金。
她們沒有意識到這30雙鞋子會對她們的未來產生舉足輕重的影響。
霍伯森說，如果一位25歲的女士買一雙鞋大約要花50美元，把用來買30雙鞋子的錢用來投資，假設投資回報率是10%，那么等她們65歲該退休的時候，這些本來要花在買涼鞋、靴子上的錢會變成80，551美元。
霍伯森說47%的"新新女性"的信用卡處于透支狀態。超過一半的美國單身年輕女士每個月工資支票里的薪水總是花個精光，相比之下，只有42%的單身男士會這樣做。
霍伯森說，就資格而言，"新新人類"處于工作金字塔的下方，也就是說，如果遇到公司裁員，這個群體是首當其沖的。
霍伯森認為，由于"新新人類"是在經濟大增長的時代中成長起來的，他們過慣了富裕的生活，總把自己的將來想象的很美好，而事實并不一定是這樣。
根據這項調查，51%的"新新女性"要么不知道自己已經攢了多少退休金，要么拒絕回答這個問題，要么只有不到10，000美元的積蓄。不過46%的"新新女性"并不打算在60歲之前退休。
(中國日報網站譯)
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Updated: 2001-07-13 01:00
