Narrator Listen to a talk between two students. Now get ready to answer the questions. You may use your notes to help

Student A  Hi, Sam!
Student B  Hello, Lisa! How’s everything going?
Student A  Not bad. I’m just thinking about a question. Do you think people today do a good job of planning for financial emergencies?
Student B  Well, I think most people want to have a secure future. Umm, however, the information they need, umm, to achieve financial security isn’t at their fingertips.
Student A  What do you mean by this?
Student B  Umm, okay, for example, well, they need to establish their goals, for instance, how much money do you need to live, what would be a basic amount that you need to survive?
Student A  Yeah, that is worth thinking about.
Student B  What’s more, they have to take other things into consideration like whether they want to pay for their children to go to college and which college they’re going to go to.
Student A  And also they need to think about their parents.
Student B  That’s true. Many people born during the baby boom are faced with having to care for a parent, which is an added expense and has to be considered in any future financial decisions.
Student A  Then how much money do you think people need to save for themselves?
Student B  Well, the thing is, you should have 3-6 months of monthly salary saved, so whatever your monthly salary is, you should have enough to pay your expenses for 3-6 months without any income.
Student A  And then in addition to that, most of us need to plan for college, retirement, taking care of parents, etc.
Student B  Uh-huh. And the kinds of things that arise unexpectedly, for example, like the water heater blowing up or the car not starting in the morning.
Student A  So, what’s the biggest mistake people make?
Student B  Well, they tend to live from paycheck to paycheck.
Student A  Live from paycheck to paycheck?
Student B  Yeah. I mean when something unexpectedly occurs, if they don’t have someone to help them, they just go deeper and deeper into debt, you fall farther and farther behind in your payments. Or, it gets so bad that you lose everything, like what has happened to many people who are forced into homelessness and are there because their debts became overwhelming.
Student A  So, if you could give people one piece of advice to make their financial future more secure, what would you suggest?
Student B  Younger people often spend every last cent that they earn. They live from paycheck to paycheck. After they pay their bills, they complain that there’s nothing left over to save. The best advice I can give is to say, "pay yourself first".
Student A  I agree with you. The first thing is to "pay yourself".
Student B  Surely. When you get your paycheck, save some portion of it, even just $10 a week. That’s giving up a movie, and one stop at a fast food restaurant. Let’s say you start with $ 3000, and you add $10 a week to that at a pretty reasonable rate of 13% a year. In 60 years you’ll have $ 5.6 million dollars. That’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?
Student A  Yeah. That’s really a big amount! Well, you’ve really given me some great advice! Thanks a million!
Student B  Ha! You’re welcome!