借錢給朋友或家人時,可遵循5項重要的規則

Five Key Rules to Follow When Lending Money to Friends and Family
借錢給朋友或家人時，可遵循5項重要的規則

In today’s economy, it’s easy to understand how someone can find themselves in a dark place financially. To help guide you toward making the right decision, we asked financial experts to share five key things to consider before cracking open your wallet.
在今天的經濟狀況下，理解一個人是如何發現自己金融狀況不佳是很容易的。爲了指導你做出正確的決定，我們向金融專家請教，分享在你打開錢包前可以考慮的5件事。

Rule 1: Only Say Yes if You Mean It
規則一：只有在你想借錢給他時才借

If you feel guilt-tripped into making the loan by the asker (“I’m desperate!”) or you question your own hesitation (“I must be a bad person or I wouldn’t feel conflicted”), then turn her down.
如果你貸款給借款人會感到十分罪惡時（“我絕望了！”）或者你在質疑你的遲疑（“我肯定是個壞人，要不然我就不會覺得受折磨了”），那麼你應該拒絕借款人的借款。

Rule 2: Lend Just What You Can Afford to Lose
規則二：借錢的數量額在你承受範圍內

Bottom line: Be prepared for the worst by giving only an amount that, if never returned, wouldn’t jeopardize your own savings goals, bill-paying ability or other relationships.
底線：要想到最糟糕的情況，即：你所借的錢，如果別人永遠不還的話，這些金額也不會損害你自己的儲蓄計劃，付賬能力或其它關係。

Rule 3: Create a Firm Repayment Timeline
規則三：制定嚴格的還款時間

It’s also wise to charge interest and work that into your repayment schedule. Depending on the amount, loaning money can involve complicated tax rules; failing to charge interest might get you in trouble. To avoid this, you may want to charge the borrower the Applicable Federal Rate (APR) as interest.
收取利息並將其寫進還款日期也是明智之舉。根據借款的不同金額，會相應涉及到複雜的稅收規則；如果你沒有收取利息，你也許會陷入麻煩之中。爲了避免這點，你也許可以向借款人收取適用的聯邦利率作爲利息。

Rule 4: Always Put the Loan in Writing
規則四：借款時，總是付諸筆頭

You can draft a simple personal loan agreement without hiring an attorney. But more complex deals—for example, if they involve collateral or involve more than $10,000—may require a lawyer to be involved.
不用僱律師，你自己就可以寫一份簡單的個人貸款協議。但對於更加複雜的貸款------例如，如果這些貸款涉及了抵押品或者貸款金額超過了1萬美元-----那麼就需要僱傭律師了。

Rule 5: Never Let the Due Date Slide
規則五：永遠不要錯過還款期

If your dinero doesn’t show on time, ignoring the lateness or making excuses for not confronting the borrower would be a mistake. She might continue going along as if the due date you set is a loose guideline rather than a rule.
如果你借出去的錢沒有及時還回來，忽略這種延遲性或者是找藉口不去見借款人，都是錯誤的做法。如果你設定的付款期只是一個寬鬆的期限而非規定的期限，那麼她（借款人）可能還會繼續拖下去。

Make it more businesslike, so neither of you feels like you’re taking advantage of the other.
你應該使借款過程更加商業化，這樣雙方都不會感覺佔了對方的便宜。