October 3, 2017 • Page 2 shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Looking on the Heart Dave Says By Daris Howard Where Do I Put the Money? Debt Snowball Reasoning Dear Dave, I have a savings account for my two- Dear Dave, year old that has $5,000 in it, and about Why do you recommend paying off debts from smallest to largest half of that is in gold. I’m going to save when doing the debt snowball? for his college separately, and give this Michael to him to help start his life after school. Is there a better place to put this other Dear Michael, than a traditional savings account? Lots of people think paying off the debt with highest interest rate Laura first is the best approach. This seems to make sense mathematically, but I realized a long time ago if those people could do math Dear Laura, they wouldn’t be drowning in debt. First of all, you should not invest in Debt is not a mathematical problem, it’s a behavior problem. gold. Gold is a very volatile, very dan- Personal finance is 80 percent behavior, and only 20 percent head gerous investment. I don’t have a dime knowledge. The reason the debt snowball pays off debt from invested in gold, and I would strongly smallest to largest — even though it may be mathematically incorDave suggest that you not invest in it, either. If rect — is that modifying your behavior and inspiring you to get you take a look at the life-long track record out of debt is more important than the math. Your probability of on gold it will scare you to death. becoming wealthy has a lot more to do with your behavior than For the time being, you can leave it all in a any sort of financial sophistication or academic degree. traditional savings account. But if he’s not going to use it for many, When you pay off a small debt you experience success, and that many years you could move it into a conservative mutual fund. In gives you hope. Then, you move on the next largest debt. When fact, you started when he was at such young age, a nice, conserva- you pay that one off — and you’ve wiped out two debts — it enertive mutual fund might be a really good idea. gizes you. At that point, you really start to believe in yourself and When he gets a little older, he can start adding to it himself from the fact that you’re on the road to becoming debt-free! the money he makes from odd jobs and chores and such. After 15 — Dave years or so, thanks to your foresight and his contributions, he’ll probably wind up with a pretty nice chunk of cash. Good job, mom! * Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and busi— Dave RAMSEY ness, and CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored seven bestselling books, including The Total Money Makeover. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 12 million listeners each week on 575 radio stations and multiple digital platforms. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com. 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As the years went by, Victor’s newfound www.missourivalleyshopper.com friends became lifelong friends, and whenever Victor ran into Rich, Rich wanted to know how Victor’s life was going. When Victor became a famous artist and had his work displayed in a national gallery, Visit our he came back especially to Web site at tell Rich. www.missourivalleyshopper.com “You didn’t judge me when you saw me,” Victor told him. “You believed in me. I’d like you to be my guest at the art exhibit.” “I’d love to,” Rich said, Visit our “but there is one thing you Web site at should know. I’m blind.” www.missourivalleyshopper.com Victor gasped. “Really?” Rich nodded. “God took away my sight and replaced it with the blessing of being able to see the goodness of a person’s heart instead.” Victor smiled, realizing that was exactly what Rich had done for him. 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