July 31, 2018 • Page 2 shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Dave Says The Numbers Don’t Lie By Daris Howard Don’t Cash Out Retirement Dear Dave, Why do you think all debt is bad? Dear Dave, Aren’t some kinds of debt, like a I owe $18,000 on my only car, and the payments are killing me. mortgage or student loans, good? I’m also upside down on the vehicle by about $4,000. I’m 31, and Nathan I’ve got exactly $18,000 in my 401(k). Should I cash it in to pay off the car? Dear Nathan, Monty It sounds like you’re letting me know you think some kinds of debt Dear Monty, are okay, instead of really asking If you use your 401(k) they’ll charge you a 10 percent penalty, for my opinion. When you ask a plus your tax rate. That means you’ll probably lose anywhere question that’s really a statement, from 25 to 50 percent to the government. I don’t know about you, it’s called a passive aggressive ques- but I think they already get too much of our money. tion. That’s okay. You and I will now I love the fact that you want to get rid of your car payment, but argue as best we can in a newspaper I don’t want you to cash out your retirement plan to make it hapDave column. pen. If you can pay off the car in 18 months or less, I’d advise living It’s not necessarily a question of what I on a strict, written budget, and throwing as money as possible think. I’m really just the aggregator of toward the car debt until it’s out of your life forever. information we’ve gathered while walking with people through If it would take longer than 18 months to pay it off, I’d get rid of their financial issues. I’ve worked with tens of thousands of the car. To do this, you’d have to sell it for as much as you can get, folks over nearly 30 years, everyone from billionaires and milthen go to a local credit union for a small loan to cover the differlionaires to broke people, and those in between. In the process, ence. If it’s your only car, you’d need to ask for an extra $2,000 to $3,000 to buy a little beater to drive until you can save up and get we’ve collected a lot of data through formal research projects into something better. — I’m talking about a huge stockpile of statistics, facts, and I hate all kinds of debt, Monty. But being $5,000 to $6,000 in the figures. And all that data shows debt is the biggest roadblock hole is a lot better than having $18,000 in debt hanging over your between people and wealth. I’m also a Christian. Having read head! the bible, and what it says about money, I can tell you there’s — Dave not one place where it says debt is a good idea. So, all that information leads me to one conclusion. Debt is not a positive thing. The only kind of debt I don’t beat people up over is mortgage debt, as long as it’s a 15-year, fixed rate * Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and busiloan. Houses are wildly expensive, and I understand that most ness, and CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored seven bestpeople can’t save up to buy a home with cash in a reasonable selling books, including The Total Money Makeover. The Dave amount of time. Still, that doesn’t make mortgage debt a good Ramsey Show is heard by more than 12 million listeners each thing. Any kind of debt is a burden, Nathan. It steals from your week on 575 radio stations and multiple digital platforms. Follow ability to save, build wealth, and be generous. Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveram— Dave sey.com. RAMSEY “WHEN I WAS LOOKING FOR A JOB, I PUT THE CLASSIFIEDS TO WORK!” Dud was out rambling around the other day, and was surprised to find the new preacher sitting beside an irrigation ditch. Dud plopped down and asked him what was wrong. “I’ve only been here two weeks,” he said, “and someone’s stolen my bicycle. I really liked that bike.” “Reverend,” said Dud, “everyone in this town knows everyone else, and thievery is almost unheard of. I wouldn’t take this personally as something against you, but I do have a suggestion.” The preacher looked at Dud. “Can you preach on the Ten Commandments?” Dud asked. “Sure,” said the preacher. “I’m a whiz bang at the Ten Commandments.” “Well, why not give them both barrels this Sunday? You know, the whole deal. Guilt complexes with blossom forth and I’ll bet you get your bike back.” “Great idea,” he said, “I’ll do it!” Dud didn’t see the preacher until the following Monday, as it turned out. “Well, Reverend, did you roast ‘em alive with Thou Shalt Not Steal and get your bike back?” “Not exactly,” he told Dud. “Actually I got only as far as Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery, and then I remembered where I’d left it.” Kleinschmit Reunion Saturday, August 11th Menominee, NE Hall 11:00AM Potluck For all the decendants of Peter & Gertrude (Witte) Bring a flash drive/copy family tree. Bring hot or cold dish to share and all you need for eating. Our Help Wanted Listings Have Hundreds Of Opportunities For You... • Full-Time • Part-Time • Permanent • Temporary 319 Walnut • Yankton, SD 605.665.5884 By Sen. Mike Rounds Across the country, Americans are experiencing the benefits that come from a healthy, growing economy. In just the month of June, 213,000 new jobs were created and more than 600,000 people re-entered the work force. Since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law, nearly 1.3 million jobs have been created. This growth is due in large part to policies enacted NCongress and by the current EW! the Trump Administration. Crown Royal $4 4.99 Includes Apple & Black 1.75 ML Lord Calvert $1 4.9 Grey Goose $50 9 1.75 ML .99 Svedka Vodka $9 1.75 ML .99 750 ML Cork N Bottle 1500 Broadway, 665-3881 2015 Scag Tiger Cat 22 H.P Kawasaki, . 52” Velocity Deck GREEN MOUNTAIN GRILLS Don’t HEAT Up Your Kitchen Cooking... 6,900 HAY TARP SALE! 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Hardwood Pellet Grills $ In addition to strong job numbers, retail sales have increased for the fifth consecutive month. Consumers feel confident in the economy once again and because they are paying less to the government in taxes, they are free to spend their hard-earned dollars how they see fit. Their spending provides a boost to businesses, who are then able to hire more workers to meet demand and pay their employees higher wages. This is a win-win-win for consumers, American businesses and employees. We’ll Match All Local Advertising Prices! We’ll M Local Advertis atch All ing Prices! Like Justew! N My daughter Celese was working at a fast food restaurant. As employees often do, they would play jokes on each other. Celese had worked there for a long time and had risen to the rank of manager. One day it was her turn to manage the evening shift. As her shift was starting, the manager of the previous shift paused to give Celese some notes. “The sign was changed earlier today,” that manager told her. That was always important to know. When a new special was put up on the sign, there was usually about a fifty-percent increase in sales of that item for a few days. The crews had to work harder to keep up with orders, especially on the foods that were discounted. Celese went to look at the sign so she would know what her crew needed to keep ready. The sign said, “Check out our new hot chicken sandwiches. Try them today.” As Celese took over for her shift, she warned her crew to keep the chicken sandwiches cooking so they could keep up. For the first hour or so on her shift, it was all that her crew could do to keep the chicken cooked for the sandwiches. But after about an hour, something changed. The number of people coming in increased dramatically, and sales were soaring. But it wasn’t all chicken sandwiches. Those coming through were ordering many varieties of food. But there was another change, too. The customers were almost all boys, and they were making strange comments. They would say things like, “I love your sign,” “I love your hot chicks,” or “Hey, Baby, what’s your sign?” The sales were through the roof, and her crew was exhausted from the constant rush of orders. But the strange things people were saying, and the fact that it was mostly boys ordering, made Celese wonder if something more than a new special was going on. And it all seemed to have something to do with the sign. Finally, Celese went out to look at the sign, and to her dismay, she found it had been changed. Instead of what it had said, it read, “Check out our hot new chicks. See them today.” Celese realized that her crew was all girls, and she knew that the boys who worked at the restaurant must have changed the sign. She was annoyed and determined to change it back. She called the head store manager and told him there was a problem with the sign and asked him where a ladder was. He told her where it was, and she immediately went and pulled it out of the storage shed. She found that the removed letters were sitting at the bottom of the sign. She had just set the ladder up and was climbing it with letters in hand when the restaurant owner showed up. He looked at what the sign said, looked at Celese holding the letters, and said, “What do you think you’re doing?” Celese tried to explain that she was sure the boys must have changed the sign, and she was just trying to change it back. The store owner seemed less than believing, and looked at her skeptically. The next day, when the owner did the financial audit of the previous day, he seemed even more skeptical. There were bonus points given to crews that had high sales, and Celese’s crew had higher sales than any shift had had for months. “I appreciate you attempting to push up sales,” he said to Celese, “but there are certain techniques that probably shouldn’t be used.” Celese tried again to convince him that she hadn’t done it, but she never was sure he ever believed her. Economy Is Improving, But Trade Instability Must Be Addressed Save 10¢ Off A Gallon Of Gas When You Use Your Sinclair Card Prices Best n Town! I What’s Your Sign? ned Preow st of Tyndall on Hwy. 50 Corner of Hwys. 50 and 3 5 miles We 7 www.schuurmansfarmsupply.com Ph. (605) 5 -1113 89-3909 or Cell (605) 464 GoinG to Jackpot Junction casino Morton, MN – August 13th & 14th $60.00 per person Double Occupancy $70.00 per Single $50.00 Back on Players Card Pick up at: Norfolk, Hill Top & Yankton a&a tours Norma Allen, Coordinator 402-582-3678 or 402-394-1547 Nancy 402-394-7195 but were subject to the same regulations after the fact that were put in place to keep big banks in check. When South Dakota’s banks and credit unions don’t have to spend so much on compliance costs, they can offer more services to customers and support businesses in their communities, which helps our economy flourish. I serve on the Senate Banking Committee, which recently held a hearing to receive an economic update from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. He reported that Americans are optimistic about the state of our economy and about finding a goodpaying job. I appreciated our discussion about the positive impact the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as well as the reduction of burdensome regulations, is having on our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate this year. Like Chairman Powell, I believe we have a very good opportunity for continued GDP growth. However, I shared with him my concern that trade instability—especially for the ag industry—will stifle our ability to reach our full economic potential. Without strong trading deals, I fear we may begin to lose some of the gains we’ve made in growing our economy. It is up to the White House to finalize trade deals with our partners in Canada and Mexico, as well as the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) countries, as soon as possible. Retaliatory tariffs from China on South Dakota products like corn, wheat and soybeans has cost producers in our state more than $810 million in value just since March 1. With the farm economy down more than 50 percent in South Dakota over the past five years, we need stability in our commodity prices and we need strong trade deals in place—right now. We’ll continue working to improve the economy for all Americans, and that means pushing for fair, strong trade deals. We are pleased to see that businesses are flourishing and workers are making more money, but we can’t let trade instability become an obstacle on our way to record-high economic growth.