February 25, 2020 • Page 2 shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Gasping for Air Dave Says It’s a Better Idea To Pre-Plan Dear Dave, My husband passed away last year at just 45 years old. We always tried to be careful with our money, and we were in good enough shape financially that I paid for his funeral with cash. A few days ago, I started getting letters from the funeral homes in town encouraging me to pre-pay for my own funeral. I’m 42, and in very good health, so is this a good idea? Janet No, They’re Not a Good Deal Dear Dave, I have an emergency fund equal to six months of expenses. Considering this, would you consider an extended home warranty to be a waste of money? Ami Dear Ami, My advice to have an emergency fund of three to six Dave months of expenses, sitting in a good money market account with check writing privileges, is designed to cover Dear Janet, the unexpected things that life will throw at you. The My advice is to pre-plan, not cash, combined with the easy access that kind of account pre-pay. Unfortunately, you learned first-hand how hard it allows, will make it quick and easy to take care of things is to make important decisions in the middle of that kind in the event of a financial emergency. of grief. Many times, people are so emotional when they Extended warranties, of any kind, are not a good deal face these kinds of things that they make bad decisions. and I don’t recommend them. You’re better off to selfThat’s why pre-planning, and making decisions ahead of insure against things breaking down, and put what would time, is a really good move. have been profit for the extended warranty company in Now, here’s why it’s never a good idea to pre-pay for your own pocket! this kind of thing. If you live to an average age, for what —Dave you’d prepay today at your age, you could invest the amount and be self-insured. You’d have a ton of money * Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and sitting there when the time comes. business, and CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored seven Events like this make you realize the need for proper best-selling books, including The Total Money Makeover. The planning, but don’t ever pre-pay for them. God bless you, Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 12 million listeners Janet. I’m so sorry you’re going through this. each week on 575 radio stations and multiple digital platforms. —Dave Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com. RAMSEY Windy was at it again the other day … Helping Day. There aren’t an awful lot of things a semi-retired half stoved-up cowboy and camp cook can contribute to make his community a better place. With Windy Wilson, it sure as sugar wasn’t money. He couldn’t put a down payment on a free lunch. So he helped someone, about once a week, depending on weather. Part of the fun of it was not saying anything to his vic … er, recipient of his largesse, that is. Just go do something nice for a day. Today, the lucky recipient of his Herculean labors was old Dan Gurule. Windy knew through the grapevine that he hadn’t been well, so he drove over to Dan’s place and shoveled the sidewalk and his porch steps free of snow. When he finished, Windy threw the snow shovel in his pickup and prepared to leave. No sign of Dan, which was unusual, because there was almost always a cup of coffee for Windy on Helping Day. He drove down to the Mule Barn, waved an empty cup at Loretta and turned to the guys. “Wellsir, went over to Dan Gurule’s house, boys,” Windy said. “You know, did a little snow shovelin’.” “Helping Day, Windy?” “Right you are, Doc. Never did see ol’ Dan, though. Musta been asleep.” The guys looked at each other. “Windy,” said Doc, “Dan passed away last week.” Windy shook his head. “Sorry to hear ‘bout that. Prolly why I didn’t exasperate a cup of coffee off him today.” When You Want Comfort...You Want Kalins When You Want Comfort… You Want Kalins! Vermillion: 605-624-5618 319 Walnut St. Yankton, SD 57078 605-665-5884 *Rebate offer only available to Vermillion Light & Power customers. Call for full details. www.missourivalleyshopper.com 70 years as a Premier Lennox® Dealer 99 years in Business 400 years of Heating and Cooling Experience = Southeast South Dakota’s #1 Choice! Got A Rock Chip? Mobile Glass Service Yankton Vermillion Sioux City 605.665.4348 605.624.5618 712.252.2000 kalinsindoor.com Ron’s Auto Glass In Town Coach blew his whistle, which brought us to a stop. His favorite conditioning exercise was to have us run on our hands and knees back and forth across the wrestling room. He started us off by blowing his whistle and ended the exercise in the same way. In between, we were supposed to run as many laps back and forth as possible. It was exhausting, especially after having already practiced for a couple of hours. “One more time,” Coach called after about thirty seconds of rest. He blew his whistle again, and off we raced. In order not to skin our knees, we ran in what we called a bear run. Back and forth we went, hoping for the whistle to blow. Finally, it did, and we dropped to the mat. “How many did you get, Howard?” Kevin, our 185-pound wrestler, asked. “Ten,” I answered. “Ten?” he said, rolling his eyes. “What, are you trying to be the bear-run champion?” “How many did you get?” I asked. “Three,” Kevin replied. “And that is more than plenty.” “One more time,” Coach called, feeling we had had enough rest. “But you’ve said one more time for the past five times,” Kevin said. “I didn’t say it would be the last time,” Coach replied. “I just said do it one more time.” Coach then blew the whistle. Only a few of us took off at full speed, while most of the others only loped. As the weeks progressed, most of the team didn’t take this part of the conditioning seriously. While the same few of us pushed as hard as we could, the others only did it halfheartedly—if they did it at all. Kevin was the worst. He would find some way to slip out for a drink, or flop on the mat, or claim an injury. At the first of the season, it didn’t end up being too bad for him. The opponents we opened the season with weren’t too tough, and Kevin, as good as he was, pinned each of them in the first or second round. But then came the first night that Kevin faced an opponent who was able to fight his way out of the pinning holds Kevin tried on him. Though Kevin was ahead by six points at the end of the second round, he was gasping for air, and his lips were blue. Kevin was in the top position in the third round, and his opponent quickly dropped to his knees on the mat. Kevin moved slowly, taking every second possible, trying to catch his breath. He was finally ready, and the ref blew the whistle. Instantly, Kevin’s opponent did a reversal and was on top. Kevin’s lead was cut to four. Kevin should have been able to defend against that, but he was moving too slowly. Kevin’s opponent started plowing him into the mat, positioning him for a pin. Suddenly, Kevin hollered, “My eye! My eye! I think I jammed my contact in my eye.” The ref stopped the match and looked into Kevin’s eye. “I don’t see a contact,” he said. “Oh, no!” Kevin said. “I’ve lost it.” He immediately dropped to his knees and started searching. The ref signaled to Coach, and Coach called us all out to help. We moved our hands carefully across the mat but found nothing. As the rest of us were heading back to the bench so the match could resume, I whispered to Kevin, “I didn’t know you wore contacts.” “I don’t,” he replied. I then realized he had just done it as a diversion to catch his breath, and though he was able to hold on and win by two points, I was disgusted. “So, are you going to take conditioning more seriously?” I asked. “I doubt it,” he replied. “But I might take up wearing contacts.” 1915 Broadway, Yankton Save 10¢ Off A Gallon Of Gas When You Use Your Sinclair Card Prices Best We’ll come to your home or office for windshield repair or replacement By Daris Howard 605.665.9841 Make More Profit! Crown Royal Regular,Apple & Vanilla ....... $ ........ 1.75 ML 46.99 Seagram’s VO .......................................... $ Premiums Paid for Non-GMO Soybeans .... 1.75 ML 18.99 Fireball ........................................................ 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