2 Broadcaster Press March 5, 2019 www.broadcasteronline.com Dave Says Investigate Your Options Dear Dave, I’m single and a firefighter, and we have a pension plus a 457(b) retirement plan. I’m not contributing to the 457(b) right now, because I’m following your plan and in Baby Step 2, which is paying off debt. Our retirement plan is managed by a big life insurance company, but I know you don’t like the idea of using insurance companies when it comes to investing. Can you give me a little guidance? Dustin Dave RAMSEY Dear Dustin, I’d max out a Roth IRA, which would be $6,000 a year in your case, before I did anything with the 457(b). That may not take you to the level I recommend—which is putting 15 percent of your income toward retirement—so then I’d investigate the options offered by the insurance company that’s managing your 457(b). When you have a look at the options available to you within the 457(b), you’ll need to pay special attention to two things—the fees, this is where they’ll kill you, and the rates of return. If they are somehow accessing mutual funds, and you can get stock market-like rates of return— I’m talking about a 10 to 12 percent average over many years—then I’d put some in there. Still, warning sirens in my head go off when I hear that a life insurance company is running a 457(b). Investing through a life insurance company is a bad idea 100 percent of the time. Now, is it a bad enough idea in this case to avoid it altogether? It may be an okay idea in this specific instance, but chances are it won’t be anything you’ll look at later and be blown away by great results. That kind of thing just isn’t going to happen when you wrap an insurance company, or life insurance, around investing. I mean, you don’t go to a transmission shop to get your muffler fixed. It’s just not what they do! —Dave * Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and business, and CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored seven best-selling 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. The Garden Plot By Daris Howard Jenny was a farm girl living in a big city. She heard about an organization that allowed people to have a small garden plot for a nominal fee. She missed the joy of growing her own vegetables and the wonderful taste of fresh food, and she knew she could use the food to supplement her limited income. She soon had a small plot and was squeezing everything she could into it. She enjoyed taking the break from her busy life, and she enjoyed the people she associated with there. It wasn’t long before she even became the organization secretary. She was there working in her garden one evening when a big, beautiful Mercedes pulled up. Everyone stopped and stared. It wasn’t that they hadn’t seen a Mercedes before, it’s just no one who was part of the organization could afford one. A man dressed in a three-piece business suit stepped from the car and asked who was in charge. Everyone pointed at Jenny, and he made his way toward her. He stepped up and held out his hand. “Robert Stevens the third.” Jenny held out her hand to shake his, but the minute he saw her soilcovered hands, he pulled his back. “I came to see about getting a garden plot,” Robert said. By this time, all of the other gardeners had joined Jenny and stood looking on curiously. Jenny glanced once more at the Mercedes before turning back to Robert. “Why would you want a garden plot?” she asked. The man sighed in annoyance, as if Jenny should just give him one and be done with it. “My doctor said I have too much stress in my life, and he said that if I don’t do something about it, I am going to have a heart attack. He suggested I garden. I can pay whatever I need to.” “It just so happens we have one available,” Jenny said. “The previous gardener passed away recently. It’s ten dollars per month plus a forty dollar tilling fee.” Robert pulled two one-hundred dollar bills from his pocket and handed them to Jenny. “Keep the change,” he said. Robert left, and Jenny paid the man who did the tilling. Jenny was working in her garden again the next day when Robert returned. He was dressed in nice slacks and a white polo shirt. He brought many seed varieties with him, and everyone who was there came over to give their opinions on how he should plant them and to help. Before Robert left that evening, his garden had nice little rows with newly planted seeds in them, and his shirt was nearly brown. Robert always came in a new white polo shirt. At first, he came every evening, and Jenny showed him how to sprinkle his little garden. He always impatiently asked why nothing was happening. Then one evening, Jenny showed him the little green shoots of radishes coming out of the ground. Soon there were carrots, and before long, all of the seeds were up. Robert was ecstatic. Robert missed a few days, and when he came back and looked at his TODD’S ELECTRIC SERVICE garden, he called Jenny over. “What are those?” he asked. “Those would be weeds,” Jenny replied. “What? Who planted them in there?” Jenny tried to explain that weed seeds can lie dormant in the ground or blow in, but they just grow on their own. Robert was skeptical, sure someone was out to get him. Jenny suggested Robert bring a hoe the next time he came, and she promised to show him how to weed. The next time Robert came, he had a hoe, and Jenny showed him how to gently work the weeds from around the vegetables. But when Robert took over, he started whacking at them like he was taking an ax to a petrified log, cursing as he worked. When he finally finished, his little garden was spread all over, with few vegetable plants left in it. He turned to Jenny, wiping the sweat on his now gray polo shirt. “I don’t see how this is supposed to help my heart. You said the last man who had this garden died. What did he die of?” Jenny tried not to smile from irony as she answered. “He died of a stress-induced heart attack.” Robert dropped his hoe, climbed in his Mercedes, and Jenny never saw him again. Design/Build • Fiber Cabling • Commercial • Residential Service Calls • Boom Truck with Auger • Trenching To review your tax assessment for 2019 please contact the Township Clerk prior to March 14th, 2019 to set up an appointment. EARN EXTRA CASH! Yankton routes now available. (Enjoy short early morning hours Monday–Saturday) Call Steve at 605-665-7811 319 Walnut Street, Yankton, SD • www.yankton.net NOTICE Fairview Township Board of Equalization will be held Monday, March 18 at 7pm, Burbank Schoolhouse th Letter of appeal must be mailed to Fairview Township 32012 White Street, Burbank, SD 57010 and be postmarked no later than March 14th. Please include phone number. A regular meeting will be held March 26th please attend. Angela Jackson, Clerk PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota colleges and universities sent 14 outstanding undergraduate student researchers to the State Capitol last week to share their research work with lawmakers and the public. The 2019 Student Research Poster Session ran from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, in the State Capitol Rotunda. The public was invited to attend, and enjoy ice cream courtesy of South Dakota State University. These 14 represent students statewide who conduct research in a variety of disciplines. Now in its 22nd year, the event showcased research and creative activities of undergraduate students, as well as highlighting successful faculty research and commercialization efforts. The session is organized by the South Dakota Board of Regents and South Dakota’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). Students competitively chosen to participate in last Thursday’s event are: •Grace Baumgarten, Rapid City, representing Black Hills State University •Zayn Synder, Pierre; Nathan Kramer, Sioux Falls; Ezra Chona, Rochester, N.Y.; Micah Flack, Bemidji, Minn.; Matthew Steckelberg, Chamberlain; all representing Dakota State University •Matthew Mayfield, Huron, representing Northern State University •John Hillard, Rapid City, representing South Dakota School of Mines and Technology •Sydney Bormann, Parkston, and Alexandra Farber, Britton, representing South Dakota State University •Ashleigh Chov, Sioux Falls, and Emme Schmidt, Custer, representing the University of South Dakota •Gabriel Yellow Hawk, Hill City, representing Oglala Lakota College and EPSCoR •Tesla Cheek, Sioux Falls, representing the University of Sioux Falls and South Dakota’s Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (BRIN). Athlete Spotlight RON PETERSON TOWNSHIP CLERK (605) 263-3526 1221 Cornell St., Vermillion, SD • 605-624-5642 201 NW 13th St., Ste. 3, Beresford, SD • 800-560-2518 You deliver. We deliver. State Capitol Hosts Student Researchers Last Week STAR TOWNSHIP WAKONDA LEGION HALL MONDAY, MARCH 18th, 2019 • 7:00 P.M. 1-800-560-2518 The flags of South Dakota’s nine tribal nations are now on permanent display in the State Capitol rotunda in Pierre. “South Dakota has a unique opportunity for a new beginning between the state and tribal governments. Bringing tribal flags to the rotunda is a sign that we are unified and working together to create policies for the next generation,” said Gov. Kristi Noem. “I want our rotunda to be a place that represents the culture of South Dakota, and we can’t do that without the symbols of all nine tribes. May this be a sign to all that South Dakota is united, that we have common ground, and that we truly embrace the meaning of the word Dakota. We are allies.” “Displaying each of the nine South Dakota tribal flags in the Capitol rotunda is a great step in strengthening State-Tribal relationships,” said Secretary of Tribal Relations David Flute. “The Department of Tribal Relations looks forward to coordinating with the Governor’s office and tribal leaders to set a time and date to hold a formal flag display ceremony.” The announcement took place during State-Tribal Relations Day in the Capitol. This year’s events are a collaboration between the South Dakota Department of Tribal Relations and the South Dakota Department of Education to emphasize “Culture in the Classroom,” an effort to cultivate traditional knowledge in education. BOARD OF EQUALIZATION MEETING “The Line To Power” Serving the Beresford and Vermillion Areas Tribal Flags On Permanent Display In The Capitol Rotunda 14th Annual Lewis & Clark Home Builders Association HOME SHOW March 9th & 10th, 2019 Saturday 10am-6pm Sunday 11am-4pm NFAA Easton Archery Complex, 800 Archery Lane Admission: $3.00/person Children 12 & under Free $1.00 OFF Admission When you bring a non-perishable food item. Donations will be given to the Food Pantry. Sponsors: HEATING & COOLING Madeleine Eisenbeisz Madeleine Eisenbeisz is a fifth-grader on the Vermillion Area Swim Team. Her favorite thing about swimming is competing at meets. “I love to compete and bring home ribbons,” said Eisenbeisz. She also plays rec-league soccer and softball, plus volleyball and tennis in the summer. Eisenbeisz stays active, especially outdoors, when not participating in sports. She enjoys swimming for fun, riding her scooter, HoverKart, RipStik, and rollerblades. She also likes to go to the movies.