Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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There has been a lot of talk about a “cashless” society, but it’s not here yet. In fact, cash can still be a valuable element of your overall financial picture – if you employ it wisely. But how? Consider these four key uses of cash: • Everyday spending – Of course, you need sufficient cash on hand to pay for your cost of living – mortgage, debt payments, utilities, groceries, etc. You’ll likely rely on your savings or checking accounts to pay for these needs. • Unexpected expenses and emergencies – It’s never a bad idea to establish a monthl...
There you are, in a position to purchase a new computer. But you’re frozen, paralyzed by choice. What do you need it for? Will it run your favorite programs? How about affordability or longevity? The gravity of such a decision feels suffocating as you browse reviews, check prices and read a certain technical expert’s final column. Fear not however, as this life changing choice between buying a Mac or a Windows laptop really only comes down to a little knowledge and a lot of personal preference. Let’s go over why your decision may sway one w...
Like many people, you may try to stay healthy by exercising regularly, following a good diet and avoiding dangerous activities. But as we all know, life is unpredictable, and despite your best efforts, you may encounter an injury or illness that can leave you unable to work for several months — or longer. If this happened, would you have difficulty paying your bills? Or would you be forced to dip into investments meant to help you achieve long-term goals, such as a comfortable retirement? To help prevent these outcomes, you may want to p...
So much of our lives are stored on the phones, computers and other portable electronics which we use every day. Email, online banking, shopping, even keeping digital versions of your actual payment cards; it’s all sensitive data and it’s all hugely convenient to have at your fingertips. We also all generally switch out these devices every few years or so. You probably remember the last time you bought a new phone or laptop versus say, a new coffee maker or lamp. How critical is it then that we make sure these devices are sanitized of all tha...
I watched a reel on Facebook last week by a Canadian man. He talked aboot the four seasons they enjoy: first is summer, when you can wear shorts and flip-flops. (I'm paraphrasing since I don't remember the build-up so much, but the punchline resonates with me). Then there's fall, when the leaves change color and you can wear your nice sweaters. Winter brings snow and enjoying cocoa in front of a cozy fire. And then there's the season of betrayal! We've had way too many betrayals, haven't we? (I...
Another school year is coming to a close. And if you have young children, they’re now a year closer to heading off to college or some other type of post-secondary education or training. So, if you haven’t already done so, you may want to start preparing for these costs. And they can be considerable. During the 2022-23 school year, the average estimated annual cost (tuition, fees, room and board, books, supplies, transportation and other personal expenses) was nearly $28,000 for public four-year in-state schools and more than $57,000 for pri...
I feel like we're trapped in a Groundhog's Day movie scenario: the last couple of Wednesdays and Thursdays have dumped another six inches of never-ending winter on us. A couple of weeks ago we had two nice days in a row. I'd thought we were Free At Last, but I was wrong. So wrong. Because of the new, heavy, wet snow, I haven't yet returned the freshly cleaned bird feeders to their stations. But not to fear, the ones I left outside were filled and are being constantly visited by the little...
If you’ve done any estate planning, or even if you’re just familiar with it, you probably know the basics — that is, a comprehensive estate plan can help you pass on assets to your family while also achieving other goals, such as designating someone to take care of your affairs if you become unable to do so. But you may not know about some other estate-planning issues that could prove important in your life: • Power of attorney for students – Children heading off to college may be considered legal adults in many states. Consequently, you, as a...
That little red dot on your iPhone, or the irritating popups your laptop gives you; our technology seems to constantly badger us for updates. Why bother though? Everything is working fine, you don’t need new emojis or yet another widget for your home screen. The truth however, and I’m at risk here of truly sounding like an IT guy, is that updates are important and offer much more than simply shiny new features. Should we simply submit to the long periods of time our devices render themselves useless while applying updates? What’d happen if we...
Spring is still late. Mostly it's missing, perhaps playing hookie. I feel like a broken record. Seriously, more snow?? We had another 6" of cold white yuck last Thursday night. The highway was solid ice Friday morning. And there's more of that nastiness coming according to my cheerful mate who keeps checking the forecasts. My sympathies go out to everyone living in flood zones. At least we can hope that the majority of the grasshoppers eggs got washed away. I did get out to my storage shed last...
It’s almost Earth Day, when people around the world focus on ways of protecting and preserving the environment. And the lessons from this occasion can be applied to other areas of life — such as investing. Here are some themes to consider: • Sustainability – From an environmental perspective, sustainability encompasses a range of issues, such as using natural resources wisely. As an investor, you, too, need to protect your resources. So, for example, to sustain a long-term investment strategy, you won’t want to dip into your retiremen...
I despise printers. They’re finicky, they’re expensive to run, and they encourage wasteful behaviors such as printing documents which could more conveniently remain digital. There is a type of printer however which I do have a self-professed soft spot for. It allows you to print objects, shapes, artwork; almost anything providing it’s small enough for your machine to handle. 3D printers are much, much more interesting, as with a 3D printer we’re able to do more than simply make physical copies of things you’re going to email anyway. Now way b...
Finally! We're getting some spring weather. The snow is melting. There's mud everywhere. Of course, as deep as the drifts are up here north of the middle of nowhere, we're going to be looking at and working around mud for a while yet. But there's hope of gardening budding in my heart. The seeds I've started are still growing. More of them are sprouting as well. Some are slow starters (looking at you, seed onions!). The snow has receded from my storage shed, so perhaps this week I'll retrieve at...
Here we are, suffering through yet another winter event even though the calendar tells us it’s spring. It’s so depressing to see more snow blowing sideways through the yard. Yesterday the highway up here was bare. Today we’re back to a total mess: patches of wet, flowed by slush, followed by snow-pack, followed by slushy drifts, soon to be followed by ice. There are long sections where none of the dividing lines on the road are visible because of the build-up of snow/slush. The fog isn’t helping at all. I have finally put some seeds into so...
We’re surrounded here in 2023, by so much technology. In some cases, when we count the smart devices, our connected homes, portables and wearables; quite literally surrounded. While in many ways it makes our day to day simpler, there’s also a strong argument that too much technology has a tangible negative effect on our lives. How much then is too much when it comes to electronic doodads? When do the devices which we rely upon for entertainment, planning, and generally keeping our lives in order start to have a negative effect instead? Tec...
By definition, business owners put a lot of their financial resources into their enterprises. But as an owner, you may need to invest in more than inventories and payroll to help achieve the future you’ve envisioned. Here are a few investments you may want to consider: • Retirement account – Depending on the nature of your business and how many employees you have, you can choose from a variety of tax-advantaged retirement plans, such as an owner-only 401(k), an SEP-IRA and a SIMPLE IRA. By contributing regularly to one of these accounts, you ca...
It’s no secret nowadays that people who choose technology as a career are likely to find themselves in demand. As more and more of our world converts to the digital, we need a growing pool of talent which is able to write the programs and apps which we run our daily lives on. These programing languages are powerful, plentiful and offer top dollar to those able to wield them effectively. Why do computers need a special language though, and where does someone even begin when starting out learning to write, or code, them? Computers operate u...
Becoming part of a blended family can certainly be rewarding. Of course, as is the case in all families, there will be challenges, one of which is financial. A blended family must deal with some specific financial issues, so it’s a good idea to become familiar with them. In particular, consider these areas: • Separate or joint accounts? – Should your two family units combine all your finances or maintain separate accounts? There’s no one correct answer for everyone, because this issue has emotional and psychological components to it, as well...
The official meaning of hiatus is "a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process." I've been on an extended hiatus from gardening. Perhaps there's a word for this extension (forced vacation? jail sentence?), which I need, since I'd say this winter has been much more than a pause or gap. It's a yawning chasm, not a gap! Right now I'm doing my best to ignore all the snow outside my door. Those big drifts have compacted downwards quite a bit. The scratching noise from the lilac tree outside our...
Editor’s Note: This is part five of a five part series regarding e-cigarettes. The first part was printed in the Feb. 22 edition, the second part was printed in the March 1 edition, the third part was printed in the March 8 edition and the fourth part was printed in the March 15 edition. As a parent, you can make a lasting impression by staying open to continuing the conversation. Many teens are interested in learning more facts about e-cigarettes. If they aren’t familiar with FDA’s “The Real Cost” Youth E-Cigarette Prevention Campaign,...
With the closing of the Sugar Beet facility in Sidney brings to mind all of the sugar beet dumps located along the Hi-Line area. How many remember local train depots that had facilities for dumping beets for shipment, or the prisoners of war that were housed at the old airport facility. I understand that these “prisoners” were marched to our downtown area to be taken to the sugar beet fields to provide labor. If you remember sugar beets, you may remember one of the tools used in harvesting these beets, these sugar beet knife...
As we continue to add technology to our lives in new an interesting ways, we need to be equally innovative in the ways that we power those devices. One option, while not exactly a new concept but steadily progressing in its effectiveness, is solar power. We’ve been harnessing the potential of light to power devices like calculators for decades, how much more difficult could it be to scale it up and power larger stuff? Well as anyone who’s ever bought those barely functional, solar-powered garden lights knows, it’s not quite as simple as that....
Here I am, complaining about the weather again. But I feel like I'm in good company on that front: who isn't sick of winter by now? Could we please have at least a full week of no snow, sunny skies, and very little wind? I'm sure all the road crews agree with me. But I guess that's been too much to ask for this past month. We've made too many trips to and from Glasgow on snow-packed, icy, and/or slushy roads. Our highway has been treacherous. (I'm aware through second-hand reports that it isn't...
Many people would agree that preparation is the key to success in many areas of life. Yet, when it comes to being ready for a financial emergency, a sizable percentage of Americans are feeling distinctly unprepared — and that can lead to problems. Consider these survey findings from financial services provider Edward Jones and Morning Consult: • Nearly two in five Americans expect that their emergency savings would last no more than a month. • Less than 40 percent of respondents consider their emergency savings account to be fully funde...
Our ability to snap photos on a whim is something that most of us, with high quality cameras on the smartphones we carry everywhere, take for granted. Even over the course of the last decade or so, our phone cameras have gone from something only suitable for catching the very most candid of moments, to a level of fidelity enabling amateur filmmakers to record entire movies using only a smartphone. Does this mean then that phones have overtaken dedicated cameras? How many megapixels do you need before you can retire your bulky Canon, Nikon or...
