6 • JULY 22, 2022 OPINION
bransonglobe.com
Dave Ramsey says... There’s a process here, and it works
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BY DAVE RAMSEY, CEO, Ramsey Solutions, and an eight-time No. 1 national best-selling author, and host of The Ramsey Show
D
ear Dave, My husband and I have a beginner emergency fund set aside, and we’re working on paying off $30,000 in credit card debt and two cars in Baby Step 2. He
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saving for toys and vacations into the mix? I’m sure he’s a good guy, and he has obviously been on-board with your financial overhaul so far, but I wouldn’t recommend doing this. The reason people are successful following my plan is because I teach common sense methods, wrapped up in unbridled, scorched-earth intensity. There’s a process here. There’s an idea combined with passion. And when you plug into it full force, you’re going to move in a positive direction so quickly it’ll make your head spin. You know how I say personal finance is 80% behavior and only
20% head knowledge? It’s true. Behaviors have to change. The more dramatically they change, the better the results and the faster you progress. But if you don’t plug into it, you’ll fall back into the same old things. It’s okay to save up for a trip or buy some fun stuff in the general philosophy of life. But getting out of debt and having control of your finances should come first. Remember when you were a kid, and you had to finish your dinner or clean up your room before going out to play? That’s what I teach. Work first, play later. Trust me. It’ll pay off in the long run!
Stock Market Insights: Unexpected sting
GARY GROMAN, A.K.A. THE OLE SEAGULL Independent Writer
Stone County Account Representative
would also like us to start putting money aside for a couple of trips and a few other things we have always wanted. This makes me nervous, because we have made so much progress over the last year in getting control of our finances, paying off debt and living on a budget. I understand wanting something to look forward to, but I would hate to see us slow down when we are doing so well. How do you feel about this? Marie Dear Marie, Okay, so you have two car payments hanging over your heads, plus a bunch of credit card debt, and your husband wants to throw
BY DR. RICHARD L. BAKER, AIF® Founder & Senior Wealth Advisor at Steadfast Wealth Management
T
his week a contractor at my office reached behind a board and upset a wasp’s nest. I was standing by him, and it was like a cartoon. Several wasps rose
in perfect formation, paused in the air for dramatic effect, and then chased him around the building. He was stung 11 times but laughed and said, “Well, at least we know where they are now.” The Labor Department’s consumer price index (CPI) was an unexpected sting, too. Inflation surged 9.1% in June. The CPI report on July 13 showed inflation had increased 9.1% from a year ago in June, higher than analysts’ estimate of 8.8% according to MSNBC. That makes this the fastest pace of inflation since December of 1981, for things like gasoline, groceries and rent.
A big driver in this report was the big increase in energy and transportation costs. June gas prices were up 60% more than last year and 11% more than this past May according to Fox Business. The price of everyday essentials remains high, such as housing costs which make up one-third of the CPI and is up over 5% this year which is the fastest increase since early 1991. One of the biggest worries for investors and the Federal Reserve is this inflation might become permanent. I think some of it will, like wages, but gas prices probably won’t stay this high forever.
Investing in times like these must be done strategically and without emotion. For my clients, I manage their accounts by moving their investments around for them which allows me to carry out an investment plan as the market moves. In many of my accounts, I’m shifting exposure from bonds to small and mid-cap stocks because I think the fear of a near-term recession is exaggerated. Stocks often rebound from shallow bear markets and midterm election lows, and I see some attractive valuations in this space that could SEE STOCK MARKET, PAGE 37
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