HoweEnterprise.com
October 14, 2019
Should I get a new credit card?
Taylor Kovar
Hi Taylor - I just finished paying off my student loans and I’m wondering if I should get a new credit card to reflect my improved credit score. Does that
kind of thing matter? Are the benefits significant? - Shaundra Hey Shaundra - Yes and YES. A better card with a higher limit can improve your credit even further, and the benefits offered by banks to people with good credit are usually much better than what one can get with poor or fair credit. For starters, you should have access to lower APRs with your approved credit score. I don’t want you carrying a balance from month to month, but it’s always nice to have lower interest rates in case you do get caught with some outstanding charges on your card. A lot of cards will offer 0% APR on balance transfers as well, in case you have some debt that’s lingering. Most fun will be access to useful perks. If you look good on paper, you can be trusted with the fanciest cards that bring in the fanciest rewards. Earn tons of miles and use swanky private lounges when you go to the airport; get a handful of cashback when you go to restaurants or pay for gas; apply for a card that links with your favorite airline or hotel to ensure your spending turns into rewards you can use. Many of the best credit cards don’t really work unless you do a modest amount of spending, so you can’t expect to get much of a bonus if you don’t swipe regularly. That’s why it’s worth researching the cards that offer bonus points for certain types of spending. Some are better for
business owners and frequent flyers, others work well for parents who have big families and spend lots of money on groceries each month. Some cards let you pick the benefits you’ll get the most out of, which is an appealing perk. There’s a post at GoFarWithKovar.com that details 10 of the best cards for people with good credit, so that’s worth checking out if you’re in the early stages of your search. Whatever you choose, don’t get too excited by the rewards. It’s nice to get a kickback for your everyday purchases, just don’t lose sight of the fact that you have to spend money in order to get these bonuses. If you work too hard to earn airline miles, you’ll quickly be back in debt and watching your credit score take a turn for the worse. As long as you already use a credit card, it ought to be a good one. Start doing some research and find something that brings in useful rewards and reflects the excellent credit score you’ve earned, Shaundra! Taylor Kovar, CEO of Kovar Capital. Read more about Taylor at GoFarWithKovar.com
Disclaimer: Information presented is for educational purposes only and is not an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. To submit a question to be answered in this column, please send it via email to Question@GoFarWithKovar.com, or via USPS to Taylor Kovar, 415 S
Pride of Howe (Continued from page 1)
ware as proof of their efforts. The first performance was a normal Friday night half time, but Saturday brought two different competitive events. The new McKinney ISD Stadium was the site for the McKinney Marching Invitational where Howe marched at 11 a.m. Following that performance, the band immediately boarded the buses and headed to Ponder for a 3:15 prelims performance. That performance advanced them to the finals of the Ponder Marching Classic where they performed again at 8:15. The band took home the Best in Class 3A trophy and finished 4th overall—just
five tenths of a point behind 4A Benbrook High School. Class 4A Krum, Farmersville and Aubrey took 1st, 2nd and 5th in that contest. The Howe band later learned that they had a trophy waiting for them in McKinney for finishing 2nd in 3A at the MMI. While some might not understand the purpose for competing in two contests in one day, band director Angie Liss explained, “My goal is to always get two competitive runs in on a Saturday. We know that’s almost impossible to get that at the MMI given we’re competing against 5A and 6A bands. But McKinney is the site for our UIL Region contest so it’s good to get a run in at that stadium. Once we
15
Living with children
John Rose-
I have good news for parents: You do not need more than a few tools in your disciplinary tool-bag. One especially valuable tool, one that belongs in every modern home, is the
“Doctor.” The Doctor is akin to a genie – an invisible parenting sprite, so to speak – whom you invite to take up residence in your home. But it’s not like inviting your cousin to come live with you because the Doctor takes up no room, consumes nothing, makes no mess, and moves on within a few weeks.
You can invoke the Doctor’s paranormal powers concerning a broad range of parenting problems including tantrums, disobedience, compulsive nose-picking, even refusing to eat. So, for example, you can tell a, say, fiveyear-old who is throwing frequent tantrums because you will not customize her life precisely to her liking, “I spoke to the Doctor today about your tantrums; you know, your screaming fits. He tells me that children your age who throw lots of screaming fits aren’t getting enough sleep and told me that if you throw a screaming or even a yelling or crying fit, you have to go to bed immediately after we eat supper so you can catch up on your sleep. He also said that if you have a fit after supper, you have to go to bed right away.” The five-year-old female child in question is a real person. She lives with her parents in a small midwestern town where she was, until recently, developing quite the reputation for explosive tantrums that were even occurring in restaurants, stores, and other public places. She went to bed right after supper every night for six nights. Then she went to bed early five nights out of the next ten. Then she stopped throwing tantrums. Several weeks later, she told her mother that she felt a lot better now that she wasn’t having screaming fits all the time. Duh! get that out of the way, we can get to Ponder and work for a performance under the lights in the finals. It’s a long weekend but it’s worth it. I’m super proud of the kids and all four of their perfor-
Or, take the case of the six-yearold boy whose parents had spent tens of thousands of dollars on various forms of “feeding therapy” – which consists, as best I can tell, of cajoling, bribing, and exclaiming “Good job!” whenever said child touches his lips with a new food morsel – including a stint in-residence at a well-known feeding therapy institute in the Midwest. Yes, the parents picked up and moved 1500 miles so their food-averse child could have nothing but the best. After eight weeks of intensive midwestern feeding therapy, the child’s food repertoire had gone from three to five. After a 90-minute discussion with me, the parents told their son about the Doctor – a new Doctor, mind you, one they’d never seen before – and his revolutionary finding that children who refuse to eat what is put in front of them (from that point on, said defiant boy’s plate featured the same foods everyone else in the family had on their plates)…yes, you guessed it…aren’t getting enough sleep! Within a week, the child was eating what his parents and siblings were eating. He continued to complain about not liking what his parents fixed, but when he did, they simply said, “You must be feeling tired” and he ate. The Doctor’s ground-breaking therapy cured a nine-year-old who enjoyed calling his single mother names and completely ignored her when she gave an instruction. The Doctor was able to determine that – all together now: THE BOY WASN’T GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP! Only two weeks of treatment was required to cure what a psychologist had said was a case of oppositional-defiant and attention-deficit disorders. Turns out, the boy was just a sleepy little brat. Family psychologist John Rosemond: johnrosemond.com, parentguru.com. John Rosemond has worked with families, children, and parents since 1971 in the field of family psychology. In 1971, John earned his masters in psychology from Western Illinois University and was elected to the Phi Kappa mances this weekend.” The band will march in the UIL Region 25 Marching Contest next Saturday at 5 pm at the McKinney ISD stadium.
The Pride of Howe at the moment of being announced for their finals performance. Courtesy photo.
