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Show WEDNESDItY, FEBRUARY 14, 2018 0.,atalxWelako., 8 - DIXIESUNNEWS.COM ObWONioffeetia.M0e.."..0.,101.001111...;0000101WZMNIO.010011.100MEMNOMe.,..... for to use finances, refund your Putting BY CODY ECKMAN CodyEckman As we wave January goodbye, we're officially into tax season and, while tax prep might not be thrilling, it certainly has its perks. The best of these is the potential for a hefty return. Tax returns raise interesting questions and show us a lot about ourselves: are we the type to use excess cash practically or the type to let loose with it and unwind? I'm not Don't worry here to judge you. Whichever side you're inclined to, allow me to propose a few ideas: Practical uses for your refund According to Forbes. corn, the average American saves just over 5 percent of their disposable income. For under 30's, this rate drops even more. The Forbes article reported: "This is far too low to adequately prepare most people for retirement and unexpected expenses. ...Most experts recom mend saving at least 10 percent to 15 percent of your income in order to be financially for these things." With that in mind, how are your savings doing? What about your retirement account? According to some of the money experts at CNN, the best time to start putting away for your retirement is in your 20's. The idea is pretty simple: you're unlikely to be able to save enough by yourself to retire at any kind of decent age and have enough money to live on. There are a number of potential tools in your belt to help you retire with confidence, including 401k's, IRA's, ROTH IRA's, mutual funds and well-prepar- ed "Paying off your debts should be your number one priority." index funds. If you want to find out more about these consult with a financial adviser and use your internet resources to get yourself educated. Local financial adviser, Trent Evans has worked in finance for 10 years. "It can be a lot to take in for a newcomer," Evans said. "The best bet is to find an expert you trust and to ask a lot of questhe more, the tions better." The problem with these tools is that they tend to rely on an interest rate to grow your money over time. Simply put, more time equals more money. This little magic trick is called compound interest take and it's powerful the following example from CNN.com: "Say you start at age 25, and put aside $3,000 a year in a retirement account for 10 and then you stop years completely. By saving the time you reach 65, your $30,000 investment will have grown to more than $338,000, (assuming a 7 percent annual return), even though you didn't contribute a dime beyond age 35." CNN goes on to report that starting at 35 and paying the that same $3,000 a year for the next 30 years will net you less cash in the long run. Time is your biggest ally in the retirement race. Compound interest can also work against you in the form of debt. A great use of your refund is to pay down any debts that might be weighing at you. The quicker it's gone, the less you'll pay in the long run. Alex Horne, a local entrepreneur, said having debt should make you feel uncomfortable. "When you're in debt, you wake up poorer than you were when you went to sleep," Home said. LIITTI things you can do with your tax refund to oet ahead. Fun and games If invest 3 all the finance talk has turned off your brain, let me suggest some fun tit CI uses for your windfall. If you've got the itch for adventure, maybe you can try seeing the U.S. by train. Derek Low, a popular travel blogger, details how, for a few hundred dollars and four or five days of your time, you'll have room and board on a train across the country which cuts through some of the most gorgeous country there is to see. "The most scenic and historic of all the train routes in America is the y journey from San Francisco to New York," Low writes. coastto-c"The 3,400-mil- e oast train ride takes 4 if days you do it without stopovers. Of course, you should make stopovers, but you'll need to buy separate tickets for each leg." If being outdoors is more your thing, I recommend a national park tour of Utah. Utah is the home of five beautiful national parks and no two of them are the same. Jonathan Michael has worked as a park ranger at Bryce Canyon National Park for two years and he recommends the parks to everyone he meets. "Utah is just incredible," Michael said. "And the parks are full of stuff to do that I don't see enough locals take advantage of. If anyone hasn't been to the parks yet, it's a must-d- o trip." According to the National Park Service's website, an annual pass to every park in the nation will run you $80. Leave yourself a few hundred dollars for gas, food and campgrounds, borrow a tent Save of dc , Pr ca 7 . ' di of be or ha on an The IRS sent back $324 billion dollars backto taxpayers in 2017. im ne wl Ze IRS cross-countr- tax-deferr- ed 11 I lioneAka, 41 $! pe Pa na tnir 44404 ILO 20 y?,;t44 cooteozin 1 ccoocos29 1OD l Ut rel sol , .110:Malmoi.MmoraMM62011,ft , en , on ch a out of 10 taxpayers received a tax refund worth an average of $2,895. I no Cc pe. sit to' tie thc ha: Average refund in Utah: $1639 rel is re( o D3 Z m ,0z Se( m a s( 0c z z 0 ALI 0 o cor I if you don't already have one, and take five days to see the parks. The NPS website has great resources for planning your trip, lists of available activities, and schedules of events. The great thing about this trip is that it's corn pletely up to you how involved you want to make it. There are options for skydiving, river rafting, rock climbing, bike tours and a number of other things that might interest the would-b- e adventurer. Plan your trip well, make some good inquiries about what services are available, and above all else, go at your own pace. Whether you decide on practicality or letting your hair down, my recommendation is to plan well, make the most of your money, and reap the benefits. Dal's diverse alumni pave way for personal suc,c0's 'Big Sonia' remembers holocaust, shares love gsmomivazquez BY NAOMI VAZQUEZ in journalism at University of Nevada Las Vegas. "It's fun; I can't complain because it's a job Shi-Qua- n Nettingham, Mike Nelson and Keshara Bjorkman are just a few r1,4:, , s' r" ita . its'4 successful people whose stories began at Dixie State University. Not only did these former students take advantage of what DSU has to offer and are continuing to be successful outside of school, but they all beat the odds, powered against diverse students like them, to do tit I :,ttp;!1 ti 1 I ' st I 1 ,1t4 ; , ti ,t "...4 -- ek 11"."".'""Nize 7 MO, 4 's , , r i , so. n DSU alumnus Nettingham was an engaged student in athletics and Radio Dixie. 1 Shi-Qua- "The instructors...I felt they did a great job in preparing me with knowledge and skills in the communication department as a whole," Nettingham said. "I feel like the instructors I had were great and helpful and wanted to help the students." Z , al Mike Nelson, a Dixie State University alumnus, assistant director of the Multicultural and InClusion Center and Native American student adviser, now works to help educate Native American students about resources on campus to better prepare them for success. During his time studying at Dixie State University, Mike was very involved with student government and the MIC. Nettingham now works for a radio station in Las that I enjoy, and I know everybody doesn't have that," Nettingham said. "Just find what you're passionate about and stick with it. It'll be worth it in the end." Another DSU alumnus who now has a career he is passionate about is Mike Nelson, assistant director of the Multicultural and Inclusion Center and Native American student adviser. After originally leaving school in 2001 and being affected by the economic recession in 2008, Nelson decided to pursue his education as a returning student. During his time at DSU, Nelson became very involved with his department of study, with student government and with the MIC. During his senior year, Nelson received many Vegas, 98.5 KLUC, and is pursuing a master's degree see ALUMNI page 9 BY MOIRA MACDONALD TNS ,,,,,,,,.,,,,,m,,,,..., i At first glance, Sonia Warshawsld could be anyone's grandma. A tiny, stooped woman with an exuberant head of hairsprayed curls and a 90-year- fondness for leopard prints, she makes her first appearance in the documentary "Big Sonia" handing out chocolate bars and urging her granddaughter to put on a sweater. But Sonia's story is remarkable, and she's one of the few remaining to tell it; how fortunate we all are that the listening Leah granddaughter a Seattleite Warshawski, visiting Sonia's Kansas City home is a filmmaker. "If there is hell, I was in that hell," Sonia says softly in "Big Sonia," speaking in a radio interview on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the s .,', : - . ,4 ,i. ,e SF ,, - i 1.. Holocaust rt.. v. 2" ? ) 1,,Ad ......,..... j survivor Sonia Wa- death camp, at the end of World War Sonia was there it was the final of three camps to which Nazis delivered her. Arrested at 13 at her home in Poland, she was separated from most of her family (she never saw her father again, and later watched her mother walk to the gas chambers) and spent her teenage years imprisoned. Beaten, starved and abused, she nonetheless survived. don't carry hate," she says, "but I cannot forget." see fro hir ye in at "B ,...f rshawski in the documentary "Big Sonia." Bergen-Belse- n ev( hig ces pa ful A.,4'tti 4 N, lc ,,... iw , cr :.L.:....h.a.r.mm...m....Ln. Thi tioi en( n ;", 1 71 aw mu the Ma wh Na SONIA page 9 rrq pul I'n on ecli cal res prc Be ha, Ne to Clii Sc co Mt del nal of ab( shc |