The La Grange Journal (La Grange, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 4, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 25, 1962 Page: 4 of 16
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The La Grange Journal - Thurs., Jan.25, 1962
Planning for 1962
BY ROGER
Few people seem to realize that
it Is during a time of prosperity
that plans should be made for pos-
sible reverses later on. Even
though recovery is rolling along,
stop and ask yourself a few ques-
tions. If your lost your job tom-
orrow, how much would you and
your family suffer financially? Are
you snowed under by installment
payments? Would a serious ill-
ness leave you strapped? Have
you borrowed on your life insur-
ance?
ARE YOU OVEREXTENDED?
A young acquaintance of mine,
a man about thirty years old, was
recently laid off by a small com-
pany for which he had worked
faithfully for eight years. He had
been making $100 a week before
taxes, but his take-home pay after
federal levies was only $83.20, not
Including state taxes. And his
monthly commitments are: $70
for mortgage, interest, and real
estate tax; $63 on a 1960 car;
$21 on a food-freezer; $12.50 on
wall-to-wall carpeting; $30 on a
go-now pay-later trip to the West
Indies with his wife; and $16.50
on a new color TV. Right now —
and he has no salary coming in--
he has department-store bills am-
ounting to several hundred dollars,
$160 owing on his last winter’s
fuel bill, and past-due light and
phone bills. Merchants and ser-
vice firms have already put him
on a strictly cash basis.
It is possible that this man is
not typical of most young workers,
but I am afraid there are alto-
gether too many who would fit into
this category. With full employ-
ment and occasional raises, he
might have pulled himself out of
his financial jam. But my point
is that he, like so many other,
is that he, like so many others,
has greatly overextended himself.
VICTIM OF THE TIMES
I can’t say that I wholly blame
the young man for letting him-
self get trapped. He is a pro-
duct of the “unending” prosperity
that has followed World War II.
Like many others, he has been
bludgeoned by magazine, TV, and
radio ads into overloading. With
more money to spend than he had
ever had before, he was tempted
out over his depth. In 1946, fam-
ilies were spending only 45% of
their incomes for the essentials of
living, with some 55% left over
for luxuries. By 1954, fixed char-
ges were taking 53% of income,
with only 47%left for discretionary
buying. Since then the trend has
continued in the same direction,
until a substantial majority of a
family’s income is now eaten up
by fixed charges such as food, rent,
and installment debt. This maybe
all right as long as a boom is in
progress. But let a recession hit,
or let strikes or automation lay-
offs become serious, and the heavy
burden of installment commit-
ments which many people are car-
rying could mean economic cat-
astrophe.
THRIFT STILL A WISE POLICY
This troubles me, especially be-
cause I know that major cycles
of business overexpansion and de-
pression will always be with us.
The inevitable quirks of human
judgmen will See to that! Hence,
the present all-out acceptance of
installment buying as a perfectly
natural way of life causes me much
concern. Carless spending is en-
encouraged by any system that
postpones payment for something
you can get now without waiting.
As I warn my grandchildren, so
would I warn young people every-
where that prosperity is a time
for increasing financial reserves..
a time to put money aside in sav-
ings accounts, some of it for care-
ful-investment ljjrerpv Wvioney >n
rfw birtk is' orte' of* me best types
• -rf-Tmtrranc<?,- “ agstrar unerrF
ploy me nt emergencies particu
W. BABSON
larly. It is fine to have a com-
fortable home, a new car, air
conditioning, and many desirable
luxuries. They induce happiness
and satisfaction. But what good is
all this if your financial sense
has been poor and the bill col-
lectors give way to trucks coming
to cart away the goods?
I often think it takes even more
intelligence, will power, and cou-
rage to plan for tomorrow than
it does to handle today’s obliga-
tions. Everyboyd, -- whether em-
ployer, worker, or landlord--
should keep one eye on tomorrow
( and the day after ) in financial
planning. Other wise, he may
end up in the same plight as my
sadder but wiser unemployed young
friend.
Support Price Levels
Announced For
Important Crops
Price support levels for 1962
crops of cotton, peanuts, rice and
honey have been announced by Sec-
retary of Agriculture Orville L.
Freeman.
The minimum national average
support price for upland cotton will
be 31.88 cents per pound, gross
weight, the same as last year. This
reflects approximately 82 per-cent
of the current parity price. For
extra long staple cotton, the price
will be 53.17 cents per pound, net
weight, and 65 percent of current
parity price.
In the event the minimum level
of support for upland or extra
long staple as requird by law
on the basis of parity as of the
beginning of the marketing year
is higher than the level announced,
the level of support will be increa-
sed accordingly, the secretary
said.
The minimum national average
support price for peanuts will be
$221 per ton, the same as for 1961
and it reflects 85 percent of parity
price on January 1.
The support level for rice was
set at the same level as 1961,
$4.71 per hundredweight, and is
dependent on a favorable vote by
producers in the upcoming rice
marketing quota referendum set
for Jan. 23. If quotas are ap-
proved by two-thirds of the voters,
producers who comply With
acreage allotments and marketing
quotas will be eligible for support
on their 1962 production. If quotas
are not approved, acreage allot-
ments will remain in effect as a
condition of eligibility for price
support at 50 percent of the parity
level.
The support price for honey was
set at 11.2 cents a pound. The
same as the 1961 rate but sub-
stantially above the 1960 level, and
reflects 74 percent of the January
1962 parity price adjusted to a
60-pound container basis. The
support announced applies to honey
marketed during the 1962 season,
which beings on April 1.
.
1
Office Supplies: Everything yoi
need in the line of office supplies
can be found at The Journal office.
Our personnel will be happy to
help you! Game by and make
your wants known. Stationery
Department, La Grange Journal.
1he Old 1imwL
t,
Jh
L''
/ • U.. 1 M<«<" >'**
‘‘Fashion note — little
change in men’s pockets in
’62."
Talk About
REDUCTIONS!
You Will Find Them at The
South Side Square M ^ SHOP ^ Grange, Texas
POPULAR CLOTHES ^APALAy POPULAR PRICES
GREAT SEMI-ANNUAL CLEARANCE
OF MEN’S AND BOYS’ FINE WINTER APPAREL!
SUITS, SPORTCOATS,
TOP COATS, SLACKS
REDUCED —
***
JACKETS, SWEATERS,
SPORT SHIRTS AND
CORDUROY PANTS
REDUCED TO — .
y2 PRICE
85 MEN’S SUITS
Values Up To $59.95
NOW
$16.95
BROWN
FREEMAN DRESS SHOES
$14.95 To $19.95 NOW—
$8.95
PAIR
55 BOYS’ SUDS
$12.95 To $24.95
NOW—
MAN’S (imISHOP
$4.95
South Side Square — La Grange, Texas
8 To 18
« t ^ _ A
Clearance Ends Jan. 31st
o.i ??7M t>ns Tcici.j. . i
•<3 nuieuuh L> . t-
MMH
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Fuchs, Durwood L. The La Grange Journal (La Grange, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 4, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 25, 1962, newspaper, January 25, 1962; La Grange, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1113187/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Fayette Public Library, Museum and Archives.