From time to time former residents or owners of our office stop by to see their old home and inform us of what it once was. Elizabeth Love Zastrow and John Wilson Love dropped off the following historic information this past fall.

This is a bit of history of this house that our Grandfather (Joseph Wellington Love) had rebuilt in 1934 after a fire destroyed it in the early 1930's.

After our Grandparents died the house was left to one of our father's sisters who lived in California. She did not want to move back here, so Dad bought the house from her in 1939 for $10,000. Grandfather was an antique collector and loved to go to Minneapolis when some of the old mansions were tom down and buy things that appealed to him. He loved black walnut. All the parlor doors, the mantel, the hand carved newel post at the foot of the stairs, and the stair railing were purchased by him at one of these sales and he had them installed in his home. John Love (my brother) tells me he also bought some things from Rose Brothers, which was a wrecking company. I remember him talking about the Gates Mansion and the Judd Mansion.

The house caught on fire on December 19th, in the early 30's. It burned very slowly because the fire started on the second floor just off our Grandmother's room. They thought at the time that maybe a mouse chewed on the wiring. Grandmother had quite a bit of lovely jewelry and she tied it all in a bag and pinned it to a pair of her underwear and flung it over the end of her bed. She thought if ever there was a fire all she would have to do was grab her underwear and save the jewelry. But she forgot in the excitement of the fire and alerting my Grandfather in another room. They had the ashes sifted as the house burned to the foundation. One diamond was turned in, but they found out later that the men that did the sifting were not too honest and maybe more were found but not turned in. My grandmother was slightly burned as her bed was on fire before she woke up. It was 30 degrees below zero that night and the fire hydrant was frozen and they had to run hoses down to the lake to fight the fire. Because it burned slowly they were able to take the walnut parlor doors off their hinges, throw a lasso in and around the newel post and pull it out through the front door. They even took the shutters off the house.

The kitchen was on the southwest part of the house and next to the kitchen was a breakfast room where we ate most of the time. Where the reception desk is now was the formal dining room. On top of the newel post was a light on a stem, which my brother John used to love to grab hold of, and swing himself around after hitting the last step of the stairs. On the south end of the living room was a screen porch that was damaged in a tornado one year and never replaced. The two-car garage was tucked under the porch and living room. The present garage was added by one of the owners some years later.

The foundation of the house and the chimney are faced with Jasper Stone, which came from Judge Koon's house, which was on the north side of Loring Park in Minneapolis.

The second floor bedrooms are still pretty much the same as when we lived there except in the master bedroom there was a bathroom where the little kitchen is now and just east of the kitchen was a dressing room. I used to sunbathe on the deck off the hallway. I always admired the lovely fireplace in that bedroom. The fireplace appears to have a Greek motif on the front, with a chariot driver with four horses bidding good-bye to maidens waving their kerchiefs to him. The firebox seems to depict a blacksmith plying his trade but in Greek or Roman attire.

There used to be a barn out behind the house where the Villa is now. Our Grandfather had a few Jersey cows and in later years the barn was gone and a garage like enclosure was there made out of the red brick.

The basement had finished walls with a fruit cellar at the foot of the stairs. There was a laundry room on the southwest comer of the basement with an outside entrance. There was a family type room just north of the laundry room, which had an old windup Victrola in it. We played such records as Barney Google with his Goo Goo Googely Eyes, Gallagher and Sheen and the Preacher and the Bear. I am sure they all ended up in the dump. I was married in the living room of this house in January 1943.

WHAT'S HAPPENING? By E. Dennis Zahrbock, CFP

Mission Jamaica XII took place during February. We were unaware of Mission Jamaica until IX! But we're now alumni of IX, X, XI, and XII. This year there were 50 of us representing all walks of life. Our mission was to build a chain link fence around an Orphanage. We accomplished 60% of our task with the following week's crew completing the job, we hope! In addition to fellow veterans Doug and Lori Coudron, this year rookies Tom and Galen Brady (from San Francisco) and their son Tommy (quarterback for Patriots) signed on. We all had a great time and are already planning Mission Jamaica XIII.

Now for the duck report ... Made it up to the Decoy Inn three times last October. First time with son-in-laws, second time with cousins and third time with friends. As always, the experience and camaraderie were excellent. Bernie's cooking continues to be a highlight! Unfortunately 2000 will not be remembered as the year to shoot ducks! We shot a few and missed a bunch ... but their numbers were down and with our aim we needed to shoot at a lot more bunches!

Ice fishing has been slow this winter ... haven't caught a fish! Only tried five times so maybe that's the problem. Have been busy plowing snow ... this past winter has been the most snow since we built our cabin in the north woods of Wisconsin.

Son-in-law Steve will be joining Business & Estate Advisers, Inc. later this summer. If all goes well he'll obtain his MBA in June from the University of Denver. Lori, Addie, and Steve will then relocate to the Twin Cities where Steve will head up our Senior Market Division. We're all excited about Steve joining us and about their family moving to Minnesota.

Stephanie and Greg are expecting our second granddaughter in early May, we'll likely be able to provide a name at Skip-A-Day XVII to be held on May 21, 2001. Be sure to mark your calendars!

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BULLETIN BOARD OF CURRENT EVENTS

JANUARY 2001

Staff retreat took place in early January where we all grew to be a better team by finding out about each of our Unique Abilities.

In mid January Dennis spoke on 401(k) plans at the 2001 meeting of the International Forum.

FEBRUARY 2001

On February 1st we were allowed to officially announce that Sarah was awarded the CFP designation. The National CFP exam was given in November of 2000 to all qualified candidates, we are proud of Sarah being one of the 51% that passed the exam.

Sue and Dennis attended Mission Jamaica XII February 17-24.

MARCH 2001

GenAmerica Financial held its Top Achiever Conference in La Quinta near Palm Springs, California. Dennis and Sue extended a couple of weeks at their townhouse in Rancho Mirage.

GenAmerica Financial held the spring meeting of the Advisory council in St. Louis. Dennis attended.

APRIL 2001

Dennis is to attend the MDRT finance committee meeting in Chicago.

Quick trip by Dennis and Sue to host a family Easter in Palm Springs.

Dennis to speak to North Dakota Association of Insurance and Financial Advisers.

MAY 2001

Dennis to speak to Iowa Association of Insurance and Financial Advisers.

Dennis and Sue to go to Portland to Celebrate arrival of new granddaughter.

Skip-A-Day XVII to be held on Monday May 21st, the Monday before Memorial Day.

Jules will be attending the ValMark Securities National Conference in St. Louis, Missouri.

JUNE 2001

Sarah and Dennis to speak on 401(k)'s to the 2001 MDRT membership at their annual meeting in Toronto.

Dennis and Sue to attend the Vanguard Club composed of ValMark Securities Top Associates Conference in Banff, British Columbia.

JULY 2001

Dennis, Sue, Stephanie, Greg, Baby, Lori, Steve, Addison, and Rachael to board the Mississippi Queen for a cruise from St. Paul to St. Louis.

AUGUST 2001

Dennis to speak to the Agents of Farm Bureau at Farm Bureau's Conference in Denver.

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Newest Advisory Board Members

GREGORY J. FRANK, CEO - McCombs Frank Roos

Q. How did you first become acquainted with Business & Estate Advisers?
Business & Estate Advisers provides McCombs Frank Roos with profit sharing plan consulting.

Q. During your association, what has Business & Estate Advisers done for you?
Financial consultation for profit sharing plan.

Q. What, in your opinion, what makes Business & Estate Advisers different from other financial services firms?
Principal is a hands on person and directly involved in our account.

 

ELAINE THEIS - Dundee Nursery

Q. How did you first become acquainted with Business & Estate Advisers?
Originally through Copeland Buhl.

Q. What, in your opinion, what makes Business & Estate Advisers different from other financial services firms?
The entire staff is easy to deal with and will explain things to me until I understand (especially Dennis).

 

 

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Business & Estate Advisers, Inc. welcomes SNOOPY! Since GenAmerica Financial is now affiliated with METLife we felt it only appropriate to purchase one of their famous symbols. We understand that only Coca-Cola has better name recognition than METLife's Snoopy. Come see SNOOPY at Skip-A-Day XVII!

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Business & Estate Adviser's "Tips for Teens"

Volume 5 Issue 4

Edited and Revised by Business & Estate Advisers, Inc. as an insert to our newsletter

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By: E. Dennis Zahrbock, CFP

FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE BY AGE 40

This time our article is how to achieve financial independence by the time you're age 40! But, before we can reveal the "secret," we need to define financial independence and we need to disclose (and honor) the person that shared the secret with us!

Our definition of financial independence is ... the day you go to work because you want to or like to rather than have to! In other words, financial independence is not the same for all people. It is the amount of assets you'll need to support your individual lifestyle without the necessity of being paid for the work you do. It is important to note that the vast majority of people that have achieved financial independence continue to be paid for their work as they enjoy continuing to work. The benefit of financial independence is that "the pressure is off'...that is to say that if you don't work, your lifestyle will not change.

Now for the disclosure of who passed the secret to us! The individual's name is Tony Green. Most of our readers do not know Tony or who he is. He happens to be the President of Raymond James Financial Independent Producer Division. He is a class act in every way and, there is no doubt, that his practicing the secret is displayed in his life everyday. Everyone that knows Tony knows he gained financial independence twenty years ago. He continues to work because he likes what he does and, if I were to make a guess, to observe his associates and how (or if) they improve the secret he shares.

So now it's time for the secret ... it's so simple that most believe it cannot be that easy. Most that hear the secret (including me) don't think it can work. Tony shared the secret with me in 1985 (that's nearly 16 years ago) and I didn't accept it to be that simple. Finally, in 1997, I made the plunge. Today Sue and I are financially independent but I continue to work because I love what I do and because I have been blessed with an ability to make a difference in my clients' financial lives.

I'll bet, by now, you're making many guesses as to the secret. It's so simple that I'll guess that your guess is wrong. So here it is: When you get your very first job and your very first paycheck commit to three things: 1) You will save 10% of your gross wages. 2) You will give to charity 10% of your gross wages. 3) You will set up your lifestyle to live on 80% of your gross wages minus taxes.

Sounds simple now doesn't it? I have told many people of the secret for 15 years but very few have followed the advice.

Obviously everyone likes the idea of saving 10% and many people will actually take this step! Everything about Step I feels good, as virtually everyone knows that saving for the future makes sense. They can observe any number of newspaper and magazine articles that can mathematically show you how significant of a pile of cash that can be grown over a consistent and long-term savings plan.

The difficulty comes in following secret Part 2 and secret Part 3. If I had to make a guess I would say "greed" gets in the way. We all tend to think that "charity begins at home" so why not either save more than 10% or live on more than 80%? Really, who will even know if you fudge a little? My guess is that Part 2 is where most fail. I can tell you from personal experience that this was where I "cheated"! We were able to live on 80% of our income so why not save more than 10% ... who will know (or even miss) if we don't give the 10%. I don't know how others that have tried the secret have done but I know that for me, when I "cheated" my investments didn't do very well! So here I was saving more than 10% but not really getting financial independence.

When, in 1997, Sue and I finally committed to actually giving 10%, a miracle took place! Our investments actually performed better (which may have been just a coincidence), our joys of living life improved greatly and our financial independence took place in only three years. You, as a teenager, should not think you can achieve financial independence in only three years, remember the time frame is twenty years. Perhaps for your parents or older siblings it can be done faster but it is very doubtful they will do it by age 40 like you can! From prior newsletters my readers know I am a Christian and that I practice my faith the best I can. I know that God is in charge and that when He sees His children "giving the 10%" that He decides to cause more bounty to be gained on the other 90%.

So, there you have it-the secret to financial independence. It's so easy, and yet so hard. If followed, it will help you achieve independence; if not followed, there are no guarantees. The bottom line is to have faith in the secret and God will watch over. Drop me a note in 20 years and let me know how well you did!