Skip-A-Day XVIII was our biggest success ever. Mark your calendars for Skip-A-Day XIX on Monday, May 19, 2003!

Old Secretaries don't create "heirs" they just "white out"!!!
By E. Dennis Zahrbock, CFP

In November of 1979 Business & Estate Advisers, Inc. experienced its first relocation. We moved from Golden Valley (where Menards now stands) to Wayzata. We shared office space with an attorney friend named Joe Mannikko located in the First National Bank Building (Anchor Bank now).

One of the first orders of business was to hire a secretary. We were a 14-month old company and our initial assistant was employed but a week, followed by our second for a year. We decided we would run an ad in the local paper and see what we get! Several available people applied but we finally decided to hire Cherie Hillerns from Maple Plain, Minnesota.

So why did we select Cherie? First of all her resume indicated she had spent the vast majority of her working career in a small family held business that had recently closed. She had proven loyalty by staying to the end. Second, she had a great smile. And, third, she had a "can do'' attitude in the interview.

During Cherie's first week on the job she stayed late nearly every day. Officing with an attorney, I was pulled aside and advised that my new employee may be setting me up for an "overtime'' claim and I better do something about it!

The next week I visited with Cherie about my attorney friends concerns. She was a bit taken back as she stated "my style is to work until the work is done!'' I decided to trust what she said and we began a twenty-three year relationship.

The age of typewriters was just ending and the age of computers was just beginning. Cherie hung on to the old but by 1981 we both succumbed to our first Apple II computer. From the Apple to a DEC and finally to an IBM and the many IBM clones ever since. The computer world was a challenge for both of us but we both made it work by using a combination of the "old" and the "new.''

Cherie was with us every step of the way. She was involved in our move from our nice corner suite on the third floor when Dennis Buhl's firm needed our space. She was involved again in the fall of 1981 when we downsized after I accepted a fulltime position with Alexander & Alexander. In 1983 when I resigned from A & A, she was there to help us move to the new Wayzata Bank & Trust Building. In 1986 she helped with the move to the new Copeland & Buhl Building and finally in 1991 she helped us relocate to our own Business & Estate Building. I guess this proves she wasa "mover" and a "shaker."

When I was full time with A & A, Cherie ran the entire business for those two years. When questions arose she'd check with me and get the issues resolved. She was able to maintain our clients for this two year period without missing a beat!

Steve Kairies became half owner of Business & Estate in 1983 and Cherie became the cornerstone of our staff. She was the company "memory'' (and Mom) and could always come up with a misplaced piece of information. When we ran the ad in the Mpls Star Tribune with the headlines: wholesale Life Insurance. ..there really isn't such a thing, but at these rates you'd think there was!", Cherie handled all the calls and set the appointments. I'd estimate that she helped Steve and I sell over one hundred million of Life Insurance in this process.

In the late 80's we were joined by a third owner, Robert Bjork and our staff rose to eighteen. Cherie was our go-to, over-worked key person. By the 90's technology, a long career and a husband's retirement found it time for Cherie to make a graceful exit from Business & Estate. She and husband Leo did our flowers in 92, 93 & 94 and our new property never looked better.

Cherie and Leo spent the last half of the 90's enjoying their rural home in Maple Plain, working in their yard and, of course, their children and grandchildren. In the summer of 99, quite unexpectedly, Leo passed away.

Every Christmas for the past twenty-three years I've given each of my staff "cash'' as bonuses and I've always disguised the gifts. For example, one year I had them all stuffed in Turkeys and then frozen. Another time they were placed in the inside of left over 2 x 4 ends and then I nailed a block of 2x4's into the size of a present. In 1999, each of the staff had their cash attached to the bottoms of sleighs that I had made. Since Cherie had been so dear and special to our company, I always brought her one of the gifts. Each December I'd make the trip to her home and deliver the "what's he donna do next'' gift. She would not open them until Christmas and always appreciate my way of hiding the dough!

In 1999 I brought Cherie the sleigh with her name on it and the cash attached to the bottom. She told me she had something for me and she left the room. A few minutes later she returned with an old Remington 20 Gauge Pump Shotgun. She said, army kids aren't interested in hunting and I think this is something you should haven't Wow, she had given me her father's gun! I've since had the gun completely redone and use it every fall for at least one hunt in honor of dear Cherie.

In April this past Spring I received a call at home one Friday saying Cherie had been placed in a nursing home and they did not feel she would live a long life. On that Saturday, Sue and I visited Cherie and it was such a warm and caring event. I commented to Sue that "they" were wrong and she'd likely be around for quite awhile. Unfortunately, they were right and Cherie died that
Tuesday. Sue and I attended the funeral and said our goodbyes.

A week or two later Cherie's son stopped by the office and presented our office with the sleigh with Cherie's name on it. This sleigh now sits in our Conference Room as a memorial to our dear, dear Secretary who has now been "whited out'' and past on her life to her "heirs.'' We are so honored to be the heir to her gun and her sleigh....we shall remember her always.

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

In addition to our featured article and our loss of Cherie one of our dear friends had the misfortune of losing their daughter Cara. Cara had joined her father's financial services business and had become very successful by the young age of 27. She had opened an office in Florida and her, her husband, her father and her mother were "business as normal'' one Friday morning in April when suddenly they went into Cara's office and she lay on the floor. She had suffered a valve problem in her heart and
had died instantly. What a loss to have a friend go through. Roger and Sigrid have been dear friends for over twenty years. Our hearts and prayers go with them wherever they go.

Skip-A-Day of Work XVIII was a huge success. We had the biggest turn out ever and had the best dinner of the year. For those of you that have read our newsletter and have not attended you should make a point of so doing! If, for some reason you are not invited, that is an oversight on our part. Please call the office and say you would like to come. It is held on the some day each and every year. That's the Monday before Memorial Day which will be May 19, 2003 Plan now for Skip-A-Day XIX...it'll be a great day.

We are pleased to have Jill Johnson join our staff as a Pension Assistant. Jill, husband Tom, and children Laura and Martin reside in Minnetonka. Regrettably, Jill is a Badger and Packer fan. Fortunately, she brings some really good skills to our office and we are excited about her future with our firm!

Water, Water Everywhere, but not a drop to drink. That's the way it has been at our Lake home in Cumberland this past year. In the past two years our lake level has come up nearly 4-feet. We're a landlocked lake, so no inlets and no outlets. lf anyone can find the "plug'' please pull it and drain things down a few feet!

Sue, Stephanie, Lori and Rachael enjoyed the "girls hunting trip'' during the Labor Day weekend in Breckenridge Colorado. I guess fair is fair! !!!

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BULLETIN BOARD OF CURRENT EVENTS

JUNE 2002
Sarah and Dennis traveled to Nashville to attend the Seventy-Fifth Meeting of the Million Dollar Round Table. It was great to meet and visit with old friends. Dennis' good friend Richard Sullenger is the incoming International President of this organization of 20,000 plus financial advisors. Dennis was honored to deliver a speech to 7,000 attendees.

JULY 2002
Dennis and Sue attended a convention for GenAmerica which was a Cruise to Alaska. Unfortunately, it was foggy nearly every day so no spectacular sites were seen. It was really great to spend a week with long time friends of the industry and to meet new associates. Later in July, Dennis and Sue flew to Sandpoint, Idaho with friends, Mark & Cookie Schadow to visit friends, Cliff & Louise Otten. They had never heard of Sandpoint and had no real idea of where it was...but they had a weekend of enjoyment that will long be remembered.

AUGUST 2002
Dennis and Sue were scheduled to attend a MetLife event in St. Petersburg, Russia but a last minute decision was to enjoy the beauty of our own lake home in Northern Wisconsin. We'd been to St. Petersburg in the past and getting there and back would have been a drain!

Dennis made a trip to Toledo to speak to the members of The Savage Agency. The Savage Agency is arguably one of the top Insurance and Financial Services agencies in the nation. In honor of Dennis' speech they presented a check for $500 to Interfaith Outreach, one of Dennis' favorite charities.

Dennis also made a trip to Madison where he was the keynote speaker to the Sons of Norway International Convention. He was also the keynote speaker at their Stavangar, Norway meeting two years ago.

SEPTEMBER 2002
Back to school - Alex in Grade 3, Laura In Grade 2, Miranda in Grade 1, Martin in Kindergarten, Chloe, Lindsey and Addlson in preschool.

Dennls and Sue hosted a "get together'' for all of the "stranded in Canada'' people from the 9/11/01 tragedy. This group of 16 people were all returning home from MetLife's convention in France on that fatal morning.

OCTOBER 2002
Dennis will travel to MDRT headquarters in Chlcago for committee responsibilities with the MDRT Foundation.

Sarah is speaking on Balancing Work and Llfe at a Women In Networking luncheon.

Dennis and Sue leave for Chlna on October 13th for a two week trip with friends Cliff & Louis Otten, George & Linda Steiner and Gary & Martha Briggs.

Business & Estate Advlsers will be sponsonng Jules in the City of Hope Walk for Breast Cancer! In honor of her aunt' s five year in remission anniversary, Jules raised over $800!

NOVEMBER 2002
Dennis and Sue head to New York for a long weekend with Jim & Anne Eidsvold for a little "loft remodeling" at the Gary Eidsvold residence Sarah & Darvin will go for their annual R & R in Deadwood, South Dakota

DECEMBER 2002
Dennis and Sue hope to fit in a week at their Palm Springs abode.

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TERRI BOURGEOIS, President - PRECISION AIR PRODUCTS

Q. How did you first become acquainted with Business & Estate Advisers? They helped transition one, self-managed profit sharing plan to Include 401(k) benefits plans In three additional related companies.

Q. During your association, what has Business & Estate Advisers done for you? Coordinated plans for four companies with related ownership, while meeting Individual company goals.

Q. What, in your opinion, makes Business & Estate Advisers different from other financial services firms? Their ability to deal with the unique personalities of small businesses

PRIVACY NOTICE - Business & Estate Advisers, Inc., and B & E Investment Advisers, Inc.

Business & Estate Advisers, Inc., and B & E Investment Advisers, Inc. strongly believe in protecting the confidentiality and security of information we collect about you. This notice refers to Business & Estate Advisers, Inc. and B & E Investment Advisers, Inc. by using the terms "we", "us", or "our" This notice describes our privacy policy and describes how we treat the information we receive ("information") about you.

• Why We Collect and How We Use Information: We collect and use Information for business purposes with respect to our business relationships involving you. These include evaluating a request for products or services, administering our products or services, and processing transactions requested by you. We may also use Information to offer you other products or services we provide.
• How We Collect Information: We get most Information directly from you. The Information that you give us when applying for our products or services generally provides the information we need. lf we need to verify information or need additional information, we may obtain information from third parties. Information collected may relate to your finances, employment, avocations, or other personal characteristics as well as transactions with us or with others.
• How We Protect information: We treat Information in a confidential manner. Our employees, registered representatives, and investment adviser representatives acting on our behalf are required to protect the confidentiality of Information. These employees and representatives may access Information only when there is an appropriate reason to do so, such as to administer or offer our products or services. We also maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect Information; these safeguards comply with all applicable laws. Employees, registered representatives, and investment adviser representatives are required to comply with out estblished policies.
• Information Disclosure: We may disclose any Information when we believe it necessary for the conduct of our business, or where disclosure is required by law. For example, Information may be disclosed to others to enable them to provide business services for us such as, performing general administrative activities for us and assisting us in processing a transaction requested by you. Information may also be disclosed for audit or research purposes; or to law enforcement and regulatory agencies, for example, to help us prevent fraud. Information may be disclosed to others that are outside of Business & Estate
  Advisers, Inc. and B & E Investment Advisers, Inc., such as companies that process data for us or companies that provide general administrative services for us. We may make other disclosures of Information as permitted by law. We may provide Information to nonaffiliated financial services companies with which we have a joint agreement. We do not make any disclosures of Information to other companies who may want to sell their products to you. For example, we will not sell your name to a catalogue company. We may disclose any Information, other than consumer report or health information, for the purposes described in this paragraph.
• Access to and Correction of Information: Generally, upon your written request, we will make available Information for your review. Information collected in connection with, or in anticipation of, any claim or legal proceeding will not be made available. If you notify us that the Information is incorrect, we will review it. lf we agree, we will correct our records. lf we do not agree, you may submit a short statement of dispute, which we will include in any future disclosure of Information.
• Further Information: In addition to any other privacy notice we may provide, a recently enacted federal law established new privacy standards and requires us to provide this summary of our privacy policy. You may have additional rights under other applicable laws. For additional information regarding our privacy policy, please write us at 282 E. Wayzata Blvd, Wayzata, MN, 55391

So often I am asked "Where should I put my money?" This question appears to come a little more often with recent markets. My answer is always the same...It depends! So, on what does it depend? Two key factors: 1) When do you need the money? 2) What is your risk tolerance? Let's address each of these separately.

TIME HORIZON
This is the length of time during which you can leave the money invested. This is usually set based on when you need the money. lf you are saving for a car you want to buy next summer, your time horizon would be less than a year. If you are saving for a down payment on a house, when do you plan to buy? If you are saving for retirement, your time would be from now until your desired retirement age. So the key here is not necessarily how old you are, but rather when you plan to use the money. Goals change, so it is important to evaluate this from time to time.

RISK TOLERANCE
I often refer to this as your "Maalox factor." How much volatility, or up and down swings in your account can you handle before you reach for the Maalox? This is often determined by questions such as what would you do if your account went down below the amount you invested?'' "How would you feel about sharp swings in account value? A number of investors in the late 90's loved risk. In the late 90's, risk equaled reward. Today some of those same investors are reevaluating their tolerance as risk in the past 2 years has meant significant losses. Risk tolerance too will change over time. It is important to evaluate this as well. So, now that we understand these two pieces, what else is there? Well, a second answer to "Where should I put my money is "What kind of cake do you want?"

You see, investing is much like baking me here - this is really relevant!) If you want cake and you want it now, when you go to the store consider buying a Twinkie. In some cases it may suffice as cake. Twinkies have been around for over 50 years, they have never changed the recipe and they have a shelf like of about 50 years! So, if you know you need cake now, you know exactly what you will get if you buy a Twinkie.

If you want a little better cake, you will need to buy a cake mix. (For my analogy, let's pretend the grocery stores do
not have built in bakeries!) After you pick the box with the prettiest picture on it, you buy it and go home. When you get home, if you open the box and eat out of it - you would have been better off buying a Twinkie! To get the cake pictured on the box, you need to add eggs, oil and water and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. If you only have 15 minutes you cannot crank the oven to 450 degrees and expect to get a good cake. Likewise, if you keep opening the oven every five minutes and shifting the cake to see how it is baking, you will ruin it! (If you don't believe this, you must not have gotten any holiday cookies my 3 and 5 years olds and I did last year!) To get a good cake, you need to have the right ingredients and you need to let it bake. Then you will have cake that is better than a Twinkie.

Investing is just like this. You need to get the right mix of ingredients. The ingredients for investing are cash, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, etc. Based on the kind of return (cake) you want and the time (bake time) you have, you and your advisor can select the appropriate investments (ingredients).

And, while the baking is in progress, if you feel a need to peek, leave the oven door closed, turn on the light and look
through the window! Unless the kind of cake you want has changes. avoid the temptation to shift the cake! Let it bake!