The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 12 No. 18 - February 15, 2012

BUSINESS

Europe meets the tropics at The German Inn

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

LOUISE BOLGER | SUN
Frank Int-Veen, Jennifer Taylor and Joerg Int-Veen
in the dining room at The German Inn.

Florida may be a state within the United States, but it feels almost like its own country because of the diversity of its people and geography. This is becoming even more evident along the west coast of Florida with the influx of residents and visitors from other countries advancing the international flavor.

The German Inn in historic downtown Bradenton near the river and charm of Old Main Street is a perfect example of Europe meets the tropics. Joerg and Frank Int-Veen bought the former Londoner Bed and Breakfast in November and have been gradually putting their own personal touch on the 1920s B & B.

Joerg and Frank Int-Veen found their way to Anna Maria Island through their friend from Germany, Sabine Musil-Buehler, frequently staying at Haley's Motel owned by her and her husband. They have many years of experience in the hospitality and restaurant business and still own a large hotel, Hotel Amadeo, in Moenchenglabdach, Germany.

After many visits to Anna Maria they decided to relocate to the United States and began their search for a restaurant to purchase. It took three years, but eventually they found the perfect fit for them on, of all places, Craigslist.

In 2008, Jennifer and John Taylor saved one of Bradenton's vintage homes and lovingly converted it into a six room bed and breakfast and tea room. As soon as the Int-Veens visited The Londoner they knew they had found what they were looking for, a beautiful location where they could entertain visitors who appreciate what a bed and breakfast has to offer as well as establishing a restaurant with good quality authentic German comfort food

They have already expanded their breakfast choices with German coffee as well as meats and cheese giving it the customary European hotel touch. The lunch menu changes daily and centers around homemade soups, salads and sandwiches. But the highlight of the day is surely the Kaffeeklatsch, where they serve homemade German cakes and coffee daily from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m, and for those who enjoyed The Londoner's traditional English Tea, it's still available at The German Inn.

Coming soon The German Inn will also be serving dinner featuring jagerschnitzel, zigeunerschnitzel, Hungarian goulash, potato pancakes and more as well as their German cakes. Beer and wine is also being added to the menu as well as their plan to convert The German Inn's garden into a real German style barbeque.

The guest rooms at The German Inn all have private baths, flat screen cable televisions, wi-fi, robes and 600 thread count linens. Breakfast is included, and there is a lovely wrap around deck and guest sitting room.

The gracious home also has plenty of on-site parking and the new owners welcome private parties like showers, weddings, church groups and of course the Red Hat ladies. Before the end of season they will be hosting an open house for the community, so watch for that date.

Joerg and Frank are especially thankful to Jennifer Taylor, who has made the transition to the United States and to their new business a happy and painless one. They value her friendship, advice and look forward to her "come and play" visits.

The day the Int-Veens were changing the sign from The Londoner to The German Inn, a Segway tour of downtown Bradenton happened to be making its usual stop in front of the charming home, the tour guide quickly changed his description of the property and moved on.

Manatee County is also continually changing and becoming more international, so don't be caught off guard like the Segway tour guide. Visit The German Inn and add to your international experience.

The German Inn Bed and Breakfast and German restaurant

304 15th St. W.
Bradenton
941-748-5658
www.germaninnbradenton.com

Open daily:
11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

All major credit cards
accepted

 

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

A valentine's gift

Investment Corner

The traditional day for spouses and loved ones to celebrate their relationship arrives next Tuesday. A lot of cards, candy, roses and dinners will be shared, but there is one gift that may have more enduring value than the others.

I have observed, in my almost 25 years as an investment professional, that couples tend to divide life's responsibilities through the years and while this works great when both are healthy and vibrant, it can cause problems when one spouse experiences a loss of capacity to fulfill his/her responsibilities, or worse, passes away.

Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the realm of dealing with household finances and the management of investment assets. While every relationship is different, based on the personalities of the couple, for the World War II generation and the majority of the baby boomer generation, it seems that the male traditionally takes the lead in handling the investments and perhaps overall control of the financial situation.

This model is based in tradition rather than the reality of today, where not only do women tend to live longer, but the time spent being widowed may be much longer due to the long life-spans we enjoy.

The worse-case scenario is for the man to take care of not only the production of income, but the investment of savings, with the woman having little to do with either. When the man in the relationship suffers from health related difficulty or death, the woman is left with the responsibility of overseeing whatever asset base exists to create income to provide support for the rest of her life.

If she has no experience in these matters, she can easily fall prey to slick sales pitches from advisors who may not have her best interest at heart. Making this situation worse is that she may feel pressured to make financial decisions while still in a state of grief or shock. Even if the couple has used a financial advisor over the years, the situation still may not be good.

Recent statistics show that a majority of women change financial advisors after their husband passes away. The implication of this need to change advisors is that the partner who was in charge of the financial affairs probably chose the advisor unilaterally as opposed to a mutual selection process a number of years before. The surviving spouse may not like the personality of the advisor or believe he/she is the best person to help, driving his/her need to make a change at a time when these decisions are unadvisable due to the anguish of recently losing a loved one.

Perhaps the most enduring valentine's gift is to have a discussion with your spouse or partner about how the financial and investment affairs are being handled in your relationship. A great place to start is to develop a list of companies and account numbers for all of your banks and savings accounts, as well as insurance policies. If something unfortunate or unforeseen happens to one of you, at least the other will be able to locate where assets are maintained and how to access them.

The next step should be to go over the basics of the investment plan and its objectives, along with how the advisor, if one is used, helps in the process. If one spouse doesn't think the advisor is the right person for him/her to work with if the other partner is unable to participate, then perhaps a discussion is in order about a potential change of advisor, or develop a plan in advance of an unfortunate event of how to make a change if one is necessary, perhaps even identifying the new advisor or firm in advance.

No one likes to think about the eventualities of life on a happy occasion like Valentine's Day, but perhaps your gift to each other should be an agreement to talk about these issues within the next few weeks and begin planning to help your partner's transition when the inevitable does happen.

Happy Valentine's Day to all.

Tom Breiter is president of Breiter Capital Management, Inc., an Anna Maria based investment advisor. He can be reached at 778-1900. Some of the investment concepts highlighted in this column may carry the risk of loss of principal, and investors should determine appropriateness for their personal situation before investing. Visit www.breitercapital.com.

 


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