The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 15 No. 45 - September 9, 2015

BUSINESS

Food and fun at The Freckled Fin

LaPensee Plumbing Pools Air

LOUISE BOLGER | sun

From left, manager Steve Shannon and owner Scott Lubore
serve drinks under the Flying Cloud Angel.

Spotting a fin in the waters around Anna Maria Island doesn’t take very long, but spotting a freckled fin could take a little more time unless you make your way to the Bridge Street Circle.

On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, the Legend of The Freckled Fin began on Bridge Street when Eileen and Scott Lubore opened their restaurant and public house named after their daughter.

Like so many other Anna Maria transplants, the Lubores and their two children were done with the cold winters and stress of living near a big city. They sold their furniture business in Maryland and found themselves on the shores of Anna Maria Island two years ago and unpacked.

They loved the Island vibe and the friendly walk able street that Bridge Street offered and wanted to be part of that. So when the opportunity presented itself they dove into the restaurant business on one of Bradenton Beach’s prime corners and even inherited the wooden angel figurehead that flies over the bar.

The Lubores hired two of Anna Maria’s best to help them run The Fin, Chef Pete Barreda and manager Steve Shannon both with years of restaurant experience, both on and off the Island.

The outside of the The Freckled Fin with its lime green paint and colorful patio umbrellas fits perfectly into the Key West feel of Bridge Street. Inside the aqua walls, the interesting bar, and of course, the the Flying Cloud Angel will put you in the mood for a fun night.

There are high top tables in the bar area, four cozy booths and a larger dining room with regular tables. The Lubores have a daily happy hour this time of year starting at 11 a.m. and ending at 7 p.m. with half off gourmet pizzas and well spirits. There is also entertainment on the outside patio most nights; check their Website for the live music schedule.

The Freckled Fin has a full bar and 16 beers on tap as well as a mid range wine list and house wine by the glass. Their menu ranges from burgers and wraps to full dinner entrees like crab cakes, grouper, jumbo shrimp, grouper tacos and more, as well as daily specials starting soon. There are lots of appetizers and starters including wings, peel and eat shrimp, coconut shrimp, chicken tenders and one of the restaurant’s specialties –12-inch, thin crust, gourmet pizzas made in their brick ovens.

The Freckled Fin also offers Sunday brunch, a kids’ menu, take out service available all day and can cater private parties in the restaurant. And one very important thing, The Freckled Fin has its own parking lot behind the restaurant, a rarity on Bridge Street.

On Sept. 19 The Freckled Fin will be hosting a half way to St. Patty’s Day party with Irish bands, Irish dancers, the Bradenton Bagpipers, corned beef and drink specials. Watch for the ad in this paper for details about the day’s events.

The Freckled Fin mermaid crossed the ocean from Ireland and found her way to Anna Maria Island like so many of us. She saved many sailors during her trip and earned the gratitude of one captain who honored her with a winged angel on the stern of his ship. As they say at The Freckled Fin, “Let the ‘Fin’ begin and the legend continue.”

THE FRECKLED FIN

101 Bridge Street, Bradenton Beach
941-251-3930

Sunday – Thursday: 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.

Friday & Saturday: 11 a.m. – 12 a.m.

www.thefreckledfin.com

All major credit cards accepted

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

A bucket plan for your bucket list

Investment Corner

For most in retirement or beginning to prepare for retirement, there will be two types of income – guaranteed and investment. Guaranteed income includes Social Security or pensions earned during the working years. Investment income is generated by our savings which ends up invested in stocks, bonds or other productive investments. There are two primary ways to approach retirement income planning for the investment plan, which we’ll explore here.

Social Security and pension income sources are generally secure and may have inflation adjustments built in depending on the pension plan issuing the payments. Income from investments can range from dividend and interest payments to capital gains from price appreciation or even rental income from investment property. It is the investment income portion that requires the most planning to ensure the assets and income last for your entire retirement at a level which allows you a dignified existence, and hopefully the lifestyle you desire.

When designing your plan for drawing income from your investments, there are two approaches to consider. Probably the most widely used is the Systematic Withdrawal Approach. In this method, the investment pool is viewed as one amount and a percentage of the value is used as income each year. The widely accepted safe withdrawal rate is in the range of 4 to 5 percent, and the amount can be adjusted for inflation as the cost of goods and services goes up.

Somewhat less well known is the Bucket Approach. In the bucket method, specific investments are made for specific times of your retirement. It is a process of matching investments to your need for income, considering the best time horizon for each type of investment.

Bucket #1 is known as the short-term bucket, it is designed to provide safety of principal and income for the first five years of the plan. Investments commonly used in this phase are annuities that provide guaranteed income, short-term government bonds and even certificates of deposit. The idea is that Bucket #1 will be used up during the first five years and that higher yielding but more aggressive investments in Bucket #2 and Bucket #3 will have time to grow.

From year 6 to years 12 through 15, the income from Bucket # 2 is used to replace the income from Bucket #1, which may now be empty with the possible exception of lifetime annuity income, if annuities were purchased. Bucket #2 commonly holds longer-term bonds, which have higher yields, real estate related investments and possibly very conservative stock holdings.

The beauty of not relying on Bucket #3 until the 15th year or beyond is that you fill Bucket #3 with the investments that provide the most growth potential, but which may also periodically be the most volatile. Investors who understand that they don’t need to access Bucket #3 for a long time are less likely to panic and sell their stocks during a market correction. The science behind the system is based on the fact that there has never been a 15-year period of time where stocks lost money. In fact, the average return for stocks over all 15-year periods is about 8 percent a year.

The main advantage of the bucket approach is that the investor can identify specific investments supporting specific income needs during particular periods of time. This should result in a higher level of confidence and more sound decision making.

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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