1 | Week In Review

How Long Will Inflation Stay This Hot?

Will we ever see inflation return to the low numbers we saw just a few years ago? How long can it run this hot? Annex Wealth Management’s Mark Beck and Derek Felske discuss.

2 | Poll

Money Questions To Ask Your Adult Children:

Will You Need Financial Help In The Next 5 Years?

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3 | Client Exclusive

Who’s On Your Team?

Wealth Manager Amy Bremmer has been gardening from
a young age and has learned many tips and tricks throughout the years.

How did you get into gardening? Do you primarily grow flowers?

I’ve always liked nature and the outdoors. As a small girl I’d help my granny pick raspberries and plant her begonias. Since my husband and I bought our own home several years ago, I’ve added lots of gardens! Pollinator gardens, shade gardens, and a large rose garden. I love watching the bees and butterflies in the summer jump from bloom to bloom. We get lots of honeybees and bumble bees. The hum in the garden from the bees working is so calming.

What kind of gardening projects have you worked on? Both personally and with the Master Gardener Program with UW-Madison.

I’ve done a few things with the Master Gardner program. Volunteering has slowed down these past few years due to COVID-19 protocols, which has been sad. I volunteered at a local elementary school teaching the students there about the lifecycle of butterflies, at the Sharon Lynn Wilson center cleaning out the gardens there, and at the Milwaukee Home Expo educating homeowners on their backyard gardens.

What are the easiest things to grow vs hardest?

Native flowers are the easiest! After they’re established, they’re drought resistant. I don’t water any of my pollinator gardens throughout the season because they’re just fine in our hot summers. Look for native flowers like Bee Balm (which look like fireworks exploding and come in lots of fun colors), Purple Coneflower (which have big fat seed heads birds love) and Gay Feather (which look like long fuzzy pipe cleaners).

Some easy veggies to grow are squash/zucchini, green beans, and sugar snap peas. You can get bush beans, which don’t need a trellis to grow on, but traditional beans and peas are climbers and need a trellis.

The hardest things to grow are roses. I love my rose garden but they’re very high maintenance plants. I deadhead daily, fertilize monthly, and spray a bug safe fungicide after every rain to protect against black spot. Also, the Japanese Beetles love to eat roses. Nightly after work I’ll go out with a cup of water with some dish soap in it and go “hunting for bad bugs”. Just knock them into the soapy water to eradicate them. I try not to use pesticides which harm the bees and beneficial insects.

Tomatoes are difficult to grow because they’re susceptible to many diseases, but it’s SO worth trying. Fresh backyard tomatoes are heaven sent! My favorite are heirlooms, like Purple Cherokee and Black Krim. Tomatoes are easier to grow if you buy a plant vs starting from seed.

Most useful tip to someone wanting to start a garden?

Just start! It’s pretty easy. Dig up some grass and get some seed packets. Going a step further, good soil preparation is extremely helpful. Composted manure from Stein’s is your best friend. Work it into the soil for a good harvest.

Is there anything that you’ve learned with either your gardening or professional experience that you’ve used in the other?

Patience, slowing down, peace, and calmness. I drink way too much coffee and am way too busy during the workday! When I get home and walk my garden, watch the bees work, and hunt for bad bugs it allows me to slow down and enjoy nature. It’s so peaceful and brings me great joy.

Have feedback, an idea you’d like us to write about, or a story to share? Send us an email at cl************@*********th.com.

4 | Did You Know?

Annex Wealth Management has its own charitable foundation, founded in 2018.

The Annex Charitable Foundation, Inc. (ACF) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation operating exclusively for charitable purposes. Through the years, Annex has supported key charities and community organizations, and ACF continues to demonstrate our care and support for difference makers.

Part of the funding of ACF comes from profits received from insurance sales. Annex Wealth Management believes insurance is part of a comprehensive financial plan, so if an Annex client purchases insurance from a broker we recommend, all profits from those sales will go directly to the Annex Charitable Foundation.

Click below to learn more about ACF and see a list of organizations we help support!

http://annexcharitablefoundation.org/ 

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6 | Quote of the Week

7 | Annex Radio

Events & Webinars

Annex Wealth Management has always been committed to client growth and education. Planning and saving can be demanding. We’ve found that when our clients master key concepts, it often enhances working together to reach their goals. Because these are not sales presentations, our clients benefit from a truly informative experience.