Lake Country This Month

Community From Page 1 "At that time, there was one stoplight getting off of I- 94," Zignego said. "There was no Walmart, no Target, no Sentry." According to census data, the population of the Town of Delafield in 1980 was 4,597. As of 2010, the popula- tion is 8,400. The serenity of the area appealed to the Zignegos, as it does for many. Lake Coun- try maintains a rural feeling while also providing ameni- ties and services. "That really appealed to us," Zignego said. "We liked the rural feeling. It was so pretty and spacious." Jennifer and Ken Brunnbauer live with their two children in the Town of Lisbon in a subdivision near Song Bird Hills Golf Course, but every chance they get they enjoy having a pontoon boat in their slip on Pewau- kee Lake. "We spend a lot of family time on the lake, and that just sort of made sense," Jennifer said. "We're water people. I have a daughter with gills." The Brunnbauers moved to Lisbon 13 years ago by way of Watertown. When their children came, the two decided Jennifer Brunnbauer would stay home. Moving to Lisbon made more sense for Ken's com- mute and also moved them closer to Jennifer's family, which is predominantly in Pewaukee. "I'm not a big city girl," Jennifer said. "I'm a country girl. I like some space. We wanted some property. I did- n't want to live on top of peo- ple. "I like it because we're far enough out into the country, where it's quiet and there's not a lot of traffic. We have a nice, big lot and nice, friend- ly neighborhood full of kids." Schools Zignego said the schools also played a role in moving to the area. Lake Country School District Administra- tor Mark Lichte said the school systems in Lake Country provide excellent value and education. "If you look across the whole area — Kettle Moraine, Oconomowoc, Arrowhead, the feeder dis- tricts — kids can get a well- rounded education in the area," Lichte said. Lichte, also Merton town chairman, said schools in the Lake Country area are not gutting fine arts educa- tion or programs, which is a common problem in other areas. "If you blend the fine arts, athletics and strong aca- demics — if you blend all three, it really gives a thriv- ing school, which improves the valuation of homes," Lichte said. Business climate Lichte said a strong busi- ness community also helps keep Lake Country schools strong. Good-paying jobs are available in Lake Country or are easily accessible, which means residents can afford to live in the area and main- tain the quality of life to which they are accustomed. A strong business climate and the area's quality of life helped lead Jason Jensen to open Endurance House in December 2014 in Delafield. Endurance House is located at 2736 Hillside Drive. Endurance House caters to the triathlon, running and walking lifestyle. Jensen's store is part of a growing chain of 10 locations in Cali- fornia, Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Indiana. In addition to Delafield, Endurance House has loca- tions in Middleton and Madi- son. "Everybody here has a very positive attitude," Jensen said. "It's a very fitness-ori- ented community, with lots of gyms. It's also a very affluent area as well." Jensen said the region's recreational opportunities and culture made Endurance House a natural fit for the Lake Country area. Even with a terrific concept and ideal location, however, Jensen still needed to convince city hall. "From a business stand- point, the city of Delafield is very easy to work with," Jensen said. "They made it very easy, as far as getting in and getting open and getting the permits we needed. "I really had no problem with the community. Moving in and opening it up was very smooth." Making connections Patty Jackson is a certified life coach, and operates THRIVE! Life Services at 240 Regency Court in Brookfield, but she lives in Hartland. Jackson said the work of Tony Robbins offers a good template through which to examine the connection resi- dents feel to the Lake Country area. Robbins is an international- ly known motivational speak- er and self-help coach. Rob- bins said six basic needs shape and drive human behavior — certainty, uncer- tainty/variety, significance, connection/love, growth and contribution. Robbins' tenets of growth and contribution can work hand-in-hand in Lake Coun- try. "I've found that there are so many great community groups to work with — people who are really dedicated to either raising money for a special cause or working for a special cause," Zignego said. "That's a great attribute of this area." Your need to feel certainty, uncertainty and variety, sig- nificance, connection and love, growth and a contribu- tion are met as a result of liv- ing in Lake Country. The communities of Lake Country feel like smaller com- munities than they are, and allow one to identify and pur- sue his or her needs. It is also easy to access larger metropolitan areas from each community, which provide additional outlets for meeting one's needs. "People are really fulfill- ing their creature comforts," Jackson said. "They're com- fortable, they're feeling safe — everything that con- tributes to fulfillment of basic, human needs is right there." WHY WE LIVE HERE Page 4 • FREEMAN & ENTERPRISE LAKE COUNTRY JULY 2015 By Katherine Michalets Freeman Staff WAUKESHA — Retirement can be a scary word for those not prepared, but the good news is that in general, Waukesha County residents have a strong footing for those later years in life, according to area financial planners and a recent study. A report released this week by SmartAs- set, an online publication that analyzes data, revealed that Waukesha County resi- dents were outperforming other state resi- dents in their efforts to prepare for retire- ment. "The results show that residents of Waukesha County are doing their best to prepare themselves financially for retire- ment — as they not only finished first in Wisconsin for this study, but ranked num- ber 107 in the U.S. out of 3,067 counties," Managing Editor AJ Smith said. Using data from U.S. Census Bureau's 2013 American Community Survey, MIT Living Wage Calculator and other sources, SmartAsset researchers learned that the median household wealth in Waukesha County is $75,038 and cost of living is $19,983. Social security income for county residents is generally around $20,004. The income tax as percentage of gross income is 3.22 percent. All of these numbers give Waukesha County a 57.54 on the retirement readiness index. Statewide, the median household income is $30,552, cost of living is $17,555 and Social Security income is $17,542. Smith said SmartAsset added each loca- tion's wealth-to-expenses and tax indexes to yield a final number. The final number was indexed so higher values reflect coun- ties in which residents are the most ready for retirement, with the top-ranked county (in this case, Sumter County, Fla.), getting a score of 100. The highest scoring county received a 100 and subsequent rankings were benchmarked against it. Bill Schweitzer of WJS Wealth Manage- ment in Brookfield said most Waukesha County residents are planning and pre- pared for retirement, but it's often the unexpected that can hurt their plans. "A lot of them don't understand the land mines that are out there," he said, giving unexpected long-term illness, chronic nursing home expenses and dementia as examples. Some insurance agencies now offer prod- ucts to help protect individuals and their nest eggs. Some products will allow a per- son to collect money from their life insur- ance policy prior to death when needing to deal with a long-term chronic illness. "People are living longer and studies have shown that when you have a husband and a wife aged 65 and both have not had any heart disease, cancer or diabetes, there's a 40 percent chance that one of those husbands and wives will reach 92 and still need an income," Schweitzer said. "Now we are talking a 27-plus year retire- ment where our parents did not have as long of a retirement timeframe." Julie Ellenbecker-Lipsky of Ellenbecker Investment Group in City of Pewaukee rec- ommends that five years before retirement, people attempt to live off their retirement budget to see if it needs any adjusting. At that point, there is still time to do adjusting to the plan. "I do believe that Waukesha County has a pretty strong presence of people who think longer term for retirement," she said. People do need to be aware of items that will affect retirement, such as taxes and inflation, risk-adjusted return and health care. At Ellenbecker, advisers work with clients to identify their personal risks for now and in the future with the intent to mitigate those risks now. Ellenbecker-Lipsky said it's never too late nor too early to begin thinking about retirement. Financial awareness should begin in earnest during teenage years and 20s and retirement planning is a compo- nent of that. "I think people are starting to take more ownership of retirement," she said. www.ellenbecker.com http://wjswealthmanagement.com https://smartasset.com Email: kmichalets@conleynet.com 'Everybody here has a very positive attitude' Charles Auer/Freeman Staff Milwaukee Street in downtown Delafield. Charles Auer/Freeman Staff A boat pulls an inflatable raft in Pewaukee Lake on July 2. Charles Auer/Freeman Staff The sun sets over Lake Nagawicka on June 23. 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