Save Ottumwa Post September 28, 2022

Is “lifestyle creep” threatening your financial future?

As your income in creases, your spend ing habits may have a tendency to go up as well. This is a phenom enon known as lifestyle creep. Though it’s a natural inclination to want to spend more as your funds go up, it’s important that it doesn’t impede your ability to protect your long-term financial security. If you’re making more money, but your ex penses are noticeably higher than they were before, or your savings seem stuck in neutral, it may be time to reset your spending habits. Here are three steps to help you avoid or re verse lifestyle creep

Step #1 – Assess your current spend ing patterns

One way to identify

whether lifestyle creep is a reality for you is to compare your ex penses and savings strategies to a point in the past – say one or five years ago. Re view checking account statements from then compared to those of today. You should be able to detect whether, in that time, your spending has changed significantly. Also, review how much you are putting away in savings – your bank accounts for emergen cy needs, your retire ment accounts, and to ward any other savings goals. Has that number improved or declined in the past year? This can tell you a lot about whether lifestyle creep is threatening your future goals.

Step #2 – Establish a “target” budget and stick with it

Creating a monthly budget provides you with guideposts on how much you should spend. It also helps you prioritize what’s im portant. Lifestyle creep often occurs when we become too fast and loose with our money, spend impulsively, or simply get careless about spending. Bud geting can help you put parameters around what is justifiable spending and what ex penses will most likely prove unfulfilling.

Step #3 – Increase savings where pos sible

One primary reason to investigate the poten tial for lifestyle creep is to determine ways to enhance your sav ings strategy. If you are employed and can participate in an employer’s retirement plan, be sure to do so. If the employer offers matching contribu tions, it’s important to fully capitalize on it. An ideal target is to set aside at least 10% of your gross income in retirement savings. That can include a Roth IRA, where you can build a source of retirement income that can qualify for tax-free withdrawals. Also, be sure to boost your sav ings when you receive a raise or, at least, to keep pace with infla tion.

Having a financial plan in place is a good way to put the damper on lifestyle creep. An upto-date plan can help you establish a sav ings regimen that will keep current spend ing in check and keep your long-term goals on track. Your financial advisor can help.

Duane J Lusson, CFP, ChFC, CLU, MSFS, is a Private Wealth Advisor with Ameriprise Financial Ser vices, Inc. in Ottumwa, Iowa. He specializes in fee-based financial planning and asset

management strategies and has been in practice for 30 years. To contact him, call 641-684-4200 or stop by his office at 527 W. Second in Ottumwa, Iowa.

Investment advisory prod ucts and services are made available through Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC, a registered investment adviser.

Investment products are not insured by the FDIC, NCUA or any federal agency, are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed by any financial institution, and involve investment risks

including possible loss of principal and fluctuation in value.

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. and its affiliates do not offer tax or legal advice. Con sumers should consult with their tax advisor or attorney regarding their specific situ ation.

Ameriprise Financial Ser vices, LLC. Member FINRA and SIPC.

© 2022 Ameriprise Finan cial, Inc. All rights reserved. File #4918074

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Difficult Job of Being a Watch Dog

It is handy to have a good watch dog around the farm. As the dog matures and he and the owner gain more experi ence with the crises that arise, a level of communication develops. I have learned the different barks and what they mean. There are the happy short rapid barks when a rabbit or squirrel is spot ted. When he sees a deer, he lets me know with a deep “woof” followed by a pause for five to ten seconds followed by another “woof”. This lets me know, he has spotted a deer and is not happy that he can not chase it because it is out of his boundary. Frantic rapid barking while looking up a tree and glancing back toward me means there is a raccoon in one of the trees in

his yard and I had better do something about it. In the most serious situations, he has a loud fre quent bark punctuat ed with deep throaty growls that make the hair on the back of a person’s neck stand up. When we hear this, we know some thing bad is happen ing. A mass murder er is approaching, or a grizzly bear is in the yard, heading toward the house. Fortunately, we rare ly hear this alarm as we have very few murderers or bears where we live.

Friday, while in town, I stopped at O’Hara Hardware. They have a wide assortment of pretty mums. I picked out a couple to take home to my wife. It was late afternoon when I got home and placed one mum on each side of the walkway leading up to the porch near the front door. My wife was very pleased with them, and I never thought much more about them. Billie and I went in and out of the garage door a few times before bedtime. On last call,

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Welcome!

when he goes out to check the perim eter and make sure we are safe for the night, I let him out of the front door. He walked a few steps and started his most vicious bark ing, sprinkled with the growl that gives a person goose bumps. I was in no mood to face a griz zly bear but that I should go see what was going to get us. Billie was near the end of the porch as I cautiously neared him. Staring into the darkness, I could not see anything. I could tell, whatever had him so upset was close by. He is a brave dog, but not brave enough to lead the way. He would be my close backup when something or someone attacked. As we walked be tween the mums, he suddenly stopped barking and growl ing as he smelled the one on his right. Turning around, he

brushed against the other mum that had sneaked up on him. He jumped and al most landed on me. He seemed a bit sheepish when he realized the mums were not nearly as dangerous as he first thought. After completing his initial task, he came back into the house to tell my wife about the close call. He was glad I was not killed in the confronta tion but happier the mums did not get him.

The next morning, Billie was still a little careful walking by the mums but has since made peace with them. They are not nearly as scary in the daylight. Being a watchdog can be a difficult job.

Scott 641-208-5505

Post 641-799-4209

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Warrant Wednesday

Wapello County has over 500 active warrants. War rant Wednesday’s are designed to help law enforce ment locate wanted persons, with the public’s help. Do NOT attempt to apprehend these individuals. Instead, call the Ottumwa Police Department at (641) 683-0661 or Wapello County Sheriff’s Depart ment at (641) 684-4350 if you have any information on their whereabouts. Your tips can be made anony mously.

Name: Yomira Gomez

DOB: 12/01/1995

Warrant Issued: 09/07/2022

Warrant Details: Failure to Appear -

Original Charges: Driving While Barred x4

Name: Christian Lee Kaake

DOB: 11/24/1993

Warrant Issued: 09/14/2022

Warrant Details: Violation of Probation -

Original Charge: Possession of a Controlled Substance

Name: Joshua Lynn Shaull

DOB: 12/18/1993

Warrant Issued: 09/22/2022

Warrant Details: Violation of Restraining Order

Name: Drake Alexander Steinbach

DOB: 12/25/1996

Warrant Issued: 09/14/2022

Warrant Details: Violation of Probation -

Original Charge: Burglary 1st Degree

Horsing Around

Over the years I’ve seen cops do many things that I doubt are in their job descrip tion. For example, I was following a cop a couple of weeks ago. He turned his lights on and pulled over be hind a car stopped on the side of the road. A younger person was standing in the rain next to the vehicle. It looked like they had a flat tire.

I supposed the cop would stay behind the car with his amber lights on, protecting the young driver from traffic while the driver changed their tire.

It didn’t take me long to run my errand, and I was headed back in the other direc tion. The squad car was still behind the stranded vehicle. It warmed my heart as I drove by, and the cop was changing the tire in the rain while the young driver looked on. The scenario re minded me of an inci dent years ago.

I missed a call from my daughter at 6:30 in the morning. Of course, such a call is something that imme diately puts any dad on edge. Annie was a student at Winona State University, doing her student teaching in Caledonia, Minne sota – a fifty-minute drive from her home. She was on the side of the road with a blown-out tire. When I say blown out, I mean

the whole tire was shredded and mostly gone from the rim. I asked a barrage of dad questions: “Are you alright? Is your car off the road? Do you have your flash ers on? Is the car hurt? Does your spare tire have air in it?” She was, they were, she did, it wasn’t, and she didn’t know.

It was still dark out side and bitterly cold; twelve degrees below zero with a windchill factor in the minus twenties. I didn’t want my daughter trying to change a tire in those conditions on the side of a busy four-lane highway. “I’m go ing to call Triple-A; they’ll send someone to change the tire for you,” I told her.

“And how much is that going to cost me,” she worried.

“It won’t cost you any thing,” I assured her.

“It’s part of the service we pay for with our membership.” How ever, she was wor ried about more than just the money. The college really frowns upon students being late for their student teaching assignments.

“Annie, there’s a big difference between being late with a weak excuse and being late for a legitimate reason. They’ll under stand.”

My daughter was stressed. “Dad, all

these cars are just speeding by. Nobody is stopping to see if I need help,” she said. “What’s wrong with people?”

I remained calm to help put my kid at ease. “Sweetie, just stay calm, and we’ll get through this,” I told her. Then it was time for more dad ques tions: “Are you back in your car? Is your heat er working well? Do you have a hat and warm gloves? Is your phone fully charged?” She was, it was, she did, and yes, it was. So I asked what every parent of a college student, who is paying most of their own way, worries about: “Annie, do you have enough gas?”

“A little over a half

(Just the Other Day cont’d on pg 6)

OPEN

tank,” She replied. I felt relieved. Knowing it might take a while for a tow truck to ar rive, at least she had enough fuel to keep the car running to stay warm.

A few minutes later, a representative from Triple-A called, “Speltz Towing Service will change the tire. They have two calls ahead of you, so it will be about an hour and twenty minutes.” But that’s not what Annie would want to hear.

Before I could call Annie with an update, she called me. “The tire is changed; I don’t need the tow truck.” She explained that a Sheriff’s Deputy stopped to see if she was okay and then changed the tire for her! I’ll bet that’s not in his job description.

The Winona County deputy did much more than chang ing a tire. He put a very stressed twentyone-year-old college student at ease and helped her feel safe. He restored the faith of a girl who had just asked, ‘What’s wrong with people.’ He also put that girl’s dad at ease. I will always be grateful to him for going above and be yond his call of duty. In my travels around the country, I see cops doing this frequently, near and far.

One night last week, I rode my motorcycle into the gas station to get a gallon of milk.

Although I recently had the bike serviced for an electrical issue, the problem apparent ly isn’t fixed yet. The battery was so low, if I turned on the head light at idle speed, the engine died.

A Sheriff’s Deputy was sitting in a parking lot alongside the road; I suppose running ra dar. He flashed his headlights at me to

let me know my light wasn’t on. I turned around and drove back toward his ve hicle. I took my helmet off and said, “Man, am I glad to see you! But, first, I’m not drunk!” I quickly explained my electrical issue, then asked, “Can I get a light.”

“Can you get a what,” he asked, quite puz zled.

“I was wondering if you would follow me home,” I asked. “I could use your head lights in case mine goes out completely.”

The deputy asked where I lived, then told me he would follow me.

On the way home, he kept his headlights on high beam so long as there was no oncoming traffic. He had great lights on his ve hicle, lighting the road far better than the light on my motorcycle, even when it was working correctly. At one point, a wolf trot ted across the high way about thirty-five yards in front of me.

I would never have seen that animal with my headlight.

The deputy used his hand-controlled spot lamp to light the cor ner as I turned off the highway. He followed me all the way to the end of my driveway to make sure I arrived safely.

I climbed off my bike and thanked him again. “I sure appre ciate your help, sir. Since I quit smoking thirteen years ago, I haven’t had to ask anyone for a light.” We shared a good laugh about that.

“Not a problem,” the deputy said. “We’re here to help.” Then he went on his way.

As he drove away, I thought, “Yes, here to help – but I’ll bet that is not in your job de scription.” Again, an officer went far be

yond the call of duty. I had never seen an of ficer do that before, so now I guessed I had seen it all, as far as cops go. No. I hadn’t.

Just a few days later, I was driving to south ern Minnesota. I nor mally take exit 56 for my destination, but traffic slowed down to a crawl a few miles before my exit. If I took exit 59, I could cut through Faribault and avoid interstate congestion. There was a Minnesota State Patrol vehicle on the right shoulder; thus, everyone was merg ing left. There wasn’t a cop in the car; it was just sitting there with its lights on. “They must be moving traf fic over for an acci dent ahead,” I said to myself. Just past the trooper’s vehicle, a few cars turned down the exit. I followed them, “Oh, great!” An other Highway Patrol car had its lights on near the bottom of the exit ramp.

Here I thought I was being so clever to by pass the highway traf fic, and I just turned into whatever the problem was. It was strange. There was no traffic build-up behind the second trooper.

The trooper was mov ing slowly on the shoulder; traffic was going around them wide and to the left. “What’s that in front of the patrol car?” I squinted my eyes and looked closely. “Someone is walk ing a horse?” As I got closer, I saw a Min nesota State Trooper walking the horse with a patrol escort.

As I got closer yet, I could see the horse

was unbridled. The trooper on foot had a blue rope high around the horse’s neck, near the head.

As an old radio news guy, I started putting two and two together: The horse was loose on I-35. One trooper stopped to lasso the steed. With a rope looped around its neck, the trooper led the horse down the shoulder of the off-ramp at exit 59. (Thus, explaining the abandoned squad car on I-35.) The second trooper came along to provide an escort for his comrade with the stallion in tow. Wow. Now I’ve seen ev erything with cops? I doubt it.

I thought more about the scenario. A loose horse on the inter state would be very anxious and scared, unpredictable, and possibly dangerous. For the trooper to capture the animal, putting the rope high near the horse’s head vs. low around the neck, and then calm ing the beast, earning her trust to lead the horse down the road side, the trooper must have had some good horse sense. (No pun intended.)

Again, I would bet this task is not in the Min nesota Highway Pa trol’s handbook. It was likely one of Marshall Matt Dillon’s duties, but this isn’t the old west, and we weren’t even near Dodge City, Kansas. Again, offi cers are going above and beyond the call of duty.

Was my synopsis cor rect? I have no idea. I didn’t follow up to see an incident report from the Highway Patrol, Rice County Sheriff’s office, or the Faribault Police Department. But I would bet I’m not far off.

I know a lot of cops, professionally and personally. Behind every badge on every law enforcement of ficer is a real human being. Just like all people, some cops are real characters themselves. For all I know, these two troop ers may have just been horsing around on the job. (Pun in tended.)

Thank you to all law enforcement officers for their work – espe cially when they go above and beyond the call of duty, for people, animals – everyone.