2018 Summer Newsletter

Wealth Management Specialists
Summer 2018
NEWSLETTER

C O N T E N T S
Craner
Ryan
commonly
shares
gimmicks
seen
tricks pg. 3
and
pg. 3
Don't Fall for this Radio Sales Pitch
by Ryan Craner
Ryan talks SOS (second opinion service)
and gimmicks to avoid
pg. 5
Planning, Emotions, and Drastic
Actions
by John Park
John shares his secret to avoiding
potential mistakes and keeping emotions
out of planning
pg. 7
A Message to Post-Millennials
by Tom Craner
School debt and the dilemma it causes to
post-millennials
pg. 9
Retirement Wordsearch
by Jackie O'Shea
Can you find the hidden retirement
terms?
pg. 10-11
Meet the Team
Introducing the new members of the
office
pg. 3
Don't Fall for this Radio Sales
Pitch
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 2

FALL FOR THIS
DON'T
SALES PITCH
RADIO
By Ryan Craner
Taking the client advocate and consumer protection approach, Ryan has always viewed every
client as a long term and very important relationship.
ver the past few years
several Strategic Planning Group
clients have contacted me
requesting an SOS (Second
Opinion Service)
O
regarding
proposals pitched to them or their
extended family or friends by
various insurance sales
organizations in Utah. These
pitches are coming via selfproclaimed
“gurus” on the radio,
at dinner seminars and more.
Once I examined the sales
proposals, it didn’t take long to
identify them as an old insurance
gimmick that has been repackaged
and repurposed. Once again,
aggressive salespeople are out
pounding the pavement looking
for fresh clients.
Insurance Company Tricks
On the surface many of these
pitches appear to be valuable
insider-only nancial strategies
that eliminate all the taxes on your
401(k) and IRA accounts. As you
proceed through their sales
process you will quickly discover
that the actual underlying strategy
is to liquidate and pay full taxes
and penalties on most or all your
retirement investment assets.
Then you take what is left after full
taxation and use it to make a
massive premium payment on
usually one large illiquid cash
value life insurance policy from
only one life insurance company.
The nal outcome is far different
than all the come-ons and one-
liners that make it all sound like
your “retirement salvation.”
Radio Guru’s
On the radio every weekend you
will hear this endless diatribe
about magical “tax free,” “risk
free,“ and “safe money”
investments. They may go on and
on about how risky traditional
retirement investments are. They
tell stories about years,
didn’t take long to
It
them as an
identify
insurance
old
that has
gimmick
repackaged
been
repurposed.
and
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 3

When
(SOS).
as
something
like 2008, that people were “wiped
out” and destroyed their
retirements. These same so-called
advisors also talk about “social
security secrets” that only they
know… These secrets supposedly
can give you tens of thousands of
dollars of social security income
over the course your retirement.
This is obviously a ploy to get
people to contact them. This may
come as a surprise to you, but the
Social Security Administration
does not have secret strategies
that only some people know.
There are some choices to make
and there is some strategy to use,
but there are no secrets that only
these salespeople know. Any
knowledgeable advisor can help
you with social security decisions,
and the Social Security
Administration itself is available to
help with your choices. These
insurance agents and salespeople
love to exploit people's fear of a
market drop. They tend to overemphasize
the risk of a market
downturn.
Let’s be realistic, people can (and
do) damage their retirement by
making foolish mistakes in their
retirement investments. People
who over concentrate in single
speculative stocks or make huge
bets on other risky investments
certainly can get “wiped out”.
When using a diversified and longterm
disciplined approach there
certainly will be down years,
however over the long-term the
down years are very unlikely to
destroy or “wipe out” any
investors.
You might be asking, “Why in the
world would anyone allow
themselves to get sucked into this
sales pitch?” It really boils down to
consumers failing to seek an
objective and competent second
opinion. What exactly is the
problem with this gimmick?
A severe lack of investment
diversication: There are people
that lack a properly diversied
retirement portfolio. This would
consist of a variety of different
investment institutions and
myriad investment options. In this
insurance gimmick all of your
retirement investment money is
usually put into a single life
insurance company policy.
sure to utilize
Be
Planning
Strategic
Second
Group’s
Service
Opinion
as your
important
future is
financial
the line, you
on
never have
should
“take someone’s
to
for it.”
word
A loss of liquidity: Most of these
life insurance policies have
expensive and long-term
surrender or early withdrawal
penalties. In many cases, 15-20
years into the future.
Exorbitant internal fees and
expenses: Remember, these are
life insurance policies where the
built-in cost for the life insurance
coverage is deducted from your
principal every month on an
increasing scale — the older you
get, the bigger the cost.
Claims of higher taxes in the
future: One of the ways
insurance sales people talk
consumers into these maneuvers
is the claim that you will be in a
higher tax bracket down the road.
This approach can avoid the
problems of lack of diversication,
loss of liquidity, exorbitant fees,
and lack of competitive return.
Keep in mind that most people as
they enter retirement certainly do
pay less tax, and are in lower tax
brackets than before retirement.
The bottom line is this—For
more than 20 years I have been
warning my clients about these
gimmicks, and I am not alone. You
can hear the same concerns and
advice from consumer advocates
like Dave Ramsey and Clark
Howard.
Lately, there seems to be a
resurgence of the aggressive hype
and promotion of these
maneuvers. You must be on your
guard. Remember the adage, “If it
sounds to good to be true, it
probably is.” If you, or anyone you
know, is ever approached with a
proposal like the ones I have
described, or with any signicant
nancial recommendation, be sure
to utilize the Strategic Planning
Group’s Second Opinion Service
(SOS). When something as
important as your nancial future
is on the line, you should never
have to “take someone’s word for
it.”
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 4

EMOTIONS,
PLANNING,
DRASTIC ACTIONS
AND
By John Park
From investments to complicated retirement strategies, he works to educate and advise
his clients on making smart financial decisions.
ave you ever spent time
diagnosing yourself on the
internet? There are so many selfhelp
medical resources out there.
It is almost a curse. I
H
occasionally
find these resources helpful, but
sometimes I need to avoid them.
I’m normally not a hypochondriac,
however, after 30 minutes on
WebMD, I feel like I have every
illness known to man. I start to
wonder if I contracted some rare
illness that’s only been diagnosed
five times in history. Ok, maybe it’s
not that extreme, but you get the
point.
If I feel like my health and wellness
are not optimal, I really need to
see my trusted doctor. After all, a
person’s health can be a very
emotional subject and our
conclusions can often be wrong.
Thankfully we are limited in the
damage we can do to ourselves
with medical self- diagnosis. Could
you imagine what would happen if
you could call the pharmacy and
prescribe yourself dangerous, life
altering drugs, because you read
about a potential problem online?
Perhaps it’s best to involve a
professional in such an important
and emotionally charged subject.
Naturally, there are comparisons
between this example and
investment management. It makes
sense that we get scared and
upset about investments and our
money in general. Money is a
means to an end. It provides
financial stability, pays for our
living costs, medical costs, etc.
Money is an important factor to
anyone planning for or living in
retirement. At the same time, it’s
an emotionally charged factor.
a majority of what
If
hear and read
we
our money is in
says
it’s only
danger,
to be
natural
worried.
The world of finance is precarious.
You can quickly sign up for a long
term and illiquid investment or
take action that causes massive
taxation and penalty with just a
few mouse clicks. You can find a
less than qualified “professional”
to assist you in the damaging
actions.
Let’s examine what leads to
financial self-diagnosis and drastic
action: If a majority of what we
hear and read says our money is
in danger, it’s only natural to be
worried. Many clients are already
disciplined and wise enough to not
fall for the fear-mongering tactics
of the news media, insurance sales
people, and commission-based
investment advisors. The media
and sales people often rely on
such tactics to have any hope of
getting you to subscribe to their
advice. If they can’t convince you
that you are in trouble or in need
of what they know, why else would
you pay them any attention?
A simple example is the kind of
cliché news tease we frequently
hear: “Tune in at nine to find out
what unsuspecting everyday
household item can harm you and
your family!” One might ask
themselves, do I want anything
bad to happen? Obviously not.
Well, guess I better tune in at
nine.
Another common example are the
swarms of advisors who pay for
radio and online advertising. They
might say things like
“learn how to protect your
investments from devastating
crashes” or “find out how to get
wealthy from this secret.” One
might ask themselves, do I want to
protect my money? Yes. Do I want
to be wealthy?
Yes. Well then, I better subscribe
to whatever this person is saying
and selling. It is usually easy to
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 5

ecognize the absurdity of these
tactics; although, sometimes we
can’t help it. We are bombarded
with terrible advice and cheap
sales tactics in all areas of our
lives. Over the decades,
advertisers have learned to
become sneaky and use subtle
tactics. They often rely on fear and
other emotions to get you to buy.
They will make bold predictions
and pretend to know the future.
Occasionally these charlatans
appear to be right. The markets
have never opened on January 2nd
and gone straight positive until
December 31st. You hear the
naysayers declare a market pull
back or crash is imminent (their
definition of “crash” is very broad).
you. It’s ironic that money in
general needs to be handled
logically and wisely, yet it is one of
the most emotional subjects we
deal with. Just as with medicine,
it’s wise to involve a third party
with your crucial fiscal decisions.
to
Remember
remain level
always
and logical
headed
it comes to
when
finances and
your
Don’t
investments.
the onslaught of
let
and
marketing
deter
schemers
you.
sustainable food storage, you
don’t set it on fire because a food
shortage started.
When trouble starts, you need to
hold onto your existing plan. Don’t
abandon it. Realize that you’re
prepared and need to avoid
drastic actions. Stay the course.
Stick with the plan. It will work!
Because we tend to have intrayear
pullback and cyclical action in
the markets, the naysayers are, on
a rare occasion, right. They may be
wrong most of the year, but
eventually they seem right.
Remember the saying “even a
broken clock is right twice a day?"
Well these doomsday fools are
indeed broken clocks.
Remember to always remain level
headed and logical when it comes
to your finances and investments.
Don’t let the onslaught of
marketing and schemers deter
Please remember, although we
don’t get emotional about
investments and finances, it
doesn’t mean we don’t care or are
not vested in your well-being. It is
the opposite. It’s because we care
so much about your financial wellbeing
and security that we focus
on being diligent and prudent with
your investments. One of the ways
we demonstrate our focus and
dedication to our clients is how we
react to volatile markets. We know
that wise planning is done ahead
of time. We help you develop a
diversified and disciplined
approach to investing up front,
before anything else. It is
this blueprint and groundwork
that helps us.
"A goal
without a
plan is just
a dream."
Dave Ramsey
Once we have developed and
agreed to a disciplined plan, the
last thing we want to do is
abandon it when times get rough
or appear to be rough. I often
equate smart financial planning to
food storage. You don’t wait until
a famine happens to develop a
contingency plan of food storage.
By then it is too late. You’re in
trouble. At the same time, if you
have built a long-term and
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 6

MESSAGE TO POST-
A
MILLENNIALS
By Tom Craner
With client relations and customer service experience going back nearly a decade, Tom has a
proven track record of genuine care for our clients.
am a millennial. I am among the
generation of people that,
according to PEW research is the
most educated generation to date.
29% of millennial men, and 36%
I
of
millennial women have at least a
bachelors degree; and many more
have partial or unfinished postsecondary
schooling. Educating
institutions offer many more fields
of study today than they used to.
Additionally, a robust federal loan
program, scholarships, grants, and
private lenders ensure that many
can secure money for higher
education as soon as they
graduate high school. My
generation has access to more
college degrees, more fields of
study, and more ways to receive
funding for college than ever
before.
It would seem believable that,
due to these conditions, the
millennials will inevitably end up
smarter and more successful than
previous generations; but if more
education is supposed to be
making millennials more
successful, then why is it that
millennials are living at home with
their parents 50% more often than
the previous generation? Why
then, despite being a major part of
the workforce, most millennials
are unable or unwilling to
purchase a home? Why is it that
millennials between the ages 25
and 34 earn 20% less than their
Boomer parents did at the same
age? Why is it that $1.1 trillion of
the total $3.6 trillion dollars of
consumer debt is held by the 21-
34 age group? Why is it that 52%
of the 21 to 34 age group, when
surveyed, expressed worries of
defaulting on any loan over the
next 12 months? These questions
aren’t easy to answer without
multi-varied analysis, but there is
one factor that stands out above
the rest: student loan debt.
According to CNBC, the average
student debt for the older
millennials (30-39 years) is $34,000
on average and affects around 12
million people, whereas the under
age 30 demographic has around
24 million people affected by
student debt amounts above
$22,000 on average. This means
that a staggering one out of ten
Americans rack up student loan
debt amounts over $22,000 before
ever entering their career field.
Compounding the issue is
that most college graduates aren’t
working in the field which they
went to college for and are often
earning too little to unbury
themselves from their immense
debt. The real kicker (and
something the post-millennials
should be aware of) is according
to a survey done by Accenture,
over 50% of all college graduates
say that the careers they are
working in don’t require a degree
what-so-ever. That’s one out of
two college grads who wasted
their time and money getting a
degree they are never going to
use.
Adding to the college dilemma is
the fact that tuition at public
universities has more than
doubled since 1984, even after
adjusting for inflation. Despite
this, college tuition has become
much more accessible than it was
at its advent. This is due to the
ease with which one can borrow
from the various federal student
loan programs. In 1958, under the
National Defense Education Act,
student loans were only offered to
those studying Science,
Engineering, or Education. Now,
however, you can borrow money
for any major at any university or
college. You can also borrow for
private, for-profit schools, which
generally offer certification or
licensure, rather than an official
degree. Kids graduating high
school often jump right into
borrowing for school without ever
considering a much cheaper trade
school, or simply joining the work
force and gaining the much-
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 7

needed experience most careers
demand. They very often sidle
themselves with massive debt,
even before figuring out what they
want to do with their lives, or
whether they need a degree to do
it. Our society pressures kids to go
to college as if it’s the only way to
succeed.
The current axiom that our youth
must take on immense debt to get
a college degree, no matter what
their particular circumstances, is
destructive for millennials in the
long run, especially in regard to
retirement. Simply put, generating
substantial amounts of debt early
on dramatically affects your ability
to retire. Let’s say you spend your
20’s getting a degree in a field
where skill and experience are far
more requisite. Once you graduate
you will spend, on average, $350
per month on your student loans
for the foreseeable future. While
you were busy growing debt,
someone else worked their way up
in the same field, saved $350 per
month, and acquired valuable
experience along the way. If you
read my last article, then you will
know that a dollar saved now
is worth much more than a dollar
saved later, assuming you invest
and grow your money to beat
inflation. If you spend half of your
adult life in severe debt, you may
have very low chances of retiring
on time, if at all. Not to mention,
the wonders of compounding
interest are working against you,
instead of for you.
Many of the people in my
generation are faced with the
harsh reality of attempting to
overcome a seemingly
insurmountable mountain of debt,
acquired by following the wellintended
advice of people who still
believe college is like it was in the
past; back when it cost half or a
third as much, in today’s dollars,
for young professionals to acquire
a specific skill or knowledge
necessary to their career path.
While reasonable and legitimate
fields of study still exist, and
should be pursued, they are
awash in institutions that, for the
price of one young person’s
future, offer a lot of useless
degrees or tack on pricey
“free elective” classes which are
anything but free and
elective. Despite this, hope is not
lost for those of us millennials
who fell into the college debt trap.
If we get serious about retirement,
set some realistic goals and make
the necessary sacrifices, we can
still retire at a reasonable age. It
won’t be easy, however, and it
requires immediate action. See my
last article for more insight.
As for those in the post-millennial
generation, who are beginning to
graduate high school now, I have a
simple question: How can you
ensure that you are not wrecking
your chances of retirement by
borrowing frivolously? For that I
have a few, more specific answers:
1. Make a plan, have a direction,
and know what you want to do
with your life: Many of us feel
unsure about our plans, and it can
be paralyzing; but there is a way to
break out of that paralysis. It
starts with taking yourself more
seriously and discovering yourself.
Spend some time alone, away
from the distractions of the
internet. Begin to write in a
journal. Talk to parents, siblings,
and friends regarding what they
notice about your personality,
good and bad. Develop some
strong insights into your own
unique and individual
temperaments, strengths, and
weaknesses. Find out what
success is for you specifically.
Define it, in words, on paper. Do
all of this, meaningfully, and you
will have a much easier time
deciding what career and/or
lifestyle fits you. To put it simply,
don’t make major life-altering
decisions for yourself, without
knowing who you are first.
2. Understand what education
you require for your career:
After getting to know yourself and
developing a vision of your future,
you can decide whether college is
required for you to achieve what
you want. If you want to work for
NASA, or study micro-organisms in
a lab at the CDC, then you may
want to go get a degree. However,
if you are leaning toward learning
a trade, like an electrician, a
plumber, or a violinist, then you
may not need a four-year degree
and $30,000 in loan debt. Just find
a job or an internship in the field
you want, get the necessary
licensing, and get to work.
3. Try to Avoid loans: If you do
end up college bound, assess
whether you need or want to get
the degree from a pricey high-end
university, or if a community
college will suffice. You may want
to look into the field you’re
planning on getting a degree in to
see if it has a growing and healthy
work force and that the pay is
commensurate with the cost of
the education. When paying for
college, utilize every grant,
scholarship, relative, friend, and
piggy bank to help avoid taking
out loans for as much of the cost
as possible.
In conclusion, my post-millennial
friends, I want you to succeed. You
are the only one who has control
of whether you will spend your
70’s and 80’s working or sipping
pineapple juice on a beautiful
sandy beach. You likely won’t win
the lottery, find a genie in a bottle
or discover rare-earth minerals
buried in your backyard. Good
luck generation Y, and Godspeed.
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 8

By Jackie O'Shea
WORD SEARCH
RETIREMENT
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 9

THE TEAM
The people of Strategic Planning Group work closely as a team to foster an unambiguous
and clear path forward. Our team is integral to ensuring that our principles towards
MEET
investment planning and management of your estate are effectively implemented.You can
trust that the combined decades of experience shared by our advisors will always be
utilized by our staff to ensure success in your Strategic Plan.
Y A N C R A N E R
R
President & CEO
Ryan founded Strategic Planning Group to help consumers
avoid piecemeal planning and simply buying products and
instead create an all-inclusive written Strategic Plan. A
Strategic Plan is to your financial life what a blueprint is to
building a home. This custom approach which began as a
simple idea has grown Strategic Planning Group into a trusted
and established firm.
Wealth Management Advisor
M A T T N E V E
Wealth Management Advisor
Account Trading and
Operations
J O H N P A R K
T O M C R A N E R
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 1 0

Client Services
Client Services
Client Services
J A C K I E O ' S H E A
J E N A O L N E Y
J E S S E C A H A L L O W S
"Your
like
retirement,
song, should
a
a unified and
be
harmonious
composition."
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 1 1

Located on Historic Main Street in Bountiful
Now
services are offered through Strategic Planning Group, a Registered Investment Advisor with the SEC. Securities offered through Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments, Member FINRA/SIPC.
Advisory
190 South Main Street
Bountiful, UT 84010
(801)627-2200
Retirement Planning Specialists