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C O N T E N T S<br />
Ryan Craner<br />
reminds us<br />
to focus on what<br />
matters most pg. 3 pg. 3<br />
Welcome to <strong>2019</strong>, What Matters Most?<br />
by Ryan Craner<br />
Ryan talks of being cautious of fearmongers<br />
and enjoying life<br />
pg. 5<br />
The Surprising Stresses of Retirement<br />
by John Park<br />
John teaches some steps to help work<br />
through the stresses of retirement<br />
pg. 7<br />
Don't Be Normal<br />
by Tom Craner<br />
Tom shares why it is O.K. to not be normal<br />
while saving for retirement<br />
pg. 9<br />
Memories and Meatloaf<br />
by Heather Cunningham<br />
Enjoy one of Heather's recipes as you take a<br />
stroll down memory lane<br />
pg. 10-11<br />
Meet the Team<br />
Introducing the new members of the<br />
office<br />
pg. 3<br />
Welcome to <strong>2019</strong><br />
What Matters Most?<br />
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 2
Welcome to <strong>2019</strong><br />
What Matters Most?<br />
By Ryan Craner<br />
Taking the client advocate and consumer protection approach, Ryan has always viewed every client as<br />
a long term and very important relationship.<br />
M y, how time flies! As we<br />
we imagined <strong>2019</strong> from 30, 40, or<br />
50 years ago we always thought<br />
we would see flying cars! Instead<br />
we have drones that annoy us<br />
and smartphones that rule our<br />
lives.<br />
There have been many positive<br />
developments over the past 2 or<br />
3 years. We are very happy with<br />
the economic results we are<br />
seeing, such as unemployment at<br />
long-term lows and gross<br />
domestic products growing again<br />
for the first time in over a<br />
decade. Consumer confidence is<br />
at long-term highs, and<br />
something new… wage growth<br />
for the first time in 18 years!<br />
2018 turned out to be a slightly<br />
negative year for the markets, the<br />
S&P 500 and the Dow Jones<br />
Industrial Average were down 4.4%<br />
and 3.5% respectively. This is a mild<br />
downturn as far as negative years<br />
go. When looking only at the 4th<br />
Quarter in 2018 the downturn is<br />
much sharper and of course that is<br />
where the media focused the<br />
attention.<br />
As I mentioned in the Ryan Report/<br />
Market Update dated December<br />
20th, 2018, there is good news in<br />
the small loss in 2018. The good<br />
news is that we have now had our<br />
correction, we have now had our<br />
down year, we have now had our<br />
bear market. Nobody will be able to<br />
make a credible case that we have<br />
gone straight up or have gone too<br />
high for too long. This gives the<br />
market a good reset and makes new<br />
all-time highs in the future more<br />
likely. The down year of 2018 and<br />
the sharper loss in the 4th quarter<br />
are normal macro bull-market<br />
patterns.<br />
The good news is that we<br />
have now had our<br />
correction, we have now had<br />
our down year, we have now<br />
had our bear market.<br />
The markets were clearly reacting to<br />
uncertainty on the trade and tariff<br />
discussions and the seemingly<br />
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 3
inflexible and hawkish comments<br />
made by Federal Reserve<br />
Chairman, Jerome Powell, during<br />
the 4th quarter 2018. Even with<br />
the markets being anxious about<br />
Federal Reserve policy and trade<br />
relations going forward, this does<br />
not mean we are headed toward a<br />
recession. Jerome Powell and his<br />
hundreds of Ph.D. level economists<br />
certainly don’t see weakness<br />
coming.<br />
“The world is ending, the markets<br />
are crashing, recession is coming,<br />
Buy Our Products!”<br />
As you are certainly aware, I have<br />
warned our clients over and over<br />
to disregard the inflammatory and<br />
inaccurate stories and promotions<br />
from these sources. I would<br />
remind all of you that we have a<br />
long-term and disciplined<br />
investment strategy in place. There<br />
is no reason to obsess and worry<br />
The markets and the<br />
economy will continue to<br />
cycle as always, and our<br />
strategy is in place.<br />
has it been since you have done<br />
either of these things?<br />
Commit to a new exercise activity,<br />
go for a walk, spend more time<br />
with family, review your perfect<br />
calendars and make sure you are<br />
spending your time on the things<br />
that are the most important to<br />
you.<br />
One theme that I noticed in the<br />
media reporting about the stock<br />
markets in the fourth quarter is<br />
this wild and unfounded<br />
catastrophic atmosphere. The<br />
typical culprits were at work. The<br />
news media, the dark apocalypse<br />
gurus, the gold/precious metal<br />
promoters, and the fixed annuity/<br />
life insurance industry were all<br />
out there signaling catastrophe!<br />
one quarter to the next about the<br />
markets and the economy.<br />
It can be hard to ignore these<br />
fear-mongers because the media,<br />
and other dubious sources, can be<br />
loud and incessant with their<br />
“worry about this” marketing. I<br />
advise each of you to limit your<br />
media and social media intake<br />
and activity. Get back to basics.<br />
Do crossword puzzles or build<br />
actual jigsaw puzzles, how long<br />
The markets and the economy will<br />
continue to cycle as always, and<br />
our strategy is in place. Make<br />
sure you are focusing on what<br />
matters most in this new year!<br />
Enjoy your lives, enjoy the good<br />
things in life in <strong>2019</strong>.<br />
As always, it is a pleasure to<br />
advise you!<br />
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 4
The Surprising Stresses of<br />
Retirement<br />
By John Park<br />
From investments to complicated retirement strategies, he works to educate and advise his<br />
clients on making smart financial decisions.<br />
W e have recently had severa l<br />
clients retire. One of the<br />
fascinating aspects of this job is<br />
seeing how various people react<br />
to retirement. I used to be<br />
ignorant in assuming everyone<br />
would be excited about<br />
retirement. As far as I am<br />
concerned, although I absolutely<br />
love what I do, I cannot wait to<br />
have more time to pursue<br />
hobbies and interests, that is<br />
one way I view my own future<br />
retirement.<br />
However, many times, as we<br />
have recently seen, some clients<br />
dread retirement. Perhaps if you<br />
are reading this, I am talking<br />
about you specifically. You might<br />
be one of the clients I am<br />
thinking of. You know who you<br />
are, or if it is your spouse I am<br />
talking about. Well, why are<br />
some clients dreading<br />
retirement? Is it a money issue?<br />
The people I am talking about are<br />
not worried about money, or at<br />
least should not be. No, it is<br />
something deeper than money. So<br />
what is it?<br />
I believe some people dread<br />
retirement because it is new and<br />
unfamiliar. We are all creatures of<br />
habit. These clients I am talking<br />
about are hard workers. Their work<br />
ethic and reliability are second to<br />
none. They have spent decades<br />
going to work on a set schedule. It<br />
has been a means of providing for<br />
their families. Work has given them<br />
purpose. It almost defines them, or<br />
at least a large part of them.<br />
Do not let fear and stress<br />
motivate you. Not when it<br />
comes between you and<br />
the prospect of a happy<br />
and fulfilled retirement.<br />
It is important to not take it for<br />
granted that leaving a job, whether<br />
due to termination, quitting, or<br />
retirement, is a major life event.<br />
Therefore, even under the best<br />
circumstances it can cause a lot of<br />
stress.<br />
To those clients who have recently<br />
retired or can and do not, please,<br />
pay attention. Do not let fear and<br />
stress motivate you. Not when it<br />
comes between you and the<br />
prospect of a happy and fulfilled<br />
retirement.<br />
If you are ready to retire or have<br />
retired and are stressed or<br />
depressed, please stop and take<br />
inventory of your emotions. I would<br />
like you to consider your situation<br />
as though it is not you. Pretend you<br />
are someone different and you are<br />
a good friend of this person who is<br />
stressed about retirement. What<br />
would you tell them? Would you<br />
add to their fear? Would you upset<br />
them even more? No, of coursenot.<br />
Would you not offer help and<br />
support? First, you would take their<br />
concerns seriously. You would ask<br />
questions and find out the details,<br />
that way you might provide positive<br />
and meaningful guidance.<br />
Would you want this good friend of<br />
yours to dwell in despair? No. You<br />
would want them to be happy and<br />
healthy. You obviously care about<br />
this individual; after all, you are<br />
their good friend. After an extensive<br />
conversation, you might say to<br />
yourself, I mean your friend, that<br />
they need to let go of the fear and<br />
anxiety. If a professional has<br />
verified that finances are in order,<br />
they ought to enjoy retirement.<br />
They have literally earned it.<br />
Fast forward three months. You,<br />
our client, have taken the<br />
retirement you so deserved. But<br />
there is a problem. You are<br />
depressed. You report back at our<br />
next meeting that you are not<br />
enjoying yourself. Or what is more<br />
common, your spouse reports back<br />
you are not enjoying yourself.<br />
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 5
Perhaps your pre-retirement<br />
anxiety and stress followed you.<br />
Your spouse reports you are not<br />
active, energetic, and happy. They<br />
say you seem depressed. Now we<br />
have got a problem.<br />
Let me be clear, if you are idle long<br />
term in retirement and depressed,<br />
you will die. I am not trying to be<br />
dramatic. That is just the reality of<br />
it.<br />
Find a way to be happy and<br />
fulfilled. Start small. .. Start<br />
with a desire to be happier.<br />
When I hear a client is finding<br />
themselves in this situation, I get<br />
upset and worried. I am fearful for<br />
my client’s life. I am fearing for my<br />
client’s wellbeing; after all, they are<br />
a friend. I want the best for you. I<br />
want you to live a long and happy<br />
life. I will therefore tear down<br />
anything in the way of that. It<br />
would be so nice to take a direct<br />
drill sergeant approach and yell at<br />
you to motivate and move you. We<br />
all know that would not work. It is<br />
not my style anyways.<br />
Rather, I will implore you. Find a<br />
way to be happy and fulfilled. Start<br />
small. It is not simply a switch that<br />
can be flipped. Start with a desire to<br />
be happier. If you are full of stress<br />
and not enjoying life, you need to<br />
have hope that things can change<br />
or at least you need to want to<br />
have hope.<br />
Next, let's wake up at a specific<br />
time. Remember when you were<br />
employed? Could you sit in bed or<br />
on the couch because you did not<br />
feel well? Nope. You went to work<br />
every morning regardless of how<br />
you felt. It was important that you<br />
were at work, people and a<br />
company were relying on you. That<br />
gave you purpose. Again, get up at<br />
a specific time. Sorry if you do not<br />
want to, too bad. Get up and get<br />
ready. After you have eaten<br />
something for breakfast, let’s setup<br />
a goal of one task you will<br />
accomplish. Do you need to fix the<br />
railing, plant something in the<br />
garden, or fix the project car in<br />
your garage? Whatever it is, put it<br />
on the agenda and do it. Just like<br />
when you were employed, this task<br />
is demanded of you. It is not<br />
optional. The completion of that<br />
task is relying on you. This gives<br />
you even more purpose now. Now<br />
you are a handyman, gardener, or<br />
mechanic.<br />
While you are fixing or completing<br />
that day’s agenda item, do not be<br />
afraid of distractions. Maybe you<br />
see a light bulb that needs<br />
replacing, take care of it, and return<br />
to your original task. Remember<br />
when you were constantly<br />
bombarded at work with<br />
interruptions and distractions?<br />
Guess what, those little<br />
annoyances happened because you<br />
were important and were needed.<br />
Now around the house, you are<br />
again presented with interruptions<br />
or distractions which need<br />
attention. You need to address<br />
them because you are important<br />
and serve a purpose.<br />
Zoom out a little and not focus on<br />
just one day. Our perfect calendar<br />
process talks about planning your<br />
week, month, and year with<br />
agenda items that you want to do.<br />
Maybe it is not all vacations and<br />
celebrations. Maybe it is quiet time.<br />
Plan activities of all kinds. Whether<br />
fun or lame, big or small, plan<br />
activities for yourself. Now you<br />
have more importance and<br />
purpose.<br />
As you build upon this, you will rise<br />
from depression. We need to enjoy<br />
life. There is nothing selfish about<br />
that sentence. It is completely<br />
selfless. If you enjoy life, you will<br />
be happy, positive, and a good<br />
influence. Those traits will cause<br />
you to bless the lives of your family<br />
and friends. By taking care of<br />
yourself and being healthy and<br />
happy, you will be able to care for<br />
and help others around you.<br />
I hope this article has not applied<br />
to you personally but if you are<br />
one of the clients I am thinking of,<br />
please talk to us more if you are<br />
not enjoying retirement. We are<br />
here for you. After-all, if you do not<br />
change and shape up, I might<br />
eventually approach this subject<br />
like a drill sergeant.<br />
"You are never<br />
too old to set<br />
another goal<br />
or to dream a<br />
new dream."<br />
C.S. Lewis<br />
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 6
Don't Be Normal<br />
By Tom Craner<br />
With client relations and customer service experience going back nearly a decade, Tom has a proven<br />
track record of genuine care for our clients.<br />
John works at a factory for a large<br />
company. His company offers a<br />
401k to their employees along with<br />
a 3% match. John is 40 and has<br />
always spent his whole paycheck<br />
on bills, rent, and extracurricular<br />
expenses. He begins to think about<br />
retirement and starts asking his coworkers<br />
about the 401k.<br />
Do you think saving for<br />
retirement is important?<br />
and temporarily conscientious<br />
coworker were to ask him about<br />
the company 401k in the future,<br />
then he may give them the same<br />
rationalizations and thereby<br />
pressure them to kick the can<br />
down the road as well.<br />
If you are reading this, you may<br />
have gone through this very same<br />
mental process or know someone<br />
who has. It is completely normal<br />
for people to prefer spending your<br />
money today over spending it<br />
decades from now.<br />
R ecently, on our Facebook<br />
page, we asked the question ‘Do<br />
you think saving for retirement is<br />
important?’. Based on our<br />
responses the answer was a<br />
resounding ‘yes.’ The harder<br />
question to answer is why then,<br />
according to the most recent data,<br />
are anywhere from 75-80% of<br />
people between ages 40 and 60<br />
totally unprepared for retirement?<br />
I believe the answer, while<br />
complex, can be largely attributed<br />
to two well-documented<br />
phenomena in psychology;<br />
unspoken peer pressure and<br />
rationalization. I know for most of<br />
us, discussions of peer pressure<br />
and rationalization don’t usually<br />
fall into the category of<br />
“retirement savings” and more<br />
often fall into the category of<br />
“what to talk to your teenager<br />
about”, but let’s look at an<br />
example:<br />
Most of his co-workers tell him<br />
that, while they have often wanted<br />
to begin saving for retirement, they<br />
haven’t gotten around to it yet.<br />
They will often say something like “I<br />
have enough time in the future” or<br />
“I can’t afford to begin saving until I<br />
am out of debt or get a<br />
raise.” (rationalization). John looks<br />
around after asking all his work<br />
friends and realizes that the vast<br />
majority of them are not saving,<br />
have not saved, and don’t intend to<br />
begin saving in the near future.<br />
Therefore, it seems perfectly<br />
reasonable to John if he were to<br />
not worry about it, at least for now<br />
(peer pressure). If any curious<br />
Saving things for later is a learned<br />
and developed behavior. The<br />
propensity for immediate<br />
gratification was studied in a series<br />
of experiments during the 60’s and<br />
70’s called the Marshmallow Test.<br />
In this experiment a child is given a<br />
marshmallow and told that they<br />
can eat it now or wait 15 minutes<br />
and receive a second marshmallow.<br />
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 7
Certainly, if the children waited<br />
the extra time they would double<br />
their bounty; but studies have<br />
shown that over half of the<br />
children won’t wait to scarf it<br />
down. Later renditions of the<br />
Marshmallow Test show that,<br />
when placed in a group, an even<br />
higher number of children will<br />
indulge immediately. Kids are a<br />
great barometer of human<br />
nature, and this experiment<br />
shows us just how wired we are<br />
to try to fit in with our peers.<br />
Following the crowd is<br />
normal behavior, but the<br />
crowd does not always<br />
enact good behavior.<br />
People want to be normal and<br />
being normal is often good.<br />
Something generally becomes the<br />
norm because it benefits people. It<br />
is normal to shower and brush<br />
your teeth. It is normal to sleep,<br />
normal to work, and normal to<br />
have dinner in good company.<br />
There are many beneficial things<br />
that are normal behaviors. This is<br />
why when we first learn to drive a<br />
car, we do not start with our hands<br />
on the pedals while steering with<br />
our feet... normally.<br />
On the other hand though, there<br />
are many normal things we do that<br />
are destructive. Normally, we eat<br />
too much sugar, watch too much<br />
TV, and don’t exercise<br />
nearly enough. It is a pitfall of<br />
human nature. Following the<br />
crowd is normal behavior but the<br />
crowd does not always enact good<br />
behavior. Doing the normal thing is<br />
not the same as doing the right<br />
thing, nor is it always beneficial.<br />
If you want to live a dream life in<br />
retirement and you want to quit<br />
working one day and have time to<br />
golf, crochet, read, camp, travel or<br />
just do nothing at all; if you truly<br />
want to live your perfect calendar<br />
then when it comes to saving and<br />
planning for your retirement, don’t<br />
be normal.<br />
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 8
Memories and Meatloaf<br />
By Heather Cunningham<br />
Childhood memories consist of<br />
many things and for every<br />
individual those memories can be<br />
very different from one another.<br />
Throwing a ball back and forth with<br />
your father, reading books with<br />
your mother, riding bikes well past<br />
dark, and for some, fishing in an old<br />
rickety boat at 4:00am with<br />
grandpa are such memories that<br />
bring so much joy.<br />
Mother's home-cooked meals are<br />
most likely high on the list in our<br />
memory bank. Coming home from<br />
playing and experiencing the aroma<br />
that filled the house brought on a<br />
sudden need for delicious food to<br />
quiet the battle going on in your<br />
stomach.<br />
What are some of those meals for<br />
you? Meatloaf, lasagna, and<br />
homemade bread were certainly<br />
some of the staples in homes long<br />
ago. For some families, they still are.<br />
We have grown and now have<br />
children and grandchildren of our<br />
own, we have the privilege of<br />
sharing such memories with them.<br />
Now is as good a time as any to pull<br />
out those recipes, dust them off,<br />
and watch the joy that each of us<br />
experienced in our younger years.<br />
Ingredients<br />
Mini Meatloaves<br />
1 egg(lightly whisked)<br />
1 tsp salt<br />
3/4 c milk<br />
1 lb ground beef<br />
1 c shredded cheddar cheese<br />
2/3 c ketchup<br />
1/2 c (heaping) potato flakes<br />
1/4 c packed brown sugar 1<br />
Directions<br />
1/2 tsp prepared mustard<br />
-Preheat oven to 350 degree f.<br />
-In a large bowl, combine whisked egg, milk, shredded cheddar cheese, potato flakes, and salt.<br />
-Add the ground beef, mix well. Form this mixture into eight miniature loaves. Place them in a lightly greased 9x13 dish.<br />
-In a separate smaller bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard. Mix well and spread over each meatloaf.<br />
-Bake, uncovered, 350 degrees f for 45 minutes.<br />
*Fun to make in a cupcake pan. For more flavor, add Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder to taste.<br />
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 9
MEET THE TEAM<br />
The people of Strategic Planning Group work closely as a team to foster an unambiguous and<br />
clear path forward. Our team is integral to ensuring that our principles towards investment<br />
planning and management of your estate are effectively implemented.You can trust that the<br />
combined decades of experience shared by our advisors will always be utilized by our staff to<br />
ensure success in your Strategic Plan.<br />
R Y A N C R A N E R<br />
President & CEO<br />
Ryan founded Strategic Planning Group to help consumers<br />
avoid piecemeal planning and simply buying products and<br />
instead create an all-inclusive written Strategic Plan. A<br />
Strategic Plan is to your financial life what a blueprint is to<br />
building a home. This custom approach which began as a<br />
simple idea has grown Strategic Planning Group into a trusted<br />
and established firm.<br />
JOHN PARK TOM CRANER JACKIE O'SHEA<br />
Wealth Management Advisor Account Trading and Operations Client Services<br />
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 10
JENA OLNEY ADRIENNE PRINCE HEATHER CUNNINGHAM<br />
Client Services Client Services Client Services<br />
"Your<br />
retirement, like<br />
a song, should<br />
be a unified and<br />
harmonious<br />
composition."<br />
S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 11
190 South Main Street<br />
Bountiful, UT 84010<br />
(801)627-2200<br />
Retirement Planning Specialists<br />
Now Located on Historic Main Street in Bountiful<br />
Advisory services are offered through Strategic Planning Group, a Registered Investment Advisor with the SEC. Securities offered through Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments, Member FINRA/SIPC.