CAN’T TELL YOUWhat Retirement CalculatorsCAN’T TELL YOU

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VOYAGER

FROM THE DESK OF… features rotating columns from

Helmstar partners Tom Steelman and Ben Boettcher, ChFc, CFP.®

ISSUE 7 . OCTOBER . 2017

Bringing More Personal to Personal Financial Planning

Helmstar’s Dir. of Planning & Research uncovers insights & answers for clients

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Stock Market Hits Highs

Will it Hit a Ceiling?

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Meet the TeamJacob Williams, Director of Planning & Research

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FROM THEDESK OF…

They say all politics is local. And now, thanks to the popularity of social media and 24-hour news networks, all politics is… well… everywhere.

But according to legendary investor Warren Buffett, letting the bluster of politics significantly influence your investment decisions can spell trouble.

In his words (with our emphasis):

“People who mix their politics up with their investment activities I don’t think that makes sense. I’ve watched it all my life and obviously probably half the time, my adult life, I’ve had a presi-dent other than the one I voted for. But that has never taken me out of stocks. I mean, the American economy, you know, we’re up to number 45 or so and we’ve done awfully well.

If you mix your politics with your investment decisions, you’re making a big mistake.”

This is such an important point. America is a dynamic, politically- charged country. We have vigorous debates. We disagree on issues big and small. Politics in many ways is a national sport.

But allowing the nation’s wild political swings to drive your investment decisions will only mean your financial plan will be swinging wildly, too.

In fact, this is precisely why the Helmstar team believes in the power of a plan — and planning — in the first place. A thoughtful plan gives you a map to keep you moving forward despite the hurdles politics and life inevitably throws at us. (Read more about our planning approach in Bringing More Personal to Personal Financial Planning, pg 2.)

This is not to say a plan shouldn’t be flexible. The best plans adapt to changes in the landscape, but they don’t let short-term events drive long-term decisions.

Insights on wealth, personal finance and more

A R E G I S T E R E D I N V E S T M E N T A D V I S O R Y F I R M

TOMSTEELMAN

Online retirement calculators are so easy. Just pull a calculator up on your computer (thanks, Google!), enter a few key pieces of information, and get an answer to the ever-perplexing question of “how much do I need to save for retirement?”

So convenient. So simple. So satisfying. But are they accurate? Unfortunately, not exactly.

For all the good online retirement calculators do to inspire and educate people on the impor-tance of retirement savings, our lives are just too complicated to be captured in a facile tool.

It starts with “correct” assumptions Any retirement calculations begin with a set of assump-tions. Some are easy, e.g. if my nest egg of $X grows by X% over X time period it will equal $X. That’s just math.But the assumptions that matter most are those that are much more personal. What trade-offs am I willing to make now for my future? What does retirement mean to me? What legacy do I want to leave?

For example, many online calculators use a “rule of thumb” based on your current earnings to determine your retirement spending. This is silly. What you earn today does not necessarily impact how much you will spend in the future. How you choose to spend your time and money determines that.

The fact is, the only way solid assumptions get made is through some careful self-examination. That’s why Helmstar developed our Discovery Board™ and other techniques to

Continued on page 3

Read more...Visit helmstargroup.com/blog to read past newsletter articles, additional personal finance tips, & more.

Paper money didn’t really exist in the U.S.

until the Civil War. Why? Because coin hoarding

during the war put a crunch on the flow of currency. In response,

the government created paper bills for the first time in 1861.

Just as interesting, each of these early bills was hand-signed

by one of the six people who worked at the U.S. Treasury.source: www.thedigeratilife.com

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Stock MarketHits Highs.Will it Hit a Ceiling? The stock market is up, nearing or surpassing record highs with some regularity.

This strong bull market has been one of our longest in history. For the most part, this is great news. But we must also keep in mind that these long upward runs don’t last forever.

During the 20th Century the stock market returned near 10%. Nobody can predict the future, but we can predict that returns significantly above the market’s historic average are not likely to continue.

This, of course, is not a problem for those of us investing for the long-term. Smart Planning, along with patience and healthy comfort with the ups and downs of the stock market have proven to be the best predictor of investing success.

The average BULL MARKET lasted 9 years with an average cumulative total return of 470%.The average BEAR MARKET lasted 1.4 years with an average cumulative loss of -41%.

Source: www.ftportfolios.com

HISTORICALLY:

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BEAR MARKETFrom when the index closes at least 20% down from its previous high close, to the lowest close reached after it has fallen 20% or more

BULL MARKET From the lowest close

reached after the market has fallen 20% or more

to the next market high

“WHAT RETIREMENT CALCULATORS CAN’T TELL YOU” continued from page 1

help our clients create not just a financial plan, but a life plan.

It’s not about a numberSome marketing from some larger firms have reinforced this idea that we all have “a number.” It’s not that simple. What we all have is a unique, often very personal, vision for our lives.

This vision is what drives our spending and saving now and in the future. When integrated with a financial plan, this vision requires a 360-degree review of your circumstances. Not just how much money you have or will have, but also your insurance needs, the tax implica-tions, and countless other details.

Believing retirement planning is about a target number is a big mistake.

A better wayNone of this means calculators are worthless. At Helmstar, we actually use a robust calculation system for every client to help predict how the numbers will change if and when the assumptions change.

The key is not to get too caught up in simple calculation. Invest the time and energy into thinking about what you want out of your life. Then translate that into a plan that gets you there.

You have control of your life today and for the many tomorrows to come. There’s always time to make adjustments that help you achieve your goals. Don’t let a simplistic online calculator make you believe any different.

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Bringing More PERSONAL to Personal Financial Planning

Jacob Williams, Ph.D., CFP ®, Helmstar’s Director of Planning and Research, applies broad trends and individual details to uncover insights and answers for clients.It’s called personal finance for a reason: your situation is unique. In fact, everyone’s is.

Yes, there are broad trends that impact your financial situation. And yes, there are principles of personal finance that, in most situations, lead to good outcomes. But the specific strategies — when, where and how you take specific actions — depends on you.

YOUR LIFE. YOUR GOALS. YOUR RISK TOLERANCE. YOUR FAMILY. YOUR DREAMS.

YOU.“Rules of thumb can be helpful, but they’re simply not enough given the complexity of our lives,” explains Jacob Williams, Ph.D., CFP®, Helmstar’s Director of Planning and Research (see Meet the Team). “My role is to understand the intersection of the big trends and smallest personal details to develop a holistic plan that improves not only their net worth, but their lives.”

For Jacob, this work is more than a job, it’s a passion years in the making.

“I’ve always been interested in financial planning,” Jacob says, explaining he pursued an undergraduate degree in finance and a master’s of business administration, but was distracted by an early career in the aerospace industry. “It was interesting but it wasn’t scratching my itch to help people.”

He left aerospace to pursue a Ph.D. in Financial Planning from Texas Tech University, one of the few programs of its type in the nation. There

he studied, taught undergraduate students, and found a renewed interest in balancing academic research with practical application.

It’s an approach that blends well with the Helmstar Group’s client- first focus.

“Helmstar understands that financial planning should give people peace of mind by aligning their financial plan with their goals,” Jacob says.

To achieve this, Jacob splits his time between working one-on-one with clients facing unique challenges or opportunities, and working closely with his Helmstar colleagues to ensure relevant research is applied across all Helmstar client plans, where appropriate.

For example, if a Helmstar client is considering the sale of a business or other large asset, Jacob might develop a detailed scenario analysis that looks at how varying terms might impact the client’s financial plan. If in this process or during his other research, Jacob uncovers a strategy that may be applicable to multiple clients, he will make certain it “bubbles up” to be examined and integrated.

All in all, it’s a level of rigor and personalization that is rare in today’s financial planning environment. But one Helmstar believes adds value, no matter a client’s financial phase of life.

“Nobody has a crystal ball, but we do have a lot of data,” Jacob says. “We’re raising the bar on financial planning so we can give our clients more than money — we can give life fulfillment.”

My role is to understand the intersection of the big trends and smallest personal details

to develop a holistic plan that improves not only their net worth,

but their lives.

— JACOB WILLIAMS, PH.D., CFP®, HELMSTAR’S DIRECTOR OF PLANNING & RESEARCH

• What is important to you?

• What is MOST important to you?

• How much is enough to make you happy?

• What are your goals in retirement? What are your goals today?

• Are the assumptions you’re making about earning/spending accurate?

• How risk adverse are you?

...and so many more.

How long your money will last, given a set of assumptions.

Those assumptions usually include:

• Retirement age

• Life expectancy

• Savings rate

• Size of your portfolio

But are those assumptions correct?

• Investment return

• Inflation rate

• Retirement expenses

QUESTIONS AN ONLINE RETIREMENT CALCULATOR CAN’T ANSWER...

WHAT AN ONLINE RETIREMENT CALCULATOR CAN ANSWER...

MEET THE TEAM:JACOB Applying academic research in finance and economics to improve people’s lives. Jacob Williams knows financial planning. And he’s got the initials to prove it: • Ph.D. in Financial Planning – Texas Tech University • MBA – Texas Tech University • BS in Finance – Brigham Young University-Idaho • CFP® Certified Financial Planner

But more than all that, he has a passion for personal finance and retirement planning. As Helmstar’s Director of Planning and Research, he spends his day putting this passion to work for Helmstar clients (see Bringing More Personal to Personal Financial Planning).

When he’s not working, he’s enjoying the simple things: time with his wife Melanie, and the couple’s four children. They can easily fill a weekend hiking, biking, fishing, playing board games, and making homemade ice cream.

Raised all over the world, including time in Germany and Japan, Jacob’s most formative years were spent in Logan, Utah before moving to Idaho for his undergraduate degree and Texas for his graduate education. He’s excited that his new role at Helmstar brings him back to Idaho, closer to extended family and the Idaho wilderness.

The build out has begun on our new office expansion!Check this out!

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