General Description of the Firm
Decker Retirement Planning Inc. (“Decker Retirement Planning”) provides personalized
confidential retirement planning, financial planning and investment management to individuals,
pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations, and other
business entities. Advice is provided through consultation with the client and may include:
determination of financial objectives, identification of financial problems, cash flow management,
tax planning, insurance review, investment portfolio management, education funding, retirement
planning, and estate planning
Decker Retirement Planning was founded in May 2016 by Brian Decker and registered with the
Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Brian Decker is the sole owner.
Decker Retirement Planning is a fee-based financial planning and investment management firm.
Certain of the firm’s management and employees are licensed as insurance agents and recommend
and sell insurance products to clients. As a result, there is a conflict of interest when Decker
Retirement Planning, its management persons, or employees recommend insurance products for
which they will receive commissions for selling. This conflict is mitigated by the fact that we review
each insurance recommendation to assure that in our opinion the purchase of the specific
insurance product recommended is in the best interest of the client, based upon the client’s
specific situation and circumstances. Furthermore, clients are not required to purchase any
products through us and are free to purchase products through any insurance agent of their
choosing.
If Decker Retirement Planning is hired by the client to manage their risk money, we do so with
discretion. Decker Retirement Planning does not act as a custodian of client assets. The client
always maintains asset control by being able to remove Decker Retirement Planning as manager at
any time.
Periodic reviews are communicated to provide reminders of the specific courses of action that
need to be taken when client’s lives have changed.
Other professionals (e.g. lawyers, accountants, insurance agents, etc.) are engaged directly by the
client on an as-needed basis.
Summary of services
Decker Retirement Planning provides the following services to advisory clients:
Asset Management
Decker Retirement Planning offers discretionary asset management services to advisory
clients. Decker Retirement Planning will offer clients ongoing portfolio management
services through determining individual investment goals, time horizons, objectives, and
risk tolerance. Investment strategies, investment selection, asset allocations, portfolio
monitoring, and the overall investment program will be based on those factors listed above.
The client will grant Decker Retirement Planning discretionary authority to execute
selected investment program transactions as stated within the Investment Advisory
Agreement.
The client is responsible for all transaction and exchange costs associated with the
portfolio. These individually managed portfolios will generally use exchange-traded funds
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(ETFs) and bank deposit sweep products, although individual securities and mutual funds
may also be held as investments. Assets are managed using different models.
Third Party Strategist vs. Third Party Managers
Third Party Strategists
We use the services of Third Party Strategists who provide us with research, analysis, and
recommendations to allocate portfolios according to their strategy. The Third Party
Strategists provide us with portfolio allocations or signals to change portfolios. We then
decide whether to implement their recommendations or not using the discretionary trading
authority that our clients grant to us. In these situations, we are responsible for the day to
day management of investment portfolios. The Third Party Strategists we use for research
might not accept individuals as direct clients or are not registered as investment advisors.
Client assets are placed into a model using generally ETFs and one or more strategic
allocations created by a Third Party Strategist. These Third Party Strategists provide
trading signals to us indicating how an investment account should be allocated and invested.
Decker Retirement Planning offers the following categories of investment supervisory
services: Blended Tactical Portfolios, Blended Strategic Portfolios, Fixed Income
Portfolios, Service Portfolios, and sub-advised Portfolios. Blended Portfolio investments
include equity, fixed income, cash, and non-traditional investment products. The non-
traditional asset class may be represented by investment company securities whose value is
based on an alternative asset class, such as ETFs that are designed to follow the DJ-AIG
Commodity Index. Fixed Income Portfolio investments may include but are not limited to
corporate debt, commercial paper, certificate of deposit, municipal debt, mortgage debt,
government debt, cash, and preferred stock. Strategic portfolios emphasize selection and
the weight of asset classes within the portfolio that can and will change over time. Tactical
portfolios may include investments viewed as opportunistic. Tactical portfolios can and will
often change over time. Service portfolios are designed to accommodate a client's current
holdings that require a unique investment management service. The sub-advised Portfolios
utilize the trading signals provided by Third Party strategists. These entities provide us with
portfolio allocations (signals indicating the securities in the portfolio.) We are then
responsible for the decision to follow those signals or not, in placing the securities trades in
your account or not.
Due to restrictions on selling short securities in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and
other limitations and/or determinations made by the firm, we may not fully implement a
Third Party Strategist’s trading signals. For example, instead of taking a negative (bearish)
position in an asset class, as directed by the Third Party Strategist, we will typically invest
the relevant portion of your portfolio in cash or cash equivalents. As a result, the portion of
your portfolio invested in one or more strategies relying on trading signals from a Third
Party Strategist may have a performance return that differs, and could significantly differ,
from that of a portfolio fully implementing the trading signals of the Third Party Strategist.
Third Party Managers
We currently have no Third Party Manager relationships. When we choose to use a Third
Party Manager, they, not us, will be responsible for the day to day management of
investment portfolios using discretionary trading authorization granted to them. Third Party
Managers are always registered investment advisors that we have determined are properly
registered to provide services to our clients. Third Party Managers might not accept
individuals as direct clients. Clients desiring a direct relationship must contact the Third
Party Managers directly.
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We may, but are not obligated to, use the services of a Third Party money manager(s) to
manage portions of client portfolios. Third party managers have the responsibility for day
to day oversight and management of portions of our clients’ investment portfolios. The
Third Party managers are granted discretionary trading authority and make securities
transactions in client accounts without obtaining consent for each transaction from the
client or from us.
Financial Planning and Consulting
Financial planning is offered to all clients. Clients that choose to complete the financial
planning process are provided a written plan that includes a personal income plan and
certain projections. The recommendation of insurance products may be involved with the
financial planning process. Our financial planning clients are not obligated to act upon any
recommendation that we or our associated persons might make. If a client chooses to act
upon any recommendation we might give, the client is not obligated to use us or our
associated persons to purchase an insurance product and may use any insurance agent of
their choosing. If a client chooses to purchase an insurance product with an employee of
Decker Retirement Planning, a conflict of interest
exists because Decker Retirement
Planning and that person will receive sales-based compensation. This means we have a
financial incentive to recommend that you purchase insurance products and our
recommendation might be influenced by our compensation rather than the best interests of
our clients. To address these conflicts of interest, we review each insurance
recommendation to assure that in our opinion the purchase of the specific insurance
product recommended is in the best interest of the client, based upon the client’s specific
situation and circumstances. We gather and record information about our clients so we can
make our decision as to whether the purchase of insurance is suitable. In addition to the
recommending agent, our Chief Compliance Officer reviews and approves each insurance
recommendation.
Initial consultations are provided at no charge. Advice pertaining to the design and
establishment of an asset protection plan, retirement plan, tax planning analysis, or estate
plan, including counsel regarding the use of grantor trusts, charitable trusts, living trusts,
and/or private foundations, depends on the specifics of each client’s circumstances.
The following are the financial planning services and basic description of what each service
includes. The exact services for each type of planning may vary from client to client. Not
all clients receive all services. The following services are available to all clients:
Income Preparation - Income Preparation typically includes some but not necessarily all of the
following services:
• Emergency cash funds in case of a disaster. Liquidity.
• Potential income from all sources. How much can you draw without running out of
money?
• Inflation protection with Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) to your income.
• Drawing income from the proper source.
Tax Saving Approaches - Tax Saving Approaches typically includes some but not necessarily all of
the following services:
• Social Security Optimization Report.
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• Eliminate unnecessary taxes.
• Mathematically calculate your IRA to Roth conversion amount.
• Help make sure there are no estate taxes at death.
Asset Security - Asset Security typically includes some but not necessarily all of the following
services:
• Liability Protection.
• What’s the best Long-term care solution for your situation?
• Life insurance advantages and disadvantages.
• How to properly distribute your estate.
Risk Reduction - Risk Reduction typically includes some but not necessarily all of the following
services:
• Help minimize stock market risk.
• Try to eliminate interest rate risk.
• How you could use two-sided risk models.
• How much should you have at risk?
Portfolio Analysis - Portfolio Analysis typically includes some but not necessarily all of the
following services:
• Portfolio planning.
• Simplification.
• Risk Reduction
• Account consolidation.
• Analyze and try to reduce redundant holdings.
• Investment portfolio design and review.
Some or all of the service described above might be delivered orally in a discussion of your plan
where no written plan is delivered to you.
All reports, income plan projections and analyses are intended exclusively for your use in
developing and implementing your financial plan. In view of this limited purpose, the statements
should not be considered complete financial statements. Accordingly, you should understand that
such statements cannot be used to obtain credit or for any purpose other than developing your
personal financial plan. We will not audit (examine), review or compile such statements, and
accordingly we will not express an opinion or other form of assurance on them, including the
reasonableness of assumptions and other data on which any prospective financial statements are
based.
Our analyses will be highly dependent on certain economic assumptions that you must make about
the future. Therefore, another important step in the process is establishing your familiarity with
historical data regarding key assumptions such as inflation and investment rates of return, as well as
an understanding of how significantly these assumptions affect the results of our analyses. We may
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counsel you as to the consistency of your assumptions with relevant historical data, but we will not
express any assurance as to the accuracy or reasonableness of your specific data and assumptions.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Retirement Rollovers
A client leaving an employer typically has four options (and may engage in a combination of these
options):
I. Leave the money in their former employer’s plan, if permitted,
II. Roll over the assets to their new employer’s plan, if one is available and rollovers are permitted,
III. Rollover to an IRA, or
IV. Cash out the account value (which could, depending upon the client’s age, result in adverse tax
consequences).
Decker Retirement Planning may recommend an investor roll over retirement plan assets to an
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) managed by Decker Retirement Planning. As a result,
Decker Retirement Planning and its advisors may earn an asset-based fee on those assets. When
we provide investment advice to you regarding your retirement plan account or individual
retirement account, we are fiduciaries within the meaning of Title I of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act (ERISA) and/or the Internal Revenue Code, as applicable, which are laws
governing retirement accounts. The way we make money creates some conflicts with your interests,
so we operate under a special rule that requires us to act in your best interest and not put our
interest ahead of yours. Specifically, if Decker Retirement Planning recommends a client roll over
its retirement assets to a Decker Retirement Planning managed account, such a recommendation
creates a conflict of interest if Decker Retirement Planning will earn new (or increase its current)
compensation as a result of the rollover. Depending on the options available to the individual,
rolling over assets to a Decker Retirement Planning managed account could incur higher fees than
leaving it in a current plan or moving to another employer-sponsored plan. In contrast, a
recommendation that a client or prospective client leave their plan assets with their old employer
or roll the assets to a plan sponsored by a new employer will generally result in no compensation
to Decker Retirement Planning. Decker Retirement Planning has an economic incentive to
encourage an investor to roll plan assets into an IRA that Decker Retirement Planning will manage.
There are various factors that Decker Retirement Planning may consider before recommending a
rollover, including but not limited to:
I. The investment options available in the plan versus the investment options available in an IRA,
II. Fees and expenses in the plan versus the fees and expenses in an IRA,
III. The services and responsiveness of the plan’s investment professionals versus Decker
Retirement Planning’s,
IV. Protection of assets from creditors and legal judgments,
V. Required minimum distributions and age considerations,
VI. Employer stock tax consequences, if any,
VII. Plan’s withdrawal options or limitations, before and/or after retirement
No client is under any obligation to rollover retirement plan assets to an account managed by
Decker Retirement Planning.
Newsletters
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Decker Retirement Planning periodically may provide clients with newsletters delivered by email.
Client-tailored services and client-imposed restrictions
The goals and objectives for each client are documented in our client files. Investment strategies
are created that reflect the stated goals and objectives. Clients may impose restrictions on investing
in certain securities or types of securities.
Agreements may not be assigned without the prior written consent of the client.
Wrap fee programs
Decker Retirement Planning does not participate in wrap fee programs.
Client assets under management
As of December 31, 2023, Decker Retirement Planning has approximately $213,562,459 under its
management, all on a discretionary basis.