This brochure provides information about the qualifications and business practices of Phoenician Financial Planning, LLC. Please contact Jason Roberts at (602) 295-2789 if you have any questions about the content of this brochure.
The information in this brochure has not been approved or verified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or any state securities administrator. Additional information about Phoenician Financial Planning, LLC is available on the SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. Click on the "Investment Adviser Search" link and then search for "Investment Adviser Firm" using the firm's IARD ("CRD") number, which is 281088.
Phoenician Financial Planning, LLC amended its February 22 , 2019 Form ADV Part 2A firm brochure due to an update to the firm's reportable assets under management as of its fiscal year end (Item 4). There were no other material changes to disclose.
The firm may at any time update this document and either send a copy of its updated brochure or provide a summary of material changes to its brochure and an offer to send an electronic or hard copy form of the updated brochure. Clients are also able to download this brochure from the SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov or may contact our firm at (602) 295-2789 to request a copy at any time.
As with all firm documents, clients and prospective clients are encouraged to review this brochure in its entirety and are encouraged to ask questions at any time prior to or throughout the engagement.
Throughout this document Phoenician Financial Planning, LLC may also be referred to as "the firm," "firm," "our," "we" or "us." The client or prospective client may be also referred to as "you," "your," etc., and refers to a client engagement involving a single person as well as two or more persons, and may refer to natural persons and legal entities. In addition, the term "advisor" and "adviser" are used interchangeably where accuracy in identification is necessary (i.e., internet address, etc.).
Phoenician Financial Planning, LLC is an Arizona domiciled limited liability company formed in August of 2015. Our firm is not a subsidiary of nor does it control another financial services industry entity. In addition to our 2015 registration as an investment advisor in Arizona, our firm and its associates may register, become licensed or meet certain exemptions to registration and/or licensing in other jurisdictions in which investment advisory business is conducted.
Jason K. Roberts, CFP®, CRPC® is the firm's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Compliance Officer (supervisor). He is also the Managing Member and maintains controlling interest in the firm. Additional information about Jason Roberts and his backgrounds may be found toward the end of this brochure.
The firm's financial planning services provide clients with advice on key topics such as cash flow and budgeting, funding a college education, retirement planning, risk management, and estate or tax planning, among others. We provide ongoing and continuous supervision of our clients' portfolios through our portfolio management services. Our firm also offers periodic educational workshops involving a broad range of financial planning and investing topics.
It is important that we are provided with an adequate level of information and supporting documentation throughout the term of the engagement including but not limited to: source of funds, income levels, and an account holder or attorney-in-fact's authority to act on behalf of the account, among other information that may be necessary for our services. The information and/or financial statements provided to us need to be accurate. Our firm may, but is not obligated to, verify the information that you have provided to us which will then be used in the advisory process.
It is essential that you inform our firm of significant issues that may call for an update to their plan. Events such as changes in employment or marital status, an unplanned windfall, etc., can have an impact on your circumstances and plans. Our firm needs to be aware of such events so that adjustments may be made as necessary.
Financial planning services may be as broad-based or narrowly focused as you desire. The incorporation of most or all of the listed components allows not only a thorough analysis but also a refined focus of your plans so that the firm is able to assist you in reaching your goals and objectives.
A risk management review includes an analysis of your exposure to major risks that could have a significant adverse impact on your financial picture, such as premature death, disability, property and casualty losses, or the need for long-term care planning. Advice may be provided on ways to minimize such risks and about weighing the costs of purchasing insurance versus the benefits of doing so and, likewise, the potential cost of not purchasing insurance ("self-insuring").
A review is conducted and analysis is made as to whether you, as an employee, are taking maximum advantage of your employee benefits. We will also offer advice on your employer-sponsored retirement plan and/or stock options, along with other benefits that may be available to you.
Retirement planning services typically include projections of your likelihood of achieving your financial goals, with financial independence usually the primary objective. For situations where projections show less than the desired results, a recommendation may include showing you the impact on those projections by making changes in certain variables (i.e., working longer, saving more, spending less, taking more risk with investments). If you are near retirement or already retired, advice may be given on appropriate distribution strategies to minimize the likelihood of running out of money or having to adversely alter spending during your retirement years.
Advice involving college funding may include projecting the amount that will be needed to achieve post-secondary education funding goals, along with savings strategies and the "pros-and-cons" of various college savings vehicles that are available. We are also available to review your financial picture as it relates to eligibility for financial aid or the best way to contribute to family members, such as grandchildren, if appropriate.
Advice may include ways to minimize current and future income taxes as a part of your overall financial planning picture. For example, recommendations may be offered as to which type of account(s) or specific investments should be owned based in part on their "tax efficiency," with consideration that there is always a possibility of future changes to federal, state or local tax laws and rates that may impact your situation.
Our review typically includes an analysis of your exposure to estate taxes and your current estate plan, which may include whether you have a will, powers of attorney, trusts and other related documents. We may assess ways to minimize or avoid future estate taxes by implementing appropriate estate planning strategies such as the use of applicable trusts. We recommend that you consult with a qualified attorney when you initiate, update, or complete estate planning activities. We may provide you with contact information for attorneys who specialize in estate planning when you wish to hire an attorney for such purposes. From time-to-time, we will participate in meetings or phone calls between you and your attorney with your prior approval.
Separation or divorce can have a major impact on your goals and plans. We will work with you to help you gain an understanding of your unique situation and provide you with a realistic financial picture so that you are in a better situation to communicate with legal counsel, a mediator or soon to be ex-spouse. We can assist in the completion of cash flow and net worth projections, budgetary analysis, as well as help you to understand the financial consequences and/or benefits involving a settlement.
Investment consultation services often involve providing information on the types of investment vehicles available, employee retirement plans and/or stock options, investment analysis and strategies, asset selection and portfolio design, as well as limited assistance if your investment account is maintained at another broker/dealer or custodian ("held-away" accounts). The strategies and types of investments that may be recommended are further discussed in Item 8 of this brochure.
We are available to assist small businesses in a variety of ways to include business strategy, practice management, retirement strategies, retaining key personnel, debt management, as well as assisting you with matters involving coordination with your financial institution, attorney or accounting firm.
A broad-based plan is an endeavor that requires detail. Certain variables can affect the cost involved in the development of the plan, such as the quality of your own records, complexity and number of current investments, diversity of insurance products and employee benefits you currently hold, size of the potential estate, and special needs of the client or their dependents, among others. While certain broad-based plans may require 10 or more hours to complete, complex plans may require more than 20 hours. At your request we may concentrate on reviewing only a specific area (modular planning), such as an employer retirement plan allocation, funding an education or estate planning issues, or evaluating the sufficiency of your current retirement plan. Note that when these services focus only on certain areas of your interest or need, your overall situation or needs may not be fully addressed due to limitations you may have established.
Whether we have created a broad-based or modular plan, we will present you with a summary of our recommendations, guide you in the implementation of some or all of them per your decision, as well as offer you periodic reviews thereafter. In all instances involving our financial planning engagements, our clients retain full discretion over all implementation decisions and are free to accept or reject any recommendation we make.
Phoenician Financial Planning, LLC provides periodic complimentary educational seminar sessions for those desiring information on personal finance and investing. Topics may include issues related to general financial planning, educational funding, estate planning, retirement strategies, implications involving changes in marital status, and various other current economic or investment topics. Our workshops are educational in nature and do not involve the sale of insurance or investment products.
You may engage our firm to implement investment strategies that we have recommended to you. Depending on your risk profile, goals and needs, among other considerations, your portfolio will involve the employment of one of our investment strategies as well as either a broad range or more narrowly focused choice of investment vehicles which are further discussed in Item 8 of this brochure.
Our firm does not sponsor or serve as a portfolio manager in an investment program involving wrapped (bundled) fees.
As of February, 2019 our firm had approximately $3,088,000 of reportable client assets under its management via discretionary engagement agreements.
Phoenician Financial Planning, LLC does not provide legal or accounting related services. With your consent, we may work with other professional advisors, such as your estate planning attorney, to assist with the coordination and implementation of accepted strategies. You should be aware that these other professionals will charge you separately for their services and these fees will be in addition to our own advisory fees.
Our firm will use its best judgment and good faith effort in rendering its services. We cannot warrant or guarantee the achievement of a planning goal or any particular level of account performance or that your account will be profitable over time. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.
Except as may otherwise be provided by law, our firm will not be liable to the client, heirs, or assignees for any loss an account may suffer by reason of an investment decision made or other action taken or omitted in good faith by our firm with that degree of care, skill, prudence and diligence under the circumstances that a prudent person acting in a fiduciary capacity would use; any loss arising from our adherence to your direction or that of your legal agent; any act or failure to act by a service provider maintaining an account. Federal and state securities laws impose liabilities under certain circumstances on persons who act in good faith and, therefore, nothing contained in this document or our client engagement agreement shall constitute a waiver of any rights that a client may have under federal and state securities laws.
Forms of payment are based on the types of services being provided, term of service, etc., and will be stated in your engagement agreement with our firm. Fees are to be paid by check or draft from US-based financial institutions. With your prior authorization payment may also be made through a qualified, unaffiliated PCI compliant third-party processor, or withdrawal from your investment account held at your custodian of record. Payment requests for our advisory fees will be preceded by our invoice, and fees paid to our firm will be noted in your account statement you will receive from your custodian. Our firm does not accept cash, money orders or similar forms of payment for its engagements.
We offer a project-based engagement via a fixed fee that ranges from $500 to $5,000. Our fee will take into consideration factors such as the complexity of your financial profile, the depth of services to be provided through the engagement, assets that comprise your overall portfolio, number of accounts comprising the portfolio, time involved in the engagement, among others. We require a deposit of one-half of quoted fee to initiate the engagement which will be due upon execution of the agreement, and the remaining fee will be due upon delivery of your plan.
Clients interested in a limited planning component engagement are assessed an hourly fee. Our rate is $150 per hour; billed in 15-minute increments, and a partial increment (e.g., seven minutes) will be treated as a whole increment. Prior to entering into an agreement with our firm you will receive an estimate of the overall cost based on your requirements and the time involved. We do not require a deposit; payment is due upon delivery of our invoice which coincides with the presentation of your plan/advice. An hourly engagement lasting more than one month may be billed at the end of each month for time incurred during that period.
Our workshops are complimentary; no fee is assessed.
Our portfolio management service clients are assessed via an annualized asset-based fee that is based on the average daily balance during the previous calendar month. Using an average daily balance allows our firm to readily adjust for additions and withdrawals, as well as mid-cycle account openings or closures. For the benefit of discounting your asset-based fee, we will attempt to aggregate accounts for the same individual or two or more accounts within the same family, or accounts where a family member has power of attorney over another family member's account. Our fee is based on a straight tier; all accounts are charged a single percentage rate that declines at as asset levels increase. We will bill portfolio management accounts monthly, in arrears, per the following table.
Accounts will be assessed in accordance with asset values disclosed on the statement the client will receive from the custodian of record for the purpose of verifying the computation of the advisory fee. In the rare absence of a reportable market value, our firm may seek a third-party opinion from a recognized industry source (e.g., unaffiliated public accounting firm), and the client may choose to separately seek such an opinion at their own expense as to the valuation of "hard-to-price" securities if necessary.
Your first billing cycle will begin once your agreement is executed with our firm and assets have settled into your account held by the custodian of record. Fee payments will generally be assessed within the first 10 days of each billing cycle. We will concurrently send you and the custodian of record a written notice ("invoice") each billing period that describes the advisory fees to be deducted from your account at our direction. This notice will be delivered prior to the deduction of fees.
Your notice will include the total fee assessed, covered time period, calculation formula utilized, and reference to the assets under management in which the fee had been based. It is important that you verify the accuracy of fee calculations; the custodian may not verify the accuracy of advisory fee assessments for you.
By signing our firm's engagement agreement, as well as the selected custodian account opening documents, you will be authorizing the withdrawal of advisory fees from your account. The fee withdrawal will be accomplished by the custodian of record at the request of our firm, and the custodian will remit our fee directly to our firm. We do not entertain requests for direct payment of our advisory fee. All fees deducted will be clearly noted on account statements that you will receive directly from the custodian of record on at least a quarterly basis.
The services to be provided to you and their specific fees will be detailed in your engagement agreement. Our published advisory fees may be discounted and the final determination will made by our firm. We strive to offer fees that are fair and reasonable in light of the experience of our firm and the services to be provided to you.
While our portfolio management services clients are not assessed a trading fee ("ticket charge"), our custodian may assess a fee for individual retirement accounts, qualified retirement plans, account terminations, or wire transfers per their current fee schedule. We will ensure you receive a copy of our custodian's fee schedule at the beginning of the engagement, and you will be notified of any future changes to these fees by the custodian of record and/or third party administrator for certain tax-qualified plans. Held-away accounts may be assessed ticket charges or other service fees (e.g., brokerage fees). Advisory fees paid to our firm for its services are separate from any transactional charges a client may pay, as well as those for mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), exchange-traded notes (ETNs), or other similar investments.
Per annum interest at the current statutory rate in which the client resides may be assessed on fee balances due more than 30 days, and we may refer past due accounts to collections or legal counsel for processing. We reserve the right to suspend some or all services once an account is deemed past due.
Additional information about our fees in relationship to our brokerage and operational practices are noted in Items 12 and 14 of this document.
Our firm does not charge or receive a commission or a mark-up on securities transactions, nor will the firm or an associate be paid a commission on the purchase of a securities holding or insurance contract that is recommended to a client. We do not receive "trailer" or SEC Rule 12b-1 fees from an investment company that may be recommended to a client. Fees charged by such issuers are detailed in prospectuses or product descriptions and interested investors are always encouraged to read these documents before investing.
Our firm and its associates receive none of these described or similar fees or charges. You retain the option to purchase recommended or similar investments through your own selected service provider.
Either party may terminate the agreement at any time by communicating the intent to terminate in writing.
If a client did not receive our Form ADV Part 2 firm brochure at least 48 hours prior to entering into the firm's agreement, then that client will have the right to terminate the engagement without fee or penalty within five business days after entering into the agreement. Should a client terminate a financial planning service after this five-day time period, the client will be assessed fees at the firm's current hourly rate for any time incurred in the preparation of the client's analysis or plan. Portfolio management services clients who terminate their agreement after the five-day period will be assessed fees on a prorated basis for services incurred from either (i) as a new client, the date of the engagement to the date of the firm's receipt of the written notice of termination, or (ii) all other accounts, the last billing period to the date of the firm's physical or constructive receipt of written termination notice.
The firm will return any prepaid, unearned fees within 30 days of the firm's receipt of termination notice. Earned fees in excess of any prepaid deposit will be billed at the time of termination and will be due upon receipt of our invoice.
Our firm's advisory fees will not be based on a share of capital gains or capital appreciation (growth) of any portion of managed funds, also known as performance-based fees. Our fees will also not be based on side-by-side management, which refers to a firm simultaneously managing accounts that do pay performance-based fees (such as a hedge fund) and those that do not.
We provide advisory services to individuals and high net worth individuals, as well as small businesses, charitable organizations and foundations if their policies allows us to do so. We do not require minimum income, minimum asset levels or other similar preconditions. We may waive or reduce firm advisory fees based on unique individual circumstances, special arrangements or preexisting relationships. The firm reserves the right to decline services to any prospective client for any nondiscriminatory reason.
Our firm employs what we believe to be an appropriate blend of fundamental, technical, and cyclical analyses. We evaluate various economic factors including interest rates, the current state of the economy, or the future growth of an industry sector. We then study historical patterns and trends of securities, markets, or economies as a whole in an effort to determine potential future behaviors, the estimation of price movement, and an evaluation of a transaction before entry into the market in terms of risk and profit potential. Our research is often drawn from sources that include financial periodicals in addition to reports from economists, other industry professionals, and corporate rating services.
We recognize that each client's needs and goals are different; subsequently, portfolio strategies and underlying investment vehicles may vary. The following are common strategies utilized within our client's portfolios.
Modern Portfolio Theory states that by employing securities whose price movements have historically low correlations, it is possible to create an efficient portfolio that can offer the highest expected return for a given level of risk, or one with the lowest level of risk for a given expected return. The practice of Modern Portfolio Theory does not employ market timing or stock selection methods of investing but rather a long term, buy-and-hold strategy with periodic rebalancing of the account to maintain desired risk levels.
This strategy blends passive (or index) and active investing, where passive investments are used as the basis or "core" of a portfolio and actively-managed investments are added as "satellite" positions. The portfolio core holdings are indexed to potentially more efficient asset classes, while outlying selections are generally limited to active holdings in an attempt to outperform a particular category (sector), or a selection of particular positions to increase core diversification, or to improve portfolio performance. For example, the core of a portfolio may be built with low-cost index funds or ETFs; satellite holdings would include active investments (e.g., sub-advisor, mutual funds, etc.) with unique strategies that are believed capable of adding value beyond a stated benchmark over a full market cycle.
We strive to create portfolios that contain investment vehicles that are diversified, tax-efficient, and low-cost investments whenever practical. Although it is common to find a broad range of mutual funds or ETFs within a portfolio, certain accounts may necessitate maintaining individual equities and fixed income (stocks and bond) positions, as well as unit investment trusts and exchange-listed real estate investment trusts.
Our firm believes its strategies and investment recommendations are designed to produce the appropriate potential return for the given level of risk; however, there is no guarantee that an investment objective will be achieved. Investing in securities involves risk of loss that clients should be prepared to bear. We have offered examples of such risk in the following paragraphs, and we believe it is important that our clients review and consider each of them risk prior to investing.
When investing in securities, such as stocks, there is always a certain level of company or industry-specific risk that is inherent in each company or issuer. There is the risk that the company will perform poorly or have its value reduced based on factors specific to the company or its industry. This is also referred to as unsystematic risk and can be reduced or mitigated through diversification.
Strategies involving Core + Satellite investing may have the potential to be affected by "active risk" (or "tracking error risk"), which might be defined as a deviation from a stated benchmark. Since the core portfolio attempts to closely replicate a stated benchmark, the source of the tracking error or deviation may come from a satellite portfolio or position, or from a "sample" or "optimized" index fund or ETF that may not as closely align the stated benchmark.
An economic cycle may not be as predictable as preferred; many fluctuations may occur between long term expansions and contractions. The length of an economic cycle may be difficult to predict with accuracy and therefore the risk of cyclical analyses is the difficulty in predicting economic trends. Consequently, the changing value of securities is affected.
Excessive borrowing to finance a business operation increases profitability risk because the company must meet the terms of its obligations in good times and bad. During periods of financial stress, the inability to meet loan obligations may result in bankruptcy and/or a declining market value.
The challenge involving fundamental analyses is that information obtained may be incorrect; the analysis may not provide an accurate estimate of earnings, which may be the basis for a security's value. If a security's price adjusts rapidly to new information, a fundamental analysis may result in unfavorable performance.
When any type of inflation is present, a dollar today will not buy as much as a dollar next year because purchasing power is eroding at the rate of inflation.
When the stock market as a whole or an industry as a whole falls, it can cause the prices of individual stocks to fall indiscriminately. This is also called systemic or systematic risk.
A portfolio that employs a passive, efficient markets approach has the potential risk at times to generate lower-than-expected returns for the broader allocation than might be the case for a more narrowly focused asset class, and the return on each type of asset may be a deviation from the average return for the asset class.
The risk of financial and market loss because of political decisions or disruptions in a particular country or region, and may also be known as "geopolitical risk.
When research and analyses are based on commercially available software, rating services, general market and financial information, or due diligence reviews, a firm is relying on the accuracy and validity of the information or capabilities provided by selected vendors, rating services, market data, and the issuers themselves. While our firm makes every effort to determine the accuracy of the information received, we cannot predict the outcome of events or actions taken or not taken, or the validity of all information researched or provided which may or may not affect the advice on or investment management of an account.
The risk of investing based on technical analyses is that it may not consistently predict a future price movement; the current price of a security may reflect all known information. This may occur due to analyst bias or misinterpretation, a sector analysis error, late recognition of a trend, etc.
The risk of owning ETFs, unit investment trusts (UITs) and mutual funds reflect their underlying securities (e.g., stocks, bonds, securities futures, etc.). These forms of securities typically carry additional expenses based on their share of operating expenses and certain brokerage fees, which may result in the potential duplication of certain fees. We do not recommend leveraged or inverse ETFs due to their inherent heightened risk.
Credit Risk - The potential risk that an issuer would be unable to pay scheduled interest or repay principal at maturity, sometimes referred to as "default risk." Credit risk may also occur when an issuer's ability to make payments of principal and interest when due is interrupted. This may result in a negative impact on all forms of debt instruments, as well as funds or ETF share values that hold these issues.
Bondholders are creditors of an issuer and have priority to assets before equity holders (i.e., stockholders) when receiving a payout from liquidation or restructuring. When defaults occur due to bankruptcy, the type of bond held will determine seniority of payment.
Duration Risk - Duration is a measure of a bond's volatility, expressed in years to be repaid by its internal cash flow (interest payments). Bonds with longer durations carry more risk and have higher price volatility than bonds with shorter durations.
Interest Rate Risk - The risk that the value of the fixed income holding will decrease because of an increase in interest rates.
Liquidity Risk - The inability to readily buy or sell an investment for a price close to the true underlying value of the asset due to a lack of buyers or sellers. While certain types of fixed income are generally liquid (i.e., bonds), there are risks which may occur such as when an issue trading in any given period does not readily support buys and sells at an efficient price. Conversely, when trading volume is high, there is also a risk of not being able to purchase a particular issue at the desired price.
Reinvestment Risk - With declining interest rates, investors may have to reinvest interest income or principal at a lower rate.
Certain ETFs and indexed funds have the potential to be affected by "active risk" (or "tracking error risk"), which might be defined as a deviation from a stated benchmark.
While many ETFs and index mutual funds are known for their potential tax-efficiency and higher "qualified dividend income" (QDI) percentages, there are asset classes within these investment vehicles or holding periods within that may not benefit. Shorter holding periods, as well as commodities and currencies (that may be part of an ETF or mutual fund portfolio), may be considered "non-qualified" under certain tax code provisions. A holding's QDI will be considered when tax-efficiency is an important aspect of the client's portfolio.
REIT risks may include (i) following the sale or distribution of assets an investor may receive less than their principal invested, (ii) a lack of a public market in certain issues, (iii) limited liquidity and transferability, (iv) fluctuations involving the value of the assets within the REIT, (v) a reliance on the investment manager to select and manage assets, (vi) changes in interest rates, laws, operating expenses, and insurance costs, (vii) tenant turnover, and (viii) the impact of current market conditions.
Neither the firm nor its management has been involved in a material criminal or civil action in a domestic, foreign or military jurisdiction, an administrative enforcement action, or self-regulatory organization proceeding that would reflect poorly upon our offering advisory business or its integrity.
Firm policies require associated persons to conduct business activities in a manner that avoids conflicts of interest between the firm and its clients, or that may be contrary to law. We will provide disclosure to each client prior to and throughout the term of an engagement regarding any conflicts of interest involving its business relationships that might reasonably compromise its impartiality or independence.
Mr. Roberts maintains an insurance agent license in order to appropriately offer advice with respect to insurance and annuity contracts, but he is not appointed with an insurance company or agency, nor does he receive commissions involving such services.
Phoenician Financial Planning, LLC holds itself to a fiduciary standard, which means the firm and its associates will act in the utmost good faith, performing in a manner believed to be in the best interest of its clients. Our firm believes that business methodologies, ethics rules, and adopted policies are designed to eliminate or at least minimize material conflicts of interest and to appropriately manage any material conflicts of interest that may remain. You should be aware that no set of rules can possibly anticipate or relieve all material conflicts of interest. Our firm will disclose to its advisory clients any material conflict of interest relating to the firm, its representatives, or any of its employees which could reasonably be expected to impair the rendering of unbiased and objective advice.
We have adopted a Code of Ethics that establishes policies for ethical conduct for our personnel. Our firm accepts the obligation not only to comply with applicable laws and regulations but also to act in an ethical and professionally responsible manner in all professional services and activities. Firm policies include prohibitions against insider trading, circulation of industry rumors, and certain political contributions, among others. Our firm periodically reviews and amends its Code of Ethics to ensure that it remains current, and requires firm personnel to annually attest to their understanding of and adherence to the firm's Code of Ethics. A copy of the firm's Code of Ethics is made available to any client or prospective client upon request.
An advisor will provide professional services with integrity. Integrity demands honesty and candor which must not be subordinated to personal gain and advantage. Advisors are placed by clients in positions of trust, and the ultimate source of that trust is the advisor's personal integrity.
Allowance can be made for innocent error and legitimate differences of opinion; but integrity cannot co-exist with deceit or subordination of one's principles.
Advisors will maintain the necessary knowledge and skill to provide professional services competently. Competence means attaining and maintaining an adequate level of knowledge and skill, and applies that knowledge effectively in providing services to clients. Competence also includes the wisdom to recognize the limitations of that knowledge and when consultation with other professionals is appropriate or referral to other professionals necessary. Advisors make a continuing commitment to learning and professional improvement.
Advisors will be fair and reasonable in all professional relationships. Fairness requires impartiality, intellectual honesty and disclosure of material conflict(s) of interest. It involves a subordination of one's own feelings, prejudices and desires so as to achieve a proper balance of conflicting interests. Fairness is treating others in the same fashion that you would want to be treated and is an essential trait of any professional.
Advisors will protect the confidentiality of all client information. Confidentiality means ensuring that information is accessible only to those authorized to have access. A relationship of trust and confidence with the client can only be built upon the understanding that the client's information will remain confidential.
Advisors will act in a manner that demonstrates exemplary professional conduct. Professionalism requires behaving with dignity and courtesy to all who use their services, fellow professionals, and those in related professions. Advisors cooperate with fellow advisors to enhance and maintain the profession's public image and improve the quality of services.
Neither the firm nor an associate is authorized to recommend to a client, or effect a transaction for a client, involving any security in which the firm or a "related person" (e.g., associate, an immediate family member, etc.) has a material financial interest, such as in the capacity as a board member, underwriter or advisor to an issuer of securities, etc.
An associate is prohibited from borrowing from or lending to a client unless the client is an approved financial institution.
Our firm remains focused on ensuring that its offerings are based upon the needs of its clients, not resultant fees received for such services. We want to note that you are under no obligation to act on a recommendation from our firm and, if you elect to do so, you are under no obligation to complete them through our firm or a service provider whom we may recommend.
Our firm does not trade for its own account (e.g., proprietary trading). The firm's related persons may buy or sell securities that are the same as, similar to, or different from, those recommended to clients for their accounts, and this poses a conflict of interest.
We mitigate this conflict by ensuring that we have policies and procedures in place to ensure that the firm or a related person will not receive preferential treatment over a client. In an effort to reduce or eliminate certain conflicts of interest involving personal trading (i.e., trading ahead of a client's order, etc.), firm policy requires the restriction or prohibition of related parties' transactions in specific securities. For example, we do not allow a related person to execute a contra-trade in a security or its derivative if that related person had made a recommendation to or executed a trade for a client involving the purchase or sale of the same security in an effort by the related person to benefit from such a recommendation and/or trade. Any exceptions or trading pre-clearance must be approved by our Chief Compliance Officer in advance of the transaction in a related person's account. Please refer to Item 6 of the accompanying Form ADV Part 2B for further details.
Phoenician Financial Planning, LLC does not maintain physical custody of your assets (see Item 15). Your account must be maintained by a qualified custodian (generally a broker/dealer, bank or trust company) that is frequently reviewed for its capabilities to serve in that capacity by their respective industry regulatory authority. Our firm is not a custodian nor is there an affiliate that is a custodian.
If you engage us to provide periodic investment consultation through a financial planning engagement, you may choose to keep your assets with your present custodian/service provider. Should you prefer a new service provider, a recommendation may be made to you by our firm that is based on your needs, overall cost, and ease of use, and following our review of the recommended provider.
We prefer that our portfolio management services clients use the services of FOLIO Institutional®, a FOLIOfn, Inc. company. Note that FOLIO Institutional® clears and custodies client accounts through its broker/dealer affiliate FOLIOfn Investments, Inc., a FINRA and SIPC member firm. Our firm is independently owned and operated and is not legally affiliated with FOLIO Institutional® or any other provider we may recommend.
While we recommend that you use FOLIO Institutional®, you will decide whether to do so and will open your account with them by entering into an account agreement directly with them. We do not technically open the account for you, although we will assist you in doing so. If you do not wish to place your assets with FOLIO Institutional® as the custodian of record, we may serve as portfolio manager for your account maintained at a custodian of your choice if that custodian's policies allow us to do so, and following your written authorization via the other custodian's limited power of attorney document.
Some of the noted products and services made available to our firm by our preferred custodian may benefit our advisory firm but may not directly benefit a client account, and certain research and other previously referenced services may qualify as "brokerage or research services" (sometimes referred to as "soft dollars" in certain jurisdictions) under Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The availability of these services benefits our firm because we do not have to produce or purchase them as long as clients maintain assets in accounts at our recommended custodian. There is a conflict of interest since our firm has an incentive to select or recommend a custodian based on our firm's interest in receiving these benefits rather than the client's interests in receiving favorable trade execution. It is important to mention that the benefit received by our firm through participation in any custodian's program does not depend on the amount of brokerage transactions directed to that custodian, and our selection of a custodian is primarily supported by the scope, quality, and cost of services provided as a whole, not just those services that benefit only our advisory firm. Further, we will act in the best interest of our clients regardless of the custodian we may select.
Our firm conducts periodic assessments of any recommended service provider which generally involves a review of the range and quality of services, reasonableness of fees, among other items, and in comparison to industry peers.
"Best execution" means the most favorable terms for a transaction based on all relevant factors, including those listed in the paragraph titled Factors Used to Select Broker/Dealers for Client Transactions. We recognize our obligation in seeking best execution for our portfolio management services clients; however, it is our belief that the determinative factor is not always the lowest possible cost but whether the selected custodian's transactions represent the best "qualitative execution" while taking into consideration the full range of services provided.
Our firm will seek services involving competitive rates but it may not necessarily correlate into the lowest possible cost for each transaction. We have determined having our clients' accounts trades completed through our recommended custodian is consistent with our obligation to seek best execution of client trades. A review is regularly conducted with regard to recommending a custodian to our clients in light of our duty to seek best execution.
Our internal policy and operational relationship with our custodians require client accounts custodied with them to have trades executed per their order routing requirements. We do not direct which executing broker should be selected for client account trades; whether that is an affiliate of the custodian or another executing broker of the custodian's choice. As a result a client may experience greater spreads or receive less favorable net prices than might otherwise be the case. In addition, since we routinely recommend a custodian for our advisory clients, and that custodian may choose to use the execution services of its broker affiliate for some or all of our client account transactions, there is an inherent conflict of interest involving our recommendation since our advisory firm receives various products or services described in this section from the custodian. Note that we are not compensated for trade routing/order flow, nor are we paid commissions on such trades. We do not receive interest on our client accounts' cash balances.
For those accounts maintained at our custodian, our clients are unable to engage in directed brokerage. As a result, they may pay higher fees, potentially experience greater spreads, or receive less favorable net prices on transactions for their account than would otherwise be the case if they had the opportunity to direct brokerage.
Clients who maintain their account at a custodian of their choice (e.g., held-away accounts) may at their discretion request that a particular broker is used to execute some or all account transactions. Under these circumstances, the client will be responsible for negotiating, in advance of each trade, the terms and/or arrangements involving their account with that broker, and whether the selected broker is affiliated with their custodian of record or not. We will not be obligated to seek better execution services or prices from these other brokers, and we will be unable to aggregate transactions for execution via our custodian with other orders for accounts managed by our firm. The client may pay higher commissions or other transaction costs, potentially experience greater spreads, or receive less favorable net prices on transactions for their account than would otherwise be the case.
Trade aggregation involves the purchase or sale of the same security for several clients/accounts at approximately the same time. This may also be termed "blocked, "bunched" or "batched" orders. Aggregated orders are effected in an attempt to obtain better execution, negotiate favorable transaction rates, or to allocate equitably among multiple client accounts should there be differences in prices, brokerage commissions or other transactional costs that might otherwise be unobtainable through separately placed orders. Our firm and our custodian may, but are not obligated to, aggregate orders and our firm does not receive additional compensation or remuneration as a result of aggregated transactions.
Transaction charges and/or prices may vary due to account size and/or method of receipt. To the extent that the firm determines to aggregate client orders for the purchase or sale of securities, including securities in which a related person may invest, the firm will generally do so in accordance with the parameters set forth in SEC No-Action Letter, SMC Capital, Inc., or similar guidance if the jurisdiction in which the client resides provides such direction.
Please note that when trade aggregation is not allowed or infeasible and necessitates individual transactions (e.g., withdrawal or liquidation requests, odd-lot trades, non-discretionary accounts, etc.), an account may potentially be assessed higher costs or less favorable prices than those where aggregation has occurred. We review firm trading processes on a periodic basis to ensure they remain within stated policies and regulation. You will be informed, in advance, should trading practices change at any point in the future.
The firm corrects its trade errors through an account maintained by our custodian, and the firm may be responsible for trading error losses that occur within a client account. Should there be a gain following the correction of a trading error, the firm will typically credit the client's account.
We do not receive referrals from our custodian, nor are client referrals a factor in our selection of our custodian.
Periodic financial check-ups or reviews are recommended if you are receiving our financial planning services. We believe they should occur on an annual basis whenever practical. Reviews will be conducted by Mr. Roberts and typically involves analysis and possible revision of your previous financial plan or investment allocation. A copy of revised plans or asset allocation reports will be provided to the client upon request.
Portfolios are reviewed on a quarterly or more frequent basis by Mr. Roberts. Client-level reviews are also completed by Mr. Roberts, and we recommend that they occur on at least an annual basis. A copy of a revised investment guideline or asset allocation reports will be provided to the client upon request.
You should contact our firm for additional reviews when you anticipate or have experienced changes in your financial situation (i.e., changes in employment, an inheritance, the birth of a new child, etc.), or should you prefer to change requirements involving your investment account. Non-periodic reviews are conducted by Mr. Roberts, and a copy of revised plans or asset allocation reports will be provided to the client upon request.
Additional reviews by your Mr. Roberts may be triggered by news or research related to a specific holding, a change in our view of the investment merits of a holding, or news related to the macroeconomic climate affecting a sector or holding within that sector. A portfolio may be reviewed for an additional holding or when an increase in a current position is under consideration. Account cash levels above or below what we deem appropriate for the investment environment, given the client's stated tolerance for risk and investment objectives, may also trigger a review.
Whether you have opened and maintained an investment account on your own or with our assistance, you will receive account statements sent directly from mutual fund companies, transfer agents, custodians or brokerage companies where your investments are held. We urge you to carefully review these account statements for accuracy and clarity, and to ask questions when something is not clear.
Our firm may provide portfolio "snapshots" if we are engaged to provide periodic asset allocation or investment advice, but we do not provide ongoing performance reporting through our financial planning service. Portfolio management services accounts may receive performance reports from our firm that have been generated from our custodian's data systems; however, we do not create our own performance reports. Clients are urged to carefully review and compare account statements that they have received from their account custodian with any report they may receive from any source if their report contains any type of performance information.
Please refer to Item 12 for additional information with respect to our operational relationship with our custodian and the conflict of interest it presents.
We do not engage in solicitation activities involving unregistered persons. If we receive or offer an introduction to a client, we do not pay or earn referral fee, nor are there established quid pro quo arrangements. Each client retains the option to accept or deny such referral or subsequent services.
An associate of the firm may hold individual membership or serve on boards or committees of professional industry associations. Generally, participation in any of these entities require membership fees to be paid, adherence to ethical guidelines, as well as in meeting experiential and educational requirements.
A benefit these entities may provide to the investing public is the availability of online search tools that allow interested parties (prospective clients) to search for individual participants within a selected state or region. These passive websites may provide means for interested persons to contact a participant via electronic mail, telephone number, or other contact information, in order to interview the participating member. The public may also choose to telephone association staff to inquire about an individual within their area, and would receive the same or similar information. A portion of these participant's membership fees may be used so that their name will be listed in some or all of these entities' websites (or other listings). Prospective clients locating our advisory firm or an associate via these methods are not actively marketed by the noted associations. Clients who find our firm in this way do not pay more for their services than clients referred in any other fashion. The firm does not pay these entities for prospective client referrals, nor is there a fee-sharing arrangement reflective of a solicitor engagement.
Will not authorize an associate to have knowledge of a client's account access information (i.e., online 401(k), brokerage or bank accounts) if such access would allow physical control over account assets.
Your custodian of record will provide you with your investment account transaction confirmations and account statements, which will include all debits and credits as well as our firm's advisory fee for that period. Statements are provided on at least a quarterly basis or as transactions occur within their account. Our firm will not create an account statement for a client or serve as the sole recipient of an account statement.
Should you receive a report from any source that includes investment performance information, you are urged to carefully review and compare your account statements you have received directly from the custodian of record to determine the report's accuracy.
We generally provide our portfolio management services on a discretionary basis. Similar to a limited power of attorney, discretionary authority allows our firm to implement investment decisions, such as the purchase or sale of a security on behalf of your account, without requiring your prior authorization for each transaction in order to meet your stated investment objectives. This authority will be granted through your execution of both our engagement agreement and the selected custodian's account opening documents. Note that your custodian will specifically limit our firm's authority within your account to the placement of trade orders and the request for the deduction of our advisory fees.
Our firm prefers to not manage client portfolios on a nondiscretionary basis but we may accommodate such requests on a case-by-case basis. Such account authority requires your ongoing prior approval involving the investment and reinvestment of account assets, rebalancing, or for our firm to give instructions to the custodian maintaining your account (i.e., wire instructions, etc.). You will be required to execute our firm's client services agreement that describes our limited account authority, as well as the custodian of record's account opening document that includes their limited power of attorney form or clause. Please note that in light of the requirement for your pre-approval you must make yourself available and keep our firm updated on your contact information so that instructions can be efficiently effected on your behalf.
You may amend our account authority by providing our firm revised written instructions. As noted in Item 4, we will allow for reasonable restrictions involving the management of your account. It remains your responsibility to notify us if there is any change in your situation and/or investment objective so that we may reevaluate previous investment recommendations or portfolio holdings.
If you ask us to assist you in any trade execution (including account rebalancing) under an investment consultation component of our financial planning engagement, such as assisting you with your held-away assets, it will typically be accomplished on a nondiscretionary basis.
You may periodically receive proxies or other similar solicitations sent directly from your selected custodian or transfer agent. Should we receive a duplicate copy, note that we do not forward these or any correspondence relating to the voting of your securities, class action litigation, or other corporate actions.
Our firm does not vote proxies on your behalf, including accounts that we serve on a discretionary basis. We do not offer guidance on how to vote proxies, nor will we offer guidance involving any claim or potential claim in any bankruptcy proceeding, class action securities litigation or other litigation or proceeding relating to securities held at any time in a client account, including, without limitation, to file proofs of claim or other documents related to such proceeding, or to investigate, initiate, supervise or monitor class action or other litigation involving client assets. We will answer limited questions with respect to what a proxy voting request or other corporate matter may be and how to reach the issuer or their legal representative.
You will maintain exclusive responsibility for directing the manner in which proxies solicited by issuers of securities that are beneficially owned by you shall be voted, as well as making all other elections relative to mergers, acquisitions, tender offers or other legal matters or events pertaining to your holdings. You should consider contacting the issuer or your legal counsel involving specific questions you may have with respect to a particular proxy solicitation or corporate action.
Our advisory firm will not take physical custody of your assets, nor do we have the type of account authority to have such control. Fee withdrawals must be done through a qualified intermediary (e.g., your custodian of record), per your prior written agreement, and following your receipt of our firm's written notice (termed "constructive custody").
Engagements with our firm do not require that we collect fees from you of $500 or more for our advisory services that we have agreed to perform six months or more into the future.
Neither our firm nor its management serve as general partner for a partnership or trustee for a trust in which the firm's advisory clients are either partners of the partnership or beneficiaries of the trust.
The firm and its management do not have a financial condition likely to impair its ability to meet commitments to clients, nor has the firm and its management been the subject of a bankruptcy petition.
Due to the nature of our firm's advisory services and operational practices, an audited balance sheet is not required nor included in this brochure.
For further information involving firm principal executive and management personnel, their business activities as well as material conflicts of interest, please refer to areas previously disclosed in Items 6 and 9 through 11, as well as the accompanying Form ADV Part 2B brochure supplement that immediately follows this page. Per Item 10 of this brochure, neither the firm nor a member of its management has a material relationship with the issuer of a security.
Our firm maintains a business continuity and succession contingency plan that is integrated within the organization to ensure it appropriately responds to events that pose a significant disruption to its operations. A statement concerning the current plan is available under separate cover.
This brochure provides information about Jason K. Roberts that supplements the Phoenician Financial Planning, LLC Form ADV Part 2A firm brochure. You should have received a copy of that brochure. Please contact Jason Roberts at (602) 295-2789 if you did not receive the full brochure or if you have any questions about the contents of this supplement. Additional information about Jason K. Roberts is available on the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
Regulatory guidance requires the firm to disclose relevant post-secondary education and professional training for each principal executive and associate of the firm, as well as their business experience for at least the most recent five years.
suspension or sanction by a professional association for violation of its conduct rules, that would be material to your evaluation of each officer or a supervised person providing investment advice. Mr. Roberts has not been the subject of any such event.
Investment advisor representatives are required to disclose outside business activities that account for a significant portion of their time or income, or that may present a conflict of interest with their advisory activities.
Neither Mr. Roberts nor our advisory firm has a material relationship with the issuer of a security. He is not registered, nor has an application pending to register, as a registered representative of a broker/dealer or associated person of a futures commission merchant, commodity pool operator, or commodity trading advisor. He does not receive commissions, bonuses or other compensation based on the sale of securities, including that as a registered representative of a broker/dealer or the distribution or service ("trail") fees from the sale of mutual funds.
Mr. Roberts maintains an insurance agent license in order to adequately offer advice with respect to insurance and annuity contracts, but he is not appointed with an insurance company or agency, nor does he receive commissions involving such services.
Neither our advisory firm nor Mr. Roberts is compensated for advisory services involving performance-based fees. In addition, firm policy does not allow associated persons to accept or receive additional economic benefit, such as sales awards or other prizes, for providing advisory services to firm clients.
Mr. Roberts serves as the firm's Chief Compliance Officer. Because supervising one's self poses a conflict of interest, the firm has adopted policies and procedures to mitigate this conflict, and may use the services of unaffiliated professionals to ensure the firm's oversight obligations are met. Questions relative to the firm, its services or this Form ADV Part 2B brochure supplement may be made to the attention of Mr. Roberts at (602) 295-2789.
Additional information about the firm, other advisory firms, or an associated investment advisor representative is available on the Internet at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. A search of this site for firms may be accomplished by firm name or a unique firm identifier, known as an IARD or CRD number. The IARD number for Phoenician Financial Planning, LLC is 281088. The business and disciplinary history, if any, of an investment advisory firm and its representatives may also be obtained by calling the Arizona Corporation Commission Securities Division at (602) 542-4242.
There have been neither awards nor sanctions or other matter where Mr. Roberts or Phoenician Financial Planning, LLC has been found liable in a self-regulatory or administrative proceeding. Neither Mr. Roberts nor our advisory firm has been the subject of a bankruptcy petition.
2 The CHARTERED RETIREMENT PLANNING COUNSELORSM (CRPC®) program focuses on the pre- and post-retirement needs of individuals. The College for Financial Planning® awards the designation to students who successfully complete the program, pass the final examination, and comply with the Code of Ethics, which includes agreeing to abide by the Standards of Professional Conduct and Terms and Conditions. Applicants must also disclose of any criminal, civil, self-regulatory organization, or governmental agency inquiry, investigation, or proceeding relating to their professional or business conduct. Conferment of the designation is contingent upon the College for Financial Planning's review of matters either self-disclosed or which are discovered by the College that are required to be disclosed. Continued use of the CRPC® designation is subject to ongoing renewal requirements. Every two years individuals must renew their right to continue using the CRPC® designation by completing 16 hours of continuing education, reaffirming to abide by the Standards of Professional Conduct, Terms and Conditions, and self-disclose any criminal, civil, self-regulatory organization, or governmental agency inquiry, investigation, or proceeding relating to their professional or business conduct, in addition to paying a biennial renewal fee.
3 North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and state insurance examinations are "criterion based;" candidates who pass the exam are considered to have met the minimum competency level. The completion of a securities or insurance industry examination does not constitute or imply a person is "approved" or "endorsed" by a state securities administrator or insurance commissioner.
 Refer to the end of this brochure for an explanation of designation prerequisites and continuing education requirements.
 The term "assets under management" and rounding per the SEC's General Instructions for Part 2 of Form ADV.
 Our advisory firm is not, nor required to be, a Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) member. You may learn more about the SIPC and how it serves member firms and the investing public by going to their website at http://www.sipc.org.


How statistics can empower you - really!
The nuts and bolts of dissertation research will be presented in a user friendly manner. Roadblocks will be overcome, anxiety minimized, and dissertations completed so that you can get on with life.
NEW BOOK! How To Master Your Dissertation Data by Susan Rovezzi Carroll at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and other online stores. Only $4.99 for the ebook!
Essentially there are three benefits of using statistics.
To summarize information and present it in a straightforward, compelling manner. Some statistics called "measures of central tendency" allow one number to indicate the central message of a group of data. A singular number can tell us how subjects performed. This is of great value. The measures (means, medians and modes) are used often to make decisions. Another type of statistic is used to qualify the message of central tendency. It is called "variability" and it can show how much dispersion or spread there is in your data set. Again, from a single number we can tell if subjects are performing similarly or disparately to each other.
To tell us whether something we did had an impact and was worthwhile, so that we can take action. Statistics are used to provide empirical evidence upon which we can make sound decisions. They tell us how seriously we should regard differences among groups. Did gains in job performance occur by chance or are they statistically significant? What treatment regimen works best? Did the new medicine make a difference? What impact did our policy have? Should we maintain the status quo or make a change? Should this program be modified, and if so, in what way? We can make smart choices with just a few simple statistical techniques such as t-tests, One Way Analysis of Variance procedures and Chi Square Analyses.
To document relationships that are meaningful so that we can take action. Correlation statistics can tell us whether two events are related, and to what degree. Similar to the previously stated purpose, we can use these data to make decisions and to take action. For example, what is the relationship between exercise and heart health? Do teens who are absent from school get suspended more often? Is having breakfast related to job performance? Is voter participation related to logistical support (childcare, transportation)? What impact does our town's emergency program have on subsequent civil preparedness?
For all of us today, statistics have emerged as fundamental tools. Data are relied upon more and more often. To correctly provide answers to questions, we must be comfortable in determining what data are needed and then collecting, ordering, sorting, categorizing, summarizing, manipulating and reporting what is compiled. Statistics can make the process smooth and ultimately make life easy for the most critical step – interpreting what you find out.
Students that I work with are oftentimes despondent, frustrated and ready to quit altogether - due to Chapter Three. The underlying culprit for this is the research design. Unfortunately, many doctoral students have research designs that are poorly constructed. Some include innumerable variables - everything but the kitchen sink. Others want to change the world and have a design that would take years and years to complete. Others have no alignment among the design, the variables, the measurement tool, the research questions and the statistical analysis. Don't let these scenarios happen to you! The purpose of the research design is simple. It is to guide the collection of data so that the results provided will be interpretable, defensible and generalizable. And hopefully it will be a satisfying experience for you so that you will have the confidence to do more research after the degree is completed.
Research designs are your roadmap. They guide you in the collection of data so that your results will be interpretable and generalizable.
Many things have to be considered in even the simplest of designs. The research questions, null and alternate hypotheses you are interested in; your key variables, how extraneous variance will be controlled; how subjects will be selected, how large the sample should be, and assignment to groups or treatments if appropriate; how your data will be collected in a protocol that can be replicated in the future.
Thinking all of this out in advance is required for a dissertation. It is a good process because if you don't know where you are going, any road can take you there. Give this design phase some time and strategic thought. You will be happy that you did.
Simple random sampling is the premier way to draw your sample. There are other sampling strategies that are very useful as well. Here is a summary of a few procedures that you can consider.
Systematic sampling is an often-used sampling strategy and cost effective. Determine both the size of the population and the size of the sample you want to work with. Then, divide the sample size (n) into the population (N) size to get your key number, symbolized as "k". You might use systematic sampling to select a sample of households in your community for a community survey. The City Hall might have the listing already available, in random order and with ID numbers in sequence. This saves you time and labor. If the City Hall will give you a set of mailing labels, then it will be all the better.
Stratified sampling is used when the population is heterogeneous and it is important to represent the different strata or sub-populations. There is a proportional representation of strata in the sample - proportional to the population strata. We divide the entire population into strata (groups) to obtain groups of people that are more or less equal in some respect. Then, select a random sample from each stratum. This insures that no group is missed and improves the precision of our estimates. This might be used with different racial/ethnic groups if we wanted to insure that our sample included a proportional representation of African Americans, Asians and Latinos in addition to the Caucasians that pre-dominated our demographic pool.
Population and Samples for Your Dissertation: The Difference!
The population in statistics includes all members of a defined group that we are studying or collecting information on.The operative descriptor is "all" – all children under the age of 5, senior executives, first offenders, hospital patients, or the entire community of households in whatever geographic circle we are focused on. So the "population" in our statistical study is defined by the "who" (target group) and the "where" (the geographic boundary that this group exists in).
A part of the population is called a sample. Samples are studied to obtain valuable information about the larger group called the population. Once we define our population, we can take a sample of the population to conduct our statistics.A sample is a subset or subgroup of our population.It is a proportion of the population, a slice of it, a part of it and all its characteristics.
A sample is a scientifically drawn group that actually possesses the same characteristics as the population – if it is drawn randomly.This may be hard for you to believe, but it is true.


text:
Lawsuit against Boeing seeks to hold board liable for 737 MAX problems
Tom Hals, Tracy Rucinski
(Reuters) - A shareholder lawsuit filed on Monday accused Boeing Co's board of doing nothing to investigate the safety of the 737 MAX until the fast-selling plane suffered a second deadly crash in five months.
FILE PHOTO: Grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are seen parked in an aerial photo at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, U.S. July 1, 2019. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson/File Photo
The lawsuit is the latest legal challenge facing Boeing over the 737 MAX crash in Indonesia in October 2018 that killed all 189 passengers and crew and another in Ethiopia that killed all 157 people in March.
The 737 MAX has been grounded worldwide since the Ethiopian crash as Boeing seeks regulatory approval for updates to software believed to have played a role in both crashes.
Monday's lawsuit, filed in the Court of Chancery in Delaware, where Boeing is incorporated, said the first crash was "the biggest red flag an airline manufacturer can face."
The lawsuit, brought by the Kirby Family Partnership, a Boeing investor, alleges the directors breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders and seeks to hold them personally liable for damage caused to Boeing, which could run into the billions of dollars.
Boeing declined to comment.
The Kirby Family Partnership obtained internal corporate records that show the board did not take action to ensure the safety of the 737 MAX until after the second crash, according to the complaint, which includes numerous redactions.
The lawsuit is a so-called derivative complaint, meaning the shareholder seeks to act on behalf of the corporation to hold the directors and officers liable.
Unlike shareholder class action cases seeking to recover losses from falling stock prices, derivative cases are often settled for commitments to change corporate governance.
Two other derivative lawsuits have been filed against Boeing's board, both last month. The Kirby Family Partnership also filed one in Cook County, Illinois, where Boeing is headquartered, and individual investor Arthur Isman filed a case in Delaware's Court of Chancery.
Boeing is already defending itself against lawsuits by families of passengers killed in the crashes, by shareholders over the drop in the stock price and by pilots over lost pay.
Airlines with 737 MAX jets are also demanding compensation for the cost of the global grounding, now in its ninth month.
The company is also being investigated by U.S. lawmakers, aviation and transportation authorities and is the target of a federal criminal probe.
Boeing's shares, which have lost 12 percent since the second crash, closed down 0.6% at $369.46 on Monday.
Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Editing by Cynthia Osterman

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
From Heaven to Hell
Green Door Store
Kuroneko were first on, they were due to be augmented by a further player coming down from London, but she was stymied by the Tube strike. Fortunately Ruse23 was on a trip to the old home town so was down here early.
Russ, along with Paul Khimasia Morgan, Adam Lygo and someone I don't know, step off from HRT's invocatory setup, although only Adam sports a mask on tonight's show (Ruse's is taped to his setup), Paul also has a noise setup, the unknown has a synth and Adam twirls gurgling vocalisations around the room. It's a tough thing to do well, HRT hedged their bets with black comedy, but playing it straight can be hard to pull off and I think they did. This was pretty scary stuff, you could practically smell the sulphur and see smoke forming in dark corners of the room, Adam's voice travelling back through time.
http://spiritofgravity.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/08-August-GDS-01-kuroneko.mp3
Ingrid Plum
Ingrid Plum started with her pure voice, reminiscent of her singing in the tunnels at Newhaven Fort last autumn, almost designed to put us off the scent. She also had a cassette player with tones from a recent event playing back through a small (very small) Marshall stack. Almost a toy, but it had two speakers with very different tones and she also used a mic input into it that she used dexterously for tonal feedback. It's a disarming set that skirts noise and fuses well with her vocal style.
http://spiritofgravity.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/08-August-GDS-02-Ingrid-Plum.mp3
Gagarin played a great deal from his new CD, but with the bottom end extended into the depths allowed by the Green Door Store's Bass bins, and generally toughened up. His visuals were a film of the New Horizons flight to Pluto from the NASA website slowed down to a virtual crawl. The album is a mixture of his field recordings (the Balham garden: birds, trains etc) and scattering rhythms. Not quite the same kind of London sound of his last CD, more like the abstraction of the touch cassette, with more skittering beats, lighter on its feet even with the extra weight of the soundsystem.
http://spiritofgravity.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/07-July-Scope-03-Hugs-Bison.mp3


So many people celebrate Easter but do they know THE reason for their celebration? It's not about the "Easter Bunny" or eggs or any of that. What it IS about is fact that Jesus Christ came to DIE for us on the cross. Even though we don't deserve it at all. He paid the penalty for our sins and three days later rose again. Resurrection Day, better known as Easter.
Share the true story of Easter with your loved ones today with this FREE download from the Learning Parent. Have a Blessed Easter with your loved ones!
Here we are at the end of March! Not very many weeks left of our 3rd grade year. Here's an update of what we did this week.
This week was a bit slower as we had some fun visiting with friends and such.
Monday we finished up our Mm unit on the moon. Natalie, Hunter and I enjoyed Happy Birthday, Moon. Then Hunter painted his favorite scene from the book of Moonbear on the mountain "talking" to the moon.
Tuesday was the beginning of our Ll unit on leaves. We talked about the sound L makes and had some practice writing it. We practiced finding words that begin with L and played a game to sort the picture cards for S and L. Natalie found a Go Fish game with capital and lower case letters with animals so the three of us had some fun playing that on Friday.
We are plugging away at our 100 chart and adding a straw to the jar each day of school. Hunter likes to try to write the numbers on the calendar and 100 chart. Some are tricky for him of course but others he finds quite easy! He practiced number 3 with the handwriting page. He did well but got frustrated with himself very easily.
On Monday we used the CUISENAIRE RODS and Cuisenaire Rods Alphabet Book: to make the letter M several ways and other pictures that start with m like man, mailbox and milk bottle.
In our Bible lessons this week we learned how God is like the plant and we are the leaves. As long as we obey God and stay connected to the plant we will continue to grow and thrive. The alternative though is if we break away from God and want to do our own thing, we might think it's fun at first but we'll soon be withering away like a leaf separated from its plant.
This week Chelsea started learning a new verse from the book of John and about Jesus being our shepherd.
Chelsea colored a picture of a shepherd with the verse on it to add to names of Jesus book.
The goal this week was to finish our book Carolina's Courage . We have about half of the last chapter to finish. Chelsea was quite concerned about Carolina's doll when she traded it with the Indian girl!
We read some poetry together this week and started a new book to read aloud called Mountain Born . We will have to catch up with the schedule a little bit since it seems our read aloud books get forgotten many days but so far we like it!
This week we finished up reading about Abraham Lincoln and did the notebook page for him. We also read part of Red, White, and Blue where it talks about the Civil War and added that to our timeline.
For science we read several pages from First Encyclopedia of Science on gravity, hot and cold, force and energy. Wednesday proved the most fun when we used a pop bottle and a balloon to show how hot air expands and cold air contracts. First we ran the bottle under warm water and placed a balloon over the opening. Then held it down in a bowl of cold water.Everyone was quite surprised to see the balloon going inside the bottle!
After we tried the cold water I boiled a pan of water. We emptied the bowl of cold water and poured the hot water in.We got a lot of laughs when the balloon instantly inflated!
In our math lessons this week we finished up the chapter on metric measurements. The easiest from this chapter was probably cm measurements. reading the thermometer was the trickiest part for Chelsea. since she's still figuring out how to switch from counting by tens to 5's where there's no number listed and then to ones. She's getting it with some practice though!
It's been a fun week and I'm looking forward to seeing what next week will bring.
My big girl is 9 today! I can hardly believe that 9 years with my beautiful Chelsea Rose have come and gone! We've had our share of trials but SO many good memories along the way!
Chelsea is my big helper. She has such a serving spirit most of the time and it often amazes me. I'll come into the living room to find it straightened up or see her helping with the dishes in the kitchen. I often tell my husband that God knew what He was doing when He gave us Chelsea first! She is such a great artist and LOVE anything to do with arts and crafts and even photography. I know this is a great gift God has given her to use in her life and I'm excited to see what she'll do with it as she grows. She loves her brother and sister and is always happy to play with them. Of course she loves doing her own thing or playing with children her own age but you would never guess that there's a 4-5 year gap between her and her siblings. I thank God daily for my beautiful daughter. These past 9 years have been a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds. Although she wishes to be 16 already I'm happy with her here and now at 9. Slow down time!
I just wanted so share some of my favorite pictures of her over the past 9 years.
Finally here's some from her birthday party last Sunday.
With her horse cake made by Grandma!
For all of those out there who are into cloth diapers like me The Humbled Homemaker is doing an amazing cloth diaper giveaway! RUN over and check it out!
We started using cloth when I had my third and yes many people thought we were crazy. But I'm getting used to that by now. Our main reason for the switch was that they save a LOT of money! Just think 1 package of diapers a week for 2-3 years that is at LEAST $1500. If you buy cloth diapers you spend a few hundred up front but that's it. You're done buying diapers, unless of course, you're like most cloth diaper fanatics (myself included) who like to resell and buy fun new prints!
The other big draw to them for us was the environmental aspect. My husband and I already recycle as much as possible. When I saw a video from gDiapers about the fact that disposable diapers can sit in land fills for 500+ years I was disgusted! With cloth you don't have that issue! You are keeping tons of plastic diapers from being dumped into the landfills and not decomposing for hundreds of years!
As with most things in life, it's not for everyone but it's a choice my husband and I made for our family andywe enjoy knowing that we are helping the environment AND our wallets by using cloth diapers! So head on over to the giveaway and see what they have to offer!
I'm back with an update for our week! Last week we didn't get much done since I ended up sick and sleeping the majority of 3 days away. We did finish up our unit on the sun/Ss and plugged along with math for Chelsea. To finish our Ss unit we made jell-o letters and read Moonbear's Shadow (Moonbear Books) ! Hunter drew a cute picture of moon bear and his shadow and I wrote down what he told me about the story.
Here's our updates for this week!
In history this week we learned about Oregon and Abraham Lincoln. We read about Lincoln's childhood from our history book and watched a video I got from the library called Meet the U.S Presidents, Abraham Lincoln. The whole family was interested in this movie, even my husband! They use a cartoon character of the president to tell his story and then many pictures of the president during different events in their life and presidency.
In our science lessons this week we continued learning about solids, liquids and gasses and how things can change "state". We filled a plastic bottle with water and left it in the freezer over night to see what happened. Everyone was surprised that the water had not only frozen but had pushed out the top of the bottle!
Science in the Kitchen (Usborne Science Activities) book that oil has to be VERY cold in order to freeze!
Experiment #3 was to wrap one ice cube in a cloth and place it in a cup and one without a cloth and place it into another cup. Cover both with plastic wrap and see which melted fastest. I even learned something from this one! The ice cube alone melted pretty quickly. Another lesson learned from our book. It melted because the air got to it while the one wrapped up didn't have air getting to it.
Last week we finished up the chapter on polygons and solid figures. This week we've started our way through the chapter on metric measurements. She's picked up on things pretty quickly and has been great about doing her math pages with very little help which is a very nice change!
For reading we're working our way through Carolina's Courage . We were supposed to finish this week but after our impromptu break last week we should be done by the middle of next week. I found a tip online for helping children learn to solve longer words. Take a pencil and draw lines between the syllables This breaks things down enough for them to realize to look at the little parts instead of feeling stumped by a BIG long word! It only took me doing this a few times and now she's starting to try them on her own. Progress! YAY!
Chelsea has been reading more this week and we have a trial of Reading Eggs/Reading Eggspress and she is loving it! There are ton of books to read in the "library" and comprehension questions with a reward for a job well done. I'm loving the fact that she is wanting to read more on her own now.
Primary Language Lessons. She has the format down but we are still working on her ability to form her thoughts into complete sentences and then get them onto the paper. Thursday was a conversation about what she would do with a piece of land as far as where to place things like garden, fruit trees, flowers and what kinds of each. Chelsea then drew a picture of how her land would look.
We started unit 2 on the moon and letter Mm this week. It's been a lot of fun to learn facts about the moon and do some fun projects like our moon cake! We also learned in our Bible lessons that we are similar to the moon. The moon doesn't have it's own light but gets it from the sun. We don't have our own light either but Jesus DOES! If we have accepted Jesus His light shines through US and we can be the light of the world.
the finished cake dusted with "moon dust" aka powdered sugar. Yummy!
Hunter has worked hard this week on learning to write the letter Mm ! He picks up the letter sounds easily once introduced and quickly worked through the worksheets where he had to find the words that start with m and the page that had words for s and m. Handwriting is proving to be a bit tricky as he gets frustrated easily. One trick I figured out to help him with capital M is to remind him to make it pointy. Then the little m's are the fun ones with the curvy hills!
On Thursday we played our letter concentration game. Afterward, Hunter and Natalie both made M's out of yarn on construction paper.
We don't do much "formal" preschool but I do have some Rod and Staff preschool workbooks around. Natalie has been busily working on hers this week while the bigger kids do their school work. She also tags along for a lot of the other activities from kindergarten and adventures.
Still plugging along! Still having to play catch up some days but keeping up pretty well! I've finished Leviticus and am in the middle of Numbers. Also read Hebrews last month. It's been very interesting and fun to keep up with my daily reading.
Still struggling with this! My husband is amazing and helps a LOT but I really need to get things straightened around. Our laundry plan was working well until the dryer stopped working 2 weeks ago. It took a week to get it working again thanks to my father in law who found that it was a bad breaker. Now we're still playing catch up on the laundry!
Things are going pretty well! God has provided once more and we received the last of our school books for next year thanks to my dad who would do anything for his grand kids. I don't like asking for help for school materials. I feel that it's our responsibility since we choose to home school. But Grandpa wants only the best for his grand babies and didn't want me to have to switch to a free program which I was willing and had planned to do.
Other than this week since I've not been feeling well school has been going well and we're on track to finish 3rd grade in early May. I've started kindergarten with my son who is always ready and eager for school work. It's been a lot of fun so far with him!
First week of school for this month has been finished! I'm getting used to teaching two children and it's going pretty well! We have some crazy moments where everyone is vying for my attention at the same time but overall it's not as bad as I'd thought!
For history this week we learned about Wisconsin and Iowa. We were all surprised to learn that Wisconsin is one of the biggest farming states in the country! At the end of the week we learned about why people started going to the children's favorite state for the California Gold Rush.
Our reading for science this week taught about atoms and molecules. We read from theFirst Encyclopedia of Science (Usborne First Encyclopedia) and checked out some of the fun things on their website to learn more about the millions of little atoms and molecules that make up everything around us!
Plugging right along in our math book and on track to possibly finish a week earlier than planned! We finished our chapter on money and have begun working with polygons, counting their sides angles and vertexes. Later in the week Chelsea learned about the difference between regular and irregular polygons and how to recognize them.
Chelsea started a new book this week that actually fits perfectly with our history study of pioneers going west. The book is called Carolina's Courage It's about a little girl and her family as they move out west to Nebraska.Still working with Chelsea on sounding out longer words. She gets frustrated easily but made through the reading assignments this week. Reading comprehension is getting much better! Even she has learned to stop after a few pages for me to ask her some questions about it. These smaller chunks material really helps her instead of trying to read a whole chapter or several pages and then remember it all. Glad to be making progress!
On Monday we finished our creation unit and started our first letter unit, Ss for Sun!
Just as the sun gives us light Jesus explains that He is the light of the world. If we follow Him, He will show us how to live our lives the way God wants us to.
Jesus said " I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life."
This week we started filling in a 100 chart. Each day of school we will add another number to the chart. We also have a jar of straws. A new straw is added to the jar each day of school.
The number one was practiced on the handwriting worksheet. Another page he did had him trace a cup for a circle and make it into a sun! He traced a penny and traced the 1 and cent sign.
We talked about the letter S and the sound it makes. He practiced writing the letter S and cut out our picture cards that started with the s sound. We sang a song using our alphabet flash cards that used the letter sound and the object/animal on the card. All of them enjoy the foam letter puzzle from Lauri! To end the week we played an alphabet matching game where they had to match the upper case and lower case letters.
Since this unit is on the sun that's what we learned about! We learned that the sun helps us to see where we are going during the day. We read Moonbear's Shadow (Moonbear Books) Hunter and Natalie absolutely love this book! We read it several times this week and they keep coming back to it. It teaches about shadows made by the sun and Moonbear tries to get rid of his shadow when it scares a fish away. At noon there's no shadow left and later in the day he finally catches the fish when Shadow isn't in the way anymore. We may have to get this one for a birthday present!
On Friday we made a sun dial! We set it on the patio early in the morning and traced the shadow from the pencil in the middle of our dial. Later on Hunter was surprised to see that the shadow had moved and he traced that one as well as a few others throughout the day.
Everyone was very excited when mom got the paints out! It's been a long while since I've done that and they all had fun painting a sun!!
It's been a FUN week! The more we use of My Father's World materials the more we love what this curriculum has to offer! I pray you've all had a blessed week as well!
Wow! This week has been great but full of surprises! I''m amazed at how God provides for our family even when I sit and worry about things.
First news is that our cat had kittens! We didn't even know she was pregnant! She had 2 babies late Sunday night. We didn't find them until my husband heard meowing in our bedroom closet. He went to look and found two kittens with mama Chloe! He woke me up since he wasn't sure what to do with them. Mama cat was amazing and has been great in taking care of them. The kids all are in love with these little kitties!
Second is that on Monday night my phone rang. Minutes before I had sat worrying about the new vehicle we need for our growing family since our Taurus is already packed and all the baby stuff we still need. On the phone was a staffing agency calling for my husband. They had a job opportunity! After over a year of praying and looking (and me worrying even though Philippians 4 tells me NOT to!) God has provided him with work! Orientation was Wednesday and he jumped in with both feet into ten hour shifts plus Saturdays. I'm amazed at how much God provides for us. Last year was rough for us financially and then I got pregnant later in the year (that news next ).
Third and final piece of news for our family this week is that I had my ultrasound on Tuesday! I was 19 weeks and 6 days. The entire pregnancy I thought this baby was a boy. My morning sickness, tiredness and fruit cravings were almost identical to my pregnancy with my son. The tech took his measurements and kept going back to see if the little one had moved so we could find out what we were having. Legs were crossed for a while and when they weren't this baby just wasn't cooperating!
Finally after much coercion by the tech he was able to find out and there it was plain as day on the screen. I was completely shocked that my prediction was WRONG! I'm having a third, beautiful baby girl! I don't know that i's completely set in still 3 days later. All this time I was sure it was a boy. My kids ALL wanted a brother. God chose this precious girl for us though and we explained that to them.
The disappointment quickly faded into excitement as they realized they would have another sister and better yet that THEY had helped pick her name! We had a hard time finding a name we agreed on so we asked the kids. We had a unanimous decision for Allie! Wanting a fuller name for her my husband mentioned Alison right before the ultrasound. So our third baby girl will be Allison Nicole! We use family names for middle names and my best friend whom I met two years ago has become like a sister to me. We tossed around a few other names but hers is the one that stuck for the middle name. I can't wait to meet my little Allison Nicole in July!
This has been an AMAZING week in our house! How has yours been? Link up and share with Fellowship Friday on Christian Mommy Blogger!
February has come and gone and I haven't posted in a while. We had computer problems but are up and running now! Here's an update of our home school for last month.
We learned about the human body and our senses! We tasted things like sugar and coffee in different spots on the tongue to see where they tasted bitter or sweet. We read books about the body and senses and also tried tasting two different beverages while holding our noses! The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses was a favorite!
In math we worked through a chapter on geometry. Worked on things like perimeter and area as well as concepts of angels, rays, horizontal and vertical, parallel and intersecting lines.
Once we finished up that chapter we moved onto counting money! Chelsea has a hard time switching between the coins but with help from a you tube video and some online practice we made it through and she's starting to get better at it!
The Boxcar Children was finished and we started using some reading activities from Easy Peasy's website.I really like this website because it has Everything all planned out day by day. It's written so children can go to it, find their day and complete the activities individually if they are independent workers.
In our history lessons we continued going through the states and learned about Samuel Morse and Morse Code and even tried it out a bit! We learned about Florida Texas, Michigan, Arkansas and a few other states. We were all surprised to find that we had several things in our home from Kellogg's cereal, Bessel vacuum and a Ford car that ALL originated in Michigan!
Our home school group had a Valentine's day party! Even though mom messed up the time and we were WAY late we still had fun! The kiddos got to decorate a bag for valentines, have yummy snacks and color some fun Valentine's day pictures before passing out the Valentines' day cards we brought. At home we decorated some yummy heart shaped cookies!
We ordered My Father's World Kindergarten basic package along with CUISENAIRE RODS SMALL GROUP 155/PK and the Cuisenaire Rods Alphabet Book.
Hunter was SO excited when we got it that he wanted to start right away! SO instead of starting this summer like the original plan, we started already! He asks for school first thing in the morning, often even before breakfast! His excitement for learning is contagious and making the girls want to learn as well! It looks like MFW K will be as wonderful as their Adventures program has been this year!
We are just about finished with the intro section on the Creation story and will be starting our first letter unit on Tuesday on the letter S for Sun. I'm excited to see what my eager little man will learn this month!