When it comes to estate planning, naming beneficiaries on your investment accounts is a powerful tool because it helps assets pass directly to your heirs, avoiding probate. But how you name beneficiaries can vary depending on whether the account is a retirement account or a non-qualified (non-retirement) account. For retirement accounts such as IRAs and 401ks, beneficiary designation is essential.  These …

Diamonds and Downpours: When Baseball Meets Monsoon Season Diamonds and Downpours: When Baseball Meets Monsoon Season By: George V. Howe   As many of you know, I am a youth baseball coach to my son Nolan and his merry band of misfits. And the way this year is going, I’m going to add “meteorologist” to my title. For the record, …

Dogs vs. Cats: Where Do You Stand?   By George V Howe   Well my furry fanatics, it’s time to settle this once and for all. Considering the divisiveness of our times, I’d thought I’d add one more topic to debate: dogs vs. cats. I don’t think this will rise to the level of Red Sox vs. Yankees, Hamilton vs. …

The End of Ski Season   Ah, ski season. The glorious few months when I pretend I’m an elite athlete gliding down snowy mountains, only to spend a good chunk of my time skiing 200 yards behind Nolan and Cali, and the rest of the time realizing ski boots suck and my feet are completely reshaped to match the interior of …

Planning for the Future: Essential Steps to Secure Your Retirement Is your retirement savings on track? If you’re like most people, you may feel it’s not. In fact, concerns about running out of money in retirement are very common.1, 2 Many people today believe they’ll need at least $1.5 million saved to retire comfortably.3 But is that number right for …

Frohes Neues Jahr!   Happy New Year everyone, and if you made it past January 10th (National Quitters Day) you are part of an elite group that still has a 12% chance of accomplishing your 2025 goals. For a generally positive guy, I’m not sure why I hold a heavy dose of skepticism when it comes to resolutions. Maybe it’s …

Economic and Market Report: Cruising Altitude It has been a phenomenal year for the U.S. stock market in 2024.  The S&P 500 was still trading below 4800 emerging from what had been a strong 2023, and while a good year ahead was anticipated, the idea of the benchmark index cresting 6000 to close out 2024 seemed a long shot at …

7 Milestones at Age 50   Turning 50 can mean many things to many people: a milestone of 5 decades on this planet, a renewed perspective on living life to the fullest, perhaps some biological changes (I’ll just leave that right there), a time to be proud of your accomplishments while acknowledging your runway is not as long as it …

GVA Economic and Market Report: Elections with Eric B. Parnell, CFA It’s time again.  Much like the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, it’s an epic event that comes once every four years.  It is U.S. presidential election season.  And now that Labor Day weekend is behind us with less than nine weeks remaining until Election Day on Tuesday, November …

Jaime McDuffie, our Client Service Associate Par Excellence! How did I get so lucky to be partnered with the Howe Team?!  Coming up to the third-year anniversary of our partnership, I’ve been asked to introduce myself. Hard as that is for me to do verbally, it’s even harder to put it in writing! But I’ll give it a try! Born …