Letter to Stakeholders, April 2026

Friday, April 10th, 5:26 pm EST. Both of the wars we highlighted last month have endured. The barely reported (drug) war in Ecuador is ongoing while the feverishly reported war in Iran has begun the long road towards truce. While the ups and downs of the stock and bond markets have been typical, you can see the economic result of higher oil prices in your statements this month. Crude oil and petroleum price increases steer the financial markets to predict higher input costs and lower profits for corporations. That “anticipation” lowered stock prices for the month of March; except for the last day of March when the  war seemed to be slowing down.

Stagflation

The stock market reflects future expectations. If the future expectation is higher energy prices (input costs) then demand for stocks will go lower in anticipation of lower profits. If corporate profits – beyond just oil companies – are expected to go higher then demand for stocks go higher, as do the stock prices. Despite the war, stock analysts – the people whose commentary gets acted upon by algorithmic “AT” trading – still expect high corporate profits this year. What do we expect? More ups and downs.

Last month we predicted you would hear much more about a small body of water called the “Strait of Hormuz.” As of this writing, that narrow passageway that connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman – by the way, had you ever heard of “Oman” before now? – remains closed.  The resulting spike in energy prices is good for the small portion of energy stocks in the S&P 5o0 index but not great for the cost of gas (energy) for people or businesses. The idea that costs are rising in a potentially slowing economy has some “analysts” (see above for a definition) thinking of “stagflation.” According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United Kingdom may be close to a recession due to energy costs but lower growth prospects and higher energy costs makes stagflation the most likely.

In 1997 I was a fresh George Mason University graduate and the economy was booming, certainly in Northern Virginia, but not all over the world (especially not in parts of Asia). The “Asian Financial Crisis” began with a financial shock. After Thailand decoupled its currency from the US dollar, the Thai Baht collapsed in value and a financial panic ensued that started a recession for related countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea. In 2026, Thailand and other Asian countries have begun rationing energy but are better capitalized to avoid the financial shock of 1997. 

We remain confident in the financial plans we have in place for your family. We have confirmed this confidence directly with the clients we met during our Spring Check-Ins this week. We look forward to sharing why we are confident about each of your personal plans as we meet with more of you this and next month. 

Grandparents and Virginia 529 Plans

Hard turn here but this week I learned from the ever knowledgeable Doug Tees, that grandparents (over 70 years old) can contribute an unlimited amount to Virginia’s 529 college fund plans and take that full deduction for Virginia taxes. Also there appears to be a federal gift tax exemption for paying tuition directly to a college. Watch this Virginia 529 video (begin at 3:30 and go to at least 6:25) for some details. Also talk with your tax professional to confirm.

"Project Glasswing"

The Anthropic AI company has recently launched a problem (Mythos Preview) and a solution (Project Glasswing). “Mythos Preview is capable of identifying and then exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities in every major operating system and every major web browser when directed by a user to do so.” This is so big that the CEOs of Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Microsoft and the two leading cybersecurity companies (Palo Alto Networks and Crowdstrike) privately met with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and VP J.D. Vance about why there were not deploying it widely. These leaders (and others) are now a part of “Project Glasswing” to create “defensive security work” to avoid potential fallout if a program like Mythos Preview fell into the wrong hands. 

According to Anthropic, “We did not explicitly train Mythos Preview to have these capabilities. Rather, they emerged as a downstream consequence of general improvements in code, reasoning, and autonomy.” 

As you might expect, we are watching this space for any downstream effects on markets.

Jason J. Howell, CFP®, CPWA®, CSRIC® 

President

Jason Howell Company is the family wealth management firm that serves successful families navigating the "business end" of family wealth. We understand that “millionaire problems” are still problems -especially when juggling family dynamics, imposter syndrome and charitable decisions (without a roadmap).

We integrate family governance (dynamics), with traditional planning, philanthropy, and sustainable investing because our clients are just as concerned about personal growth and family preservation as they are about capital gains and wealth preservation. 

Jason J. Howell, CFP®, CPWA®, CSRIC® and Douglas W. Tees, MBA, CFP® CAP®, CBDA have spent decades working with families in the Washington, DC area and understand the unique ways wealth is experienced here. Successful entrepreneurs and family business owners often feel they must continually prove themselves; government contractors worry about the next contract; former Capitol Hill staffers and former agency employees privately question how to reconcile public service with private sector success. Similar tensions arise among professionals at our region’s many corporate headquarters. These unspoken dynamics can make it difficult for families to talk openly about money or make confident long-term decisions. Through a family governance approach, we help families create clarity, alignment, and structure—bringing together values, decision-making, and philanthropy so wealth can be stewarded thoughtfully across generations.

Our typical client families include dual income parents who work, have saved (or inherited) well and have just the right amount of fun! Prospective clients may be about to sell land or a business for an extraordinary "liquidity event." Regardless, we focus just as much on family preservation as we do wealth preservation. Our prospective clients recognized they:

• Need to “do something” with the cash in their checking/savings
• Need to start tax planning instead of just tax paying
• Need to reduce the isolation, guilt and decision fatigue
• Need to separate but align family wealth and individual wealth
• Need to reduce financial miscommunications between family members
• Need a plan to provide space for both family and individual philanthropy
• Need to separate business finances from personal finances
• Need to eventually diversify their portfolio away from the family business
• Need an investment strategy for income, “up” and “down” markets
• Need a plan to mitigate market, credit, inflation, and political risks
• Need to be sure they are choosing the right work benefits
• Need to plan for money while alive before what happens after death