Letter to Stakeholders, July 2026

Saturday, July 4^th, 2:03 pm EST. My father was born a year (nearly to the day) before Nazi Germany officially surrendered in World War II. As a borderline member of the silent generation (born 1928 – 1945), his childhood bore witness to the advent of the United States as the world’s preeminent superpower. But he never became a US citizen. And as an immigrant to this country from a small Caribbean island, his worldview was different than the history books my generation grew up with. 

On this 250^th anniversary of United States independence, I’m thinking about my dad. I’m thinking about how he taught me to look at the world and the world’s economy, differently. I’m thinking about the world he saw growing up and the changes he witnessed: from NATO to NAFTA to the Great Recession, and how it all affected his worldview (together we used to talk about all of this stuff). I’m thinking about how I didn’t understand his perspective completely while he was alive. I’d like to think he didn’t understand mine either; but I am more certain he just thought I was naïve. 

Being raised as a second generation American requires two schools of thought: the perspective of growing up in the richest, most powerful country in the world and the perspective of parents who did not. My dad didn’t live to experience the COVID-19 Pandemic, nor the run up of inflation that mirrored his 1970s experience, nor the election of our 47^th POTUS, nor the so-called “Liberation Day” of last year that leaned into economic theory more aligned with pre-NATO unilateralism and protectionism.

What About Now?

For many years now, I have used these letters to help make sense of the world as we see it. As allocators of your investments and stewards of your financial plan, it is responsible for us to share our worldview and a multigenerational perspective. We serve successful families, often across three generations: parents, their adult children, and their aging grandparents. Your families created wealth during one of the most extraordinary periods of globalization and economic expansion in modern history, often achieving a level of success you couldn’t have previously imagined. Today, the challenge has shifted to stewarding that wealth amid an increasingly complex global economy that is becoming less integrated, more fragmented and rapidly changing. 

As we enter the second half of 2026, our firm is paying closer attention to the changing economic realities facing the world, the United States and your portfolios. 

What Has Changed?

Instead of 250 years, it’s much clearer for me to think of our US prominence beginning in earnest about 80 years ago. The success of World War II, the implementation of US Secretary of State George C. Marshall’s, “Marshall Plan” (1948) across much of Western Europe and the advent of North Atlantic Trade Organization (NATO) (1949) all happened around then. So did the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (1947) which although superseded by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, kept tariffs between friendly countries low to eliminate “all forms of discriminatory treatment in international commerce” to reduce barriers to trade. Whether it’s the implied threats to NATO allies or erection of new trade barriers, the world is changing. Markets may be mispricing the risk. Traditional metrics used by government data collectors may be inaccurate for the times. Our new Federal Reserve Chair may work to fix some of that including how monetary policymakers share and interpret data. 

At Jason Howell Company we are keeping all this change in its proper context. Because ensuring your financial plan works for your family is our priority. It’s how we separate from other wealth advisers: history explains how your wealth was created; we focus on how to manage what comes next. 

Life After Wealth

I always appreciate having articles, books and videos shared with me. It’s especially gratifying when the content underscores our messaging as a firm. Thank you to one of our clients who shared the video “What No One Tells You About Becoming a Millionaire.”  Nearly all of you have experienced this journey but sharing how to get there, how to maintain your wealth and how to stop “moving the goal posts” could be helpful to a son, daughter or even an aging parent. We believe every generation of wealth is shaped by the historical forces of its time. Families who understand those forces are better equipped to navigate change, strengthen relationships, and prepare future generations. 

Jason J. Howell, CFP®, CPWA®, CSRIC® 

President

Jason Howell Company is a family wealth management firm serving successful families across three generations: parents, adult children, and aging grandparents. These families created wealth during one of the most extraordinary periods of globalization and economic expansion in modern history, often achieving a level of success they never imagined. Today, their challenge has shifted from creating wealth to stewarding it amid an increasingly complex global economy that is becoming less integrated, more fragmented and rapidly changing. 

Jason Howell Company helps families understand the historical forces shaping today’s opportunities and challenges. Our services include sustainable investment strategy, family governance, philanthropic planning, business succession planning, liquidity event planning, estate and tax planning coordination. Working as part of each family's team of trusted advisors, we help align financial, legal, tax, philanthropic, and family decisions around a unified family strategy built around the family's long-term values and goals. 

The firm serves approximately 100 families from its headquarters in Virginia.