5 Tax Strategies to Consider Before Year-End
Waiting until tax season to think about taxes is often too late. Many of the best opportunities require planning before the calendar year ends.
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Mailbag: Social Security Rules, ESG Investing, and REIT Pitfalls
Mark answers listener questions about Social Security earnings, ESG investing, and REITs while bringing each topic back to the bigger retirement picture.
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Retirement Truth Bombs: Your Biggest Financial Blind Spots
Mark challenges several common assumptions and explains why successful retirement planning often requires a closer look at risk, taxes, behavior, and how your portfolio is actually built.
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Retirement Lessons from Betty White
Betty White may never have officially retired, but her humor and outlook offer several valuable lessons for anyone planning the next stage of life.
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The Real Reasons People Keep Working
Tune in to hear how a strategy can help you determine whether you need to keep working, want to keep working, or are finally ready to step away.
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Easy Ways To Ruin Retirement
In this episode, Mark walks through a few common assumptions that can make retirement more difficult than expected and reminds us that retirement takes more than simply reaching a number in your portfolio.
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Retirement Lessons Hidden in Famous Movie Quotes
Can classic movie quotes teach valuable retirement lessons?
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How To Travel Without Financial Guilt
In this episode, Mark explains why travel shouldn’t be an afterthought in retirement, it should be part of the plan from the very beginning.
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The Financial Reality of Losing a Spouse
Losing a spouse is one of life’s most difficult experiences, and for many people, it also creates a wave of financial questions and uncertainty.
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Desire to Retire: Are You Really Ready?
Some people never want to retire. Others want to walk out tomorrow. Today, Mark breaks down the different “levels” of retirement desire and explains why each mindset requires a different planning conversation.
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Investing for Geniuses: How Smart Retirees Plan for the Unexpected
Mark focuses on how successful investors think, and why the right strategy isn’t about predicting the future, it’s about being prepared for it.
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The 5 D’s of Retirement Planning
Retirement is a big journey, and navigating it successfully requires more than just a solid savings plan. Today, Mark reveals five game-changing principles that can make all the difference between a stressful retirement and a confident, fulfilling one. Mastering these “D’s” will empower you to handle whatever comes your way, without losing sleep over market swings or unexpected costs.
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Can You Retire Yet? The 5 Stages of Retirement Readiness
Retirement isn’t just a financial decision; it’s an emotional one. In this episode, Mark walks through the five different mindsets people have when thinking about retirement and how clarity and planning all play a role in determining when retirement becomes realistic.
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What Your March Madness Bracket Can Teach You About Investing
Every year during March Madness, millions of fans fill out their tournament brackets with confidence, only to watch them fall apart after the first round of upsets. Mark uses the NCAA tournament as a metaphor for financial planning and retirement investing. Just like in basketball, life throws unexpected curveballs. The key isn’t predicting every upset. It’s building a flexible financial plan that can adapt when surprises happen.
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Mailbag: DIY Planning, Mortgage Payoff, and Long-Term Care Decisions
In this week’s mailbag, Mark covers three decisions that can quietly shape your retirement outcome.
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How Your Childhood Shapes Your Money Mindset in Retirement
Early influences often show up in retirement planning conversations and understanding them can change how you think about how you plan for the future.
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What Snow Days Teach Us About Money
There’s something special about a snow day… unexpected, memorable, and a break from routine. In this episode, Mark borrows a few classic snow-day moments to explain what a strong financial plan really provides.
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Timeless Quotes From the Greatest Investors
In this special Mailbag episode, Mark responds to real listener questions that get to the heart of retirement planning. The conversation explores how risk changes in retirement, why income reliability matters more than market timing, and how to balance financial efficiency with peace of mind. Mark also explains why working with the right advisor can add value even when you feel financially secure.
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Mailbag: DIY Financial Planning, Stock Picking and Taking Risk
In this special Mailbag episode, Mark responds to real listener questions that get to the heart of retirement planning. The conversation explores how risk changes in retirement, why income reliability matters more than market timing, and how to balance financial efficiency with peace of mind. Mark also explains why working with the right advisor can add value even when you feel financially secure.
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The Retirement Barista: What Your Coffee Order Says About Your Investments
Your coffee order might say something about your personality- but what does it say about your investment portfolio? In this episode of The Retirement Huddle, Mark uses a fun coffee-shop analogy to explain how different investor behaviors show up in real life- from playing it too safe to chasing the latest hype.
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The Retirement Huddle
Financial and retirement planning guidance with Mark Howard of the Howard Financial Group in Savannah.
Mark has almost three decades of experience in the financial industry, has been published in the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, South Magazine and several other publications. He has also been featured on the Savannah Morning News.
In addition to clients in Savannah, Mark also serves Hilton Head, Bluffton, Statesboro, and the rest of the Low Country.
To get your own Financial Game Plan, contact Mark today at 888-511-PLAN (7526) or go to HowardFinancialGroup.com
5 Tax Strategies to Consider Before Year-End
Waiting until tax season to think about taxes is often too late. Many of the best opportunities require planning before the calendar year ends.
In this episode, Mark breaks down several strategies that may help reduce taxes over time, including donor-advised funds, SEP IRAs, HSAs, withholding adjustments, RMD planning, and qualified charitable distributions.
Here’s some of what we discuss in this episode:
💝 Bundle Giving: Donor-advised funds can improve charitable deductions
💼 Use SEP IRAs: Self-employed income may open another tax-saving opportunity
🧾 Check Withholding: Avoid giving the government too much all year
🏥 Use the HSA: Triple tax benefits can be powerful
📆 Plan RMDs Early: Don’t wait until December
Want to get in touch with Mark?
https://retirementhuddle.com/mark@howardfinancialgroup.com 888-511-7526
October 1, 2026
September 17, 2026
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