J. Brooks Howard, CFP^®, AIF^®

Background and Education

Brooks was raised in Penn Yan and Ontario, New York. He graduated from Wayne Central High School, later attended Empire State College in Rochester to study financial management and the College for Financial Planning where he became a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner. Upon graduation from Wayne Central, Brooks worked as the general manager of Steven's Pro Hardware in Ontario Center, New York, until beginning his career in the financial services industry.

Professional

Brooks began his career in the financial services industry in 1989 as a financial advisor, then planning analyst, and district manager at Ameriprise (formerly IDS/American Express Financial Services.) Ameriprise is known in the industry for its outstanding professional training program. As a district manager at Ameriprise, Brooks was recognized for his contributions to the Quality of Advice initiative and level of expertise, earning several leadership recognition awards.

In 1999, Brooks transitioned to Commonwealth Financial Network^® to provide truly independent and comprehensive financial planning to his clients. Brooks believes an investment professional should be free from the quota and product restrictions found at many of the traditional Wall Street firms. Since joining Commonwealth, Brooks has been committed to providing individualized service and guidance to his clients.

Brooks has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner since 1994 and is also an Accredited Investment Fiduciary^® designee. He is an Investment Adviser Representative of Commonwealth Financial Network, member FINRA/SIPC, and holds FINRA Series 7, 24, and 63 securities registrations. In New York, he holds health and variable life and annuity insurance licenses.

Personal

Brooks resides in Fairport. He has two children, David and Vienna. Both children swam competitively for Fairport Area Swim team, then Vienna for the College of Wooster and David for Boston College.

Giving back to the community, Brooks worked to create and served on the board for the Upstate NY ALS Association, and spent several years coaching youth sports. He was a USA Swimming official for nearly twenty years and served as the Niagara LSC Officials Chair. In his free time, Brooks enjoys golfing, cooking, fishing, and hunting. Brooks also enjoys travel, loves experiencing new places, and trying new cuisine.