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Luminary Financial Advisors Luminary Financial Advisors is a fee only firm that strives to light your way forward to achieving your financial best life.

Let us help you understand your family's goals, construct a financial plan, and work with you to implement our suggestions.

10/15/2026

Your index fund may be a lot less diversified than you think. 👀

The top 10 stocks in the S&P 500 now represent roughly 40% of the entire index — and most of them are AI-linked mega-caps. If you own a standard index fund, you already have significant AI exposure, whether that was your intention or not.

So the real question isn't whether there's a bubble. It's whether your portfolio reflects a deliberate choice — or one that quietly happened to you.

This isn't a straight replay of the dot-com era. Tech earnings are real, and AI investment is largely funded by profits, not borrowed money. But concentration risk is still concentration risk. When a small cluster of companies drives most of an index, one bad earnings cycle, one export restriction, or one shift in spending can ripple across your whole portfolio.

The move isn't to panic-sell. It's to look clearly at what you own and decide how much of your financial future you're comfortable tying to a single theme.

How much AI exposure do you think you actually have? Drop your guess in the comments.

For general educational purposes only. This is not personalized financial, investment, tax or legal advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Individual circumstances vary. Luminary Financial Advisors, LLC is an investment adviser registered in Florida and New York. Registration does not imply a particular level of skill or training. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Information is from sources believed reliable, but accuracy and completeness are not guaranteed. References to companies or securities are illustrative, are not recommendations and do not imply affiliation or endorsement. Luminary or its clients may hold or transact in securities discussed.

Luminary Financial Advisors is a financial advisor serving successful professionals, executives, business owners and couples within ten years of retirement or recently retired.

10/14/2026

Roth conversions can raise Medicare premiums. 👀

Most people don't realize it until two years after the fact, because Medicare doesn't look at this year's income. It looks at your tax return from two years ago.

The surcharge is called IRMAA, and the jumps are significant. For 2026, married couples who cross $218,000 in income see their monthly Part B premium rise from $202.90 to $284.10 per person. Cross $274,000 and it climbs to $405.80 per person. A couple at the wrong threshold could be paying $400 or more in extra premiums every single month.

Since a Roth conversion adds directly to the income Medicare measures, the question before converting isn't just about your tax bracket. It's about how close you are to the next IRMAA line and whether a smaller, more targeted conversion might actually protect more of your money.

Sometimes staying just under the threshold wins. Sometimes the long-term tax-free growth still justifies a larger conversion. The math tells you which one applies to your situation.

Drop your situation in the comments and let's work through it together.

For general educational purposes only. This is not personalized financial, investment, tax or legal advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Individual circumstances vary. Luminary Financial Advisors, LLC is an investment adviser registered in Florida and New York. Registration does not imply a particular level of skill or training. This is an anonymized educational example. Details may be changed to protect privacy; results are not guaranteed.

Luminary Financial Advisors is a financial advisor serving successful professionals, executives, and business owners within ten years of retirement.

10/12/2026

Wrong withdrawal order? You're overpaying the IRS. 💸

Most retirees pull from whatever account is easiest to access. It feels harmless, but that habit can quietly add thousands to your tax bill over time.

Think of your retirement savings as three distinct buckets: your taxable brokerage account, your traditional IRA or 401(k), and your Roth IRA.

The order you draw from them is just as important as how much you've saved.

Your taxable account typically holds money that has already been taxed, and gains there are subject to lower capital gains rates for most retirees. Spending from it first keeps your ordinary income down.

That lower income creates a planning window, especially before Social Security and required minimum distributions start compressing your options. Using that window strategically with your traditional accounts can make a meaningful difference.

The Roth? Keep it as long as possible. It has no required distributions, no effect on Medicare premiums, and everything in it grows tax-free.

Which bucket are you drawing from first right now? Tell me in the comments. 👇

For general educational purposes only. This is not personalized financial, investment, tax or legal advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Individual circumstances vary. Luminary Financial Advisors, LLC is an investment adviser registered in Florida and New York. Registration does not imply a particular level of skill or training.

Luminary Financial Advisors is a financial advisor serving successful professionals, executives, and business owners within ten years of retirement or recently retired.

10/09/2026

One Social Security check disappears when a spouse dies. 👀

Most couples build their retirement income around two checks. What many don't realize is that when one spouse passes, the survivor keeps only the larger of the two, and the smaller benefit is gone permanently.

If one spouse collected $3,200 a month and the other $1,400, the survivor keeps $3,200. That $1,400 vanishes. Household income can drop by close to 30%, while most fixed expenses remain unchanged.

The timing of when you claim also shapes how much you receive. Wait until survivor full retirement age and you can collect 100% of what your spouse was receiving. Claim as early as age 60 and that figure drops to roughly 71.5%.

There's also a tax change most surviving spouses don't anticipate. While married, filing jointly gives you a higher threshold before Social Security becomes taxable income. After a spouse dies, you file as single, that threshold drops, and more of your benefit can become taxable at a lower income level than you were used to.

Two checks today doesn't mean two checks forever. That's the part worth planning around now, while options are still on the table.

For general educational purposes only. This is not personalized financial, investment, tax or legal advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Individual circumstances vary. Luminary Financial Advisors, LLC is an investment adviser registered in Florida and New York. Registration does not imply a particular level of skill or training.

Luminary Financial Advisors is a financial advisor serving successful professionals, executives, and business owners within ten years of retirement or recently retired.

10/08/2026

A 30% drop could wreck your retirement timing. Here's why. 🚨

A lot of investors feel well-diversified because they own an S&P 500 index fund. But a handful of mega-cap tech companies now make up roughly 30% of that index. What looks like broad exposure is actually a pretty concentrated position.

For anyone planning to retire soon, the danger isn't just portfolio losses. It's what happens when you're withdrawing income at the same time the market is falling.

Selling shares during a downturn means those shares can't participate in the recovery. That's sequence-of-returns risk, and it's why the timing of bad years matters as much as the losses themselves.

Two people can have the same portfolio and end up in completely different places depending on when the bad stretch hits.

The smart move before retirement: look through every fund you own and calculate your real exposure to mega-cap tech. Then make sure you have a cushion of cash or bonds to cover one to two years of living expenses, so market volatility doesn't force you to sell at the worst moment.

You don't need to predict what the market will do. You just need a plan that can handle it either way.

If you're within two years of retirement, drop a comment below. Have you run this kind of stress test on your portfolio yet?

For general educational purposes only. This is not personalized financial, investment, tax or legal advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Individual circumstances vary. Luminary Financial Advisors, LLC is an investment adviser registered in Florida and New York. Registration does not imply a particular level of skill or training. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Information is from sources believed reliable, but accuracy and completeness are not guaranteed. References to companies or securities are illustrative, are not recommendations and do not imply affiliation or endorsement. Luminary or its clients may hold or transact in securities discussed.

Luminary Financial Advisors is a financial advisor serving successful professionals, executives, and business owners within ten years of retirement or recently retired.

09/25/2026

Title: 3 Signs You're Exposed to Sequence-of-Returns Risk

Description: Is your retirement plan built for bad timing? 📉

A market drop hits very differently depending on when it happens. Early in retirement, it can cause lasting damage that the same drop a decade later simply wouldn't.

That's sequence-of-returns risk — and most people don't know they're exposed to it until they're already living it.

Here are 3 signs your plan may be more vulnerable than you think:

1️⃣ The bulk of your savings is in pre-tax accounts like a traditional 401(k) or IRA. Every withdrawal is taxable, so covering a $5,000 expense could mean selling $6,500 or more in shares — from a portfolio that's already down.

2️⃣ You're within five years of retiring or five years into it. Morningstar calls this the "retirement red zone" — the window where timing risk is at its peak.

3️⃣ You have no cash or bond cushion outside your stock portfolio. Without one, every withdrawal pulls directly from wherever the market is that day.

The market will have rough patches. The question is whether your strategy accounts for when those patches arrive.

Which of these three resonates with your current situation? Drop it in the comments. 👇

Warren Burger is a financial advisor.

09/24/2026

"Safe" cash in retirement has a hidden cost 👀

When markets feel unpredictable, moving into cash seems like the obvious move. Stable, visible, and calm.

But over a 25- or 30-year retirement, that sense of safety can quietly unravel.

Inflation, currently around 3.4% per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, steadily reduces what your dollars can actually buy. A large cash reserve that feels protective today can represent a significant purchasing power loss a decade from now.

The real goal of a retirement income strategy isn't to avoid equities. It's to structure your assets so you never have to sell them at the wrong time.

Near-term cash handles immediate spending. Bonds provide a middle-layer buffer. And equities get the time they need to recover without being touched.

Cash protects the portfolio. It was never designed to be the portfolio.

That one shift in framing can change how you approach retirement income decisions entirely.

Warren Burger is a financial advisor.

09/23/2026

Miss this window and it may not open again. 🪟

Most people approach Roth conversions as a math exercise. But there's a timing element that can make or break the strategy, and it's tied to three specific life milestones.

The first involves a gap in your income timeline that shows up after you stop working but before the IRS requires you to start withdrawing. For many people, it's the most tax-favorable period of their entire financial life.

The second is a window created by temporary drops in household income: a job change, a slower business year, a partner stepping back from work. These moments are often overlooked as planning opportunities.

The third is the one that surprises people most. A Medicare surcharge tied to income from two years prior can quietly undo the benefit of a conversion if the timing is off.

The right conversion at the right time can be one of the most powerful moves in a retirement plan. The wrong one can create costs you didn't see coming.

Warren Burger is a financial advisor. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute personalized investment, tax, or financial advice. Please consult a qualified professional before making any financial decisions.

Warren Burger is a financial advisor.

09/18/2026

After 50, these 3 moves actually get better 👀

Most people assume their financial strategy is basically set by their 50s. But this decade might actually be the most powerful window you have left before retirement.

First, the IRS gives you expanded contribution limits once you turn 50. We're talking thousands of dollars in additional room across your 401(k) and IRA. Compounded over 10 years, that difference is anything but small.

Second, when did you last look at your life insurance? The policy you picked up in your 30s was built for a different life: a bigger mortgage, younger kids, a smaller net worth. That picture has changed, and so should the coverage. The longer you wait, the more expensive it gets to adjust.

Third, and most importantly: do you know how much of your retirement savings is sitting in pre-tax accounts right now? Because once Social Security and required minimum distributions start, you'll have a forced income floor. The time to rebalance your tax exposure is before that happens, not after.

The window to make these moves on your own terms is closing a little every year.

Warren Burger is a financial advisor.

09/17/2026

Is your retirement number already behind? 📊

Most people land on a savings target and treat it like a done deal. But a number built on old assumptions can look perfectly fine on paper and still leave you short when it matters most.

Here are 4 signs it might be time to revisit yours:

Inflation has moved past your original spending assumptions. Healthcare, housing, and travel costs may be well ahead of what you planned for years ago.

Your life expectancy estimate was more of a guess than a real calculation. A target built to last to 85 is a very different number than one designed to reach 92.

Something in your income picture has changed. A pension, a spouse's income, or an expected inheritance that's now uncertain can quietly pull the rug out from under your original plan.

Early retirement costs more than most flat projections show. Travel, hobbies, and helping adult children tend to peak in the first decade, not gradually taper off.

Your retirement number isn't a score you check off and move on from. It's worth a fresh look well before you're close enough that the math can't catch up.

If any of this applies to your situation, follow along for more. 👇

Warren Burger is a financial advisor.

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Cocoa Beach, FL
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