Warren Burger

Warren Burger, Founder & Financial Advisor I spent 27 years on Wall Street, including running institutional trading desks in New York, London and Singapore. I learned a tremendous amount about markets and investing during those years, but some of the most important lessons had very little to do with picking investments. I learned that emotion is not your friend when it comes to money. I learned that managing risk is every bit as important as building wealth. I learned that just when you think you have all the answers, the markets have a way of teaching you some humility. And I learned that while paying taxes may be inevitable, leaving a tip for the IRS is not. Those lessons still shape the way I advise clients today. Why I Left Wall Street As I approached 50, I was ready for a change. My daughters were entering sixth and eighth grade, and after years of international travel, I realized I was entering a period of their lives that I didn't want to miss. I wanted to be home, be present, and figure out what the next chapter of my own life would look like. After leaving Wall Street, I spent a year teaching college. I loved working with students and discovered how much I enjoyed taking complicated ideas and making them understandable and useful to someone else. Eventually, I realized I could combine that with my experience in finance and my desire to work directly with people rather than institutions. So I founded Luminary Financial Advisors. How I Think About Financial Planning Today, the part of this work I enjoy most is becoming a trusted part of my clients' lives. Money is personal. Everyone comes to the table with different experiences, priorities and emotions around it. That's particularly true with couples, where part of my job is often helping two people understand each other's perspective and make decisions together. I also don't believe good financial planning is about predicting everything that's going to happen. It's about being prepared. I'd rather help a client make small course corrections along the way than be forced into a major change when something unexpected happens. That's especially important as people approach retirement. Decisions about retirement timing, Social Security, healthcare, taxes, investments, retirement income and estate planning all affect one another. My job is to understand what you want your life to look like and help you use the resources you've accumulated as efficiently as possible to support it. Living in Cocoa Beach on Florida's Space Coast has also given me a particular connection to people working in the aerospace and space industry. They're my neighbors, friends and clients, and I enjoy working with people who have a strong sense of mission and purpose in what they do. Why I Still Love Doing This Recently, a client going through a major life transition told me he wasn't sure they could have navigated it as well without my help. That meant more to me than he probably realized. There are plenty of technical things I can do for a client, but ultimately I want the people I work with to know they have someone alongside them who understands what they're trying to accomplish, will tell them what I genuinely think, and will be there when life doesn't go according to plan. That's why I started Luminary, and it's still the part of the job I find most rewarding. Outside the Office My wife, Maura, and I have two daughters, Hannah and Addison. When I'm not working, I like being outside as much as possible—surfing, skiing, hiking, cycling, spending time with my family, and listening to live music. At this point in my own life, I've come to believe that money is a resource, not the destination. The goal is to use it thoughtfully to build a life with purpose, spend time with the people who matter to you, and be prepared for whatever comes next.