Chris Gall, AIF

Happy Giving Tuesday! If you are in a position to give, today is a great day to do it. Facebook is matching up to 7 million in donations today.

If you would like to discuss advanced giving strategies, particularly with highly appreciated stock, please reach out. I’d love to help you make the most impact with your giving.

The stock market is reacting to growing fears of a global pandemic. There is a lot of uncertainty of how many people will be affected and how this will affect economies. While I do not know how this will turn out, I am optimistic that we will come together as a global society and work together to mitigate and do whatever we can to prevent the spread of this illness.

If you are worried about your portfolio, I encourage you to talk to a seasoned financial advisor to review your risk level, your goals and time horizons. I think this will give some perspective and help take some emotion out of what can be very stressful for many people.

I'm excited to announce the launch of Luminous Financial Group's fresh new website: https://luminousfg.com/

Let us know what you think!

The path to happiness is different for all of us, but some things are universal. U.S. News explores what makes people happy in retirement.

Retired and Loving It? The Differences Between Happy and Unhappy Retirees Learn why some people are happily retired and others are miserable.

Donating highly appreciated stock can be a great way to give to those causes you really care about.

Making Charitable Donations Of Stock Instead Of Cash After Tax Reform Nov. 27 is Giving Tuesday. Donating stock instead of cash can be a smart tax-planning move, especially at year-end. With the changes in itemized deductions under tax reform, stock donations can reduce your taxes by giving you total deductions that exceed your new increased standard deduction amount.

Retiring soon? Check out this article.

8 Retirement Planning Mistakes to Avoid Keen advice from the authors of 'Your Complete Guide to a Successful & Secure Retirement'

Some great things to consider for women investing and saving for retirement.

Why And How Women Must Prepare Differently For The Future The moral of this report is that women's lives play out differently than men's, and that affects our financial wellness in big ways.

Sweeping tax changes passed both the House and Senate yesterday. The President may wait until the new year to sign it into law, but news sources say that should not affect the tax plan, just delay spending cuts.

Here is an article that breaks down some of the specifics of the final bill:

GOP tax plan: Key details of the final bill, explained The final bill still leans heavily toward tax cuts for corporations and business owners. But it also expands or restores some tax benefits for individuals relative to the earlier bills passed by the House and Senate.

Still have money left in your FSA? Check out this article for things you can buy online with your FSA account:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicaprobus/fsa-money-spree?bffbmain&ref=bffbmain&utm_term=.ysBP0J9O1w #.uv8m7E8deY

29 Things You Can Buy Online With Your FSA Money You're gonna make it rain with all that Flexible Spending Account cash.

See how you stack up to the rest of America. Nearly half of Americans have nothing saved for retirement.

http://ow.ly/jgWQ302XWL0

Here's how much the average US family has saved for retirement Those between 56 and 61 are more likely to have an account (61%), while those between 32 and 37 are least likely to have one (51%).

These pitfalls are real. And I love the contrarian title of this article!


http://ow.ly/YjS7302P7Md

7 ways to guarantee you won't save enough money to retire Avoid these habits if you want to retire with enough money in the bank.

Completely agree. If you have experienced this, perhaps it's time to find a new financial advisor.

http://ow.ly/aN0P301WYjQ

Six Things Bad Financial Advisors Do | Investopedia So you've gone to the trouble and expense of hiring a financial advisor. Here's how to decide whether they're doing you right or wrong.