Services
Equity Compensation Strategy
Four grant types, one paycheck, and a tax bill that depends on decisions you make months before it arrives. We help you make them on purpose.
Equity is often the largest and least understood part of a tech professional's compensation. Restricted stock units (RSUs) vest on a schedule and are taxed as ordinary income the day they do. Restricted stock awards (RSAs) at early-stage companies raise an 83(b) decision with a thirty-day clock. Incentive stock options (ISOs) can qualify for long-term capital gains treatment, but exercising them can trigger the Alternative Minimum Tax. Non-qualified stock options (NSOs) are simpler, yet the spread at exercise is taxed as wages. Each type follows its own rules, and most people hold more than one.
A coordinated plan looks at all of them together: when shares vest, how much tax is actually withheld, whether to hold or sell, how concentrated you have become in a single employer, and what happens at an IPO, tender offer, acquisition or job change. This page explains how we approach the whole picture. For grant-specific detail, see our pages on RSU & RSA planning and ISO & NSO planning, or start with a conversation about what you hold today.
What this covers
- Vesting schedules and cliff dates across RSU, RSA, ISO and NSO grants, mapped to a single calendar
- 83(b) elections for restricted stock and early-exercised options, including the thirty-day deadline
- Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) modeling for ISO exercises and recovery of the AMT credit
- Sell-to-cover versus hold decisions at each vest, and the withholding gap that flat supplemental rates leave behind
- Concentration risk in a single employer's stock, and a diversification cadence you can actually follow
- Liquidity events: IPO lockups, tender offers, secondary sales and acquisitions, including cash and stock deals
- Double-trigger RSUs at private companies and the tax cliff they can create at IPO
- Leaving a company: unvested shares, post-termination exercise windows and the cash needed to exercise
How we work together
- 01
Inventory
We gather every grant agreement, vesting schedule, exercise history and brokerage statement, then build one picture of what you hold, what is coming and what it is worth today.
- 02
Tax modeling
We project the federal and state tax impact of each vest, exercise and sale before it happens, including AMT exposure, withholding gaps and the effect of a move between states.
- 03
Strategy
You receive a written plan: which shares to sell and when, whether to exercise, whether an 83(b) election makes sense, how much cash to set aside for tax, and a target for reducing concentration.
- 04
Events and check-ins
We revisit the plan at each vest, before year-end and ahead of any liquidity event or job change, then hand a clear summary to your CPA so filing simply confirms the plan.
Why work with an independent advisor
Equity decisions are among the largest financial choices most tech employees will ever make, and they are surrounded by people with something to sell: brokerages that profit when you trade, lenders that profit when you borrow to exercise, platforms that profit when you hold. We earn no commissions and take no referral fees, so our only interest is whether a decision is right for you. That independence also lets us work openly with your CPA, your employer's equity platform and your attorney, rather than around them.
Frequently asked questions
Which grant types do you work with?
All four common types: RSUs, RSAs, ISOs and NSOs, plus the employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs) that often sit alongside them. Many clients hold several at once, sometimes from more than one employer, and the plan needs to account for all of them together. For grant-specific detail, see our pages on RSU & RSA planning and ISO & NSO planning.
My company is still private. Is there anything to plan before an IPO?
Often the most important decisions happen before the IPO. Double-trigger RSUs at private companies typically do not become taxable until a liquidity event, which means several years of grants can vest at once and land in a single tax year. Options may be cheaper to exercise early, and an 83(b) election has a strict thirty-day deadline. We help you decide what to do now so the IPO itself is a good day rather than a tax surprise.
How much of my net worth should be in my employer's stock?
There is no single right number. The answer depends on your other assets, your goals and how much of your future income already depends on the same company. What we can say is that most people hold far more than they realize once unvested grants are counted. We help you set a target, then build a sell schedule that respects taxes, trading windows and your own view of the company.
I am leaving my company. What happens to my equity?
Unvested RSUs and RSAs are usually forfeited at departure, while vested options typically must be exercised within a post-termination window that is often ninety days but varies by plan. ISOs that are not exercised within three months of leaving lose their ISO status even if the plan allows longer. Exercising can require significant cash for both the strike price and the tax. If a move is on the horizon, talk to us before you resign.
Do you help with the tax return itself?
We do not prepare returns, but we work closely with your CPA. Equity compensation is one of the most common places returns go wrong: RSU income that already appears on the W-2 is reported again as a gain because the broker's cost basis was blank, or an ISO exercise is left off the AMT form. We provide a written summary of each event and the correct basis so your CPA can file confidently. See our tax strategy planning page for how the two fit together.
Do you work with clients outside California?
Yes. We meet by video and serve clients nationwide, with most in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Irvine and San Diego, plus Austin and Seattle. State tax rules for equity vary widely, and a move between states during a vesting period raises allocation questions we plan for routinely. Meetings are available in English or Mandarin.
Related services
- RSU & RSA PlanningVesting calendars, withholding gaps, sell-or-hold decisions and 83(b) elections, planned before each vest lands in your account.
- Stock Options (ISO & NSO)AMT modeling, holding periods, early exercise, funding and post-termination windows, so every exercise is timed on purpose.
- Proactive Tax StrategyProactive, year-round tax planning so vesting, exercises and bonuses never surprise you in April.
Ready to turn your uncertainty into certainties?
Start with a complimentary 15-minute strategy session. We will look at your portfolio, your tax picture and your goals, and tell you plainly what we would do next.