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Worry-free Retirement & Lifetime-Income Planning
Tech careers are front-loaded. The income arrives early and unevenly, and retirement may come sooner than you expect, or in a different country. Plan for that version of the future.
Retirement planning in tech looks different from the textbook version. Your income is high but concentrated in a few years, a large share of your net worth may sit in one employer's stock, and the question is often not whether you can retire at 65 but whether you could step back at 45, take a sabbatical, or move home to Taiwan for a season. The accounts are familiar: 401(k), Roth IRA, HSA, brokerage. The strategy for filling and later draining them is not.
We help you decide, in order, what to fund each year, how backdoor and mega-backdoor Roth contributions fit alongside your vesting income, and when it makes sense to diversify away from employer stock inside your retirement goals. Then we model the other side: how much your plan needs, how withdrawals would be sequenced across taxable, pre-tax and Roth accounts, what Social Security and Medicare are likely to provide, and what changes if your future includes years outside the US. The output is a plan you can actually run, not a single number.
What this covers
- 401(k) contribution strategy: traditional versus Roth, employer match and true-up provisions
- Backdoor Roth and mega-backdoor Roth mechanics, including the pro-rata rule and after-tax 401(k) conversions
- HSA as a long-term investment account, not just a spending account
- Employer stock inside retirement goals: concentration, net unrealized appreciation and diversification timing
- Early retirement and financial independence modeling, including the gap years before penalty-free access
- Social Security and Medicare basics, timing of benefits and how they interact with other income
- Tax-aware withdrawal sequencing and Roth conversion windows in low-income years
- Cross-border scenarios: what changes if you may return to Taiwan or spend years abroad
How we work together
- 01
Discovery
We inventory your retirement accounts, employer plan documents, grant schedules and current savings rate, and talk honestly about what retirement means to you: an age, a lifestyle, a place, or the freedom to choose.
- 02
Modeling
We project your accounts forward under realistic assumptions, test early-retirement and cross-border scenarios, and show where the plan is robust and where it depends on things you cannot control.
- 03
Contribution and diversification plan
You receive a written order of operations for each year: which accounts to fund, how much, how to handle after-tax and Roth conversions, and a schedule for reducing employer stock concentration.
- 04
Annual review
Each year we revisit the plan against new grants, promotions, family changes and tax law, and update the withdrawal strategy as retirement gets closer.
Why work with an independent advisor
Retirement planning is where product sales pressure is strongest, from annuities to proprietary funds to rollovers that benefit the firm more than the client. We are paid only by you, we earn no commissions, and we have no incentive to move your 401(k) anywhere. That lets us recommend low-cost building blocks, keep a good employer plan where it is, and focus on the decisions that actually move your outcome.
Frequently asked questions
Should I contribute to a traditional or Roth 401(k)?
It depends on your current bracket, where you expect to be later, and whether you might retire early or outside the US. High earners in California often lean traditional during peak years and use Roth conversions in lower-income years later. But a long career ahead, or a plan to leave a high-tax state, can shift the answer. We model both paths with your actual numbers rather than relying on a rule of thumb.
What is a mega-backdoor Roth, and does my company offer it?
Some 401(k) plans allow after-tax contributions beyond the regular employee limit, which can then be converted to Roth inside the plan or rolled to a Roth IRA. Many large tech employers offer this. We read your plan document to confirm the feature, check how the pro-rata rule applies to your IRAs, and set up the contribution and conversion cadence so it runs smoothly.
Most of my net worth is in my employer's stock. How does that affect retirement?
It makes your retirement date depend heavily on one company's share price. That can work out well, but it also means one bad year could push retirement back by several. We help you decide how much concentration you can carry, build a tax-aware schedule for diversifying, and coordinate with your equity compensation and asset allocation plans so the pieces move together.
I want to retire, or at least step back, well before 60. Is that realistic?
For many tech professionals, some version of it is. The math involves your spending, your savings rate, how you bridge the years before penalty-free access to retirement accounts, health insurance before Medicare, and how flexible you are willing to be. We model several scenarios so you can see what a target date actually requires and adjust with eyes open.
What if I might move back to Taiwan or leave the US permanently?
Retirement accounts do not disappear when you leave, but the tax treatment of withdrawals, the reporting obligations and the usefulness of Roth accounts can change. We plan for the path you consider most likely while keeping the accounts flexible, and we coordinate with your CPA on cross-border tax questions. This is general planning, not tax or legal advice on either country's rules.
How do Social Security and Medicare fit in for someone who came to the US mid-career?
Both depend on your work history in the US. Social Security benefits require enough years of covered earnings, and the timing of when you claim affects the monthly amount. Medicare eligibility also depends on work history and age. We estimate what you are likely to qualify for, explain the trade-offs of claiming earlier or later, and show how these benefits fit alongside your own savings.
Related services
- Holistic Financial PlanningOne integrated plan that connects your cash flow, equity, taxes, insurance and family goals, on both sides of the Pacific.
- Asset AllocationA disciplined plan for turning concentrated employer stock into a diversified, tax-aware portfolio you can hold through any market.
- 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.