What Makes Financial Planning for Tech Professionals Different?

Almost every client who walks through my (virtual) door these days has one thing in common: they’ve realized their time is better spent doing something other than dealing with their money.

Many of us hit that tipping point at some time.

• You can change your own oil, but that could take you five hours, so you take your car somewhere and they do it in 20 minutes.
• You could completely rebuild your sprinkler system, but you decide that your children shouldn’t hear the kind of language that will probably come from your mouth, so you hire someone.
• You could do your own taxes but realize that there are benefits to using a professional who knows all the latest (and seemingly infinite) changes to the tax laws, so you hire a CPA.
• For many of my tech clients, you could probably build a word processing program but fortunately, Microsoft and Google have already built something that works pretty well!

The point is, there are many situations in life when it makes more sense to outsource what we need to have done rather than spend the time and frustration doing it ourselves.

 

Are You a Tech Professional? Read On!

I find that no one understands this better than the technology professionals I work with. If you’re anything like them,  you’re pragmatic and deep down you realize that your time is better spent doing what you love or making money (hopefully those are one and the same) instead of  putting together a mediocre financial plan and less-than-optimal investment allocation.

I like working with tech professionals like you because you understand the importance of the technology behind the tools that I use  to give you an ideal client experience.

More importantly, you’re the kind of person who often listens and acts on my guidance.

If you’ve worked in the tech industry, you already know that things are often handled a little differently. Knowing the intelligence of the people I already work with I know that you can handle your own financial planning and money management. The question is…do you really want to (and perhaps, should you)?

 

Here are some things that differentiate tech professionals from some of my other clients:

Compensation

In the tech industry, you might be compensated with equity in your company through restricted stock units (RSUs) and/or performance stock units, nonqualified stock options (NQSOs), and incentive stock options (ISOs). Knowing the best way to handle some of these options is often complex and confusing. Sure, you’re smart enough to figure it out, but how about having a professional on your side helping you with the details and creating a plan designed to save you time and money?

Taxes

Many people who contact me are looking for clarity around their tax situation and have realized that a little bit of planning will save them my entire annual fee. Especially when things get a little more complicated.

A liquidity event, such as another round of financing, a private equity buyout or an IPO might have you scratching your head about your tax situation.

• Do you exercise everything or hold some?
• What’s the tax impact?
• Will you owe Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)?
• How will this impact your holdings?
• Are you too concentrated in your employer stock?

Modeling

Okay, so you’ve got a side hustle doing some modeling in your free time? Me too!  But my modeling is something that might be useful to you down the road.

Many of my clients are in this business because they love what they do – but they’re also working toward goals that require some in-depth financial planning. For example, if you’re wondering if you should remodel your home right now, upsize, or buy a second home I’ll create different scenarios to help you see what that looks like and if this is the right time. If it’s not, we’ll discuss what we need to do to help you toward that goal.

 

 

<h2>Wrapping it Up, Coding Style</h2> 

I specialize in helping people like you plan for and achieve their financial goals.

Some of the work we do can be done on your own if you’re willing to put in the time.  Other items, such as Monte Carlo simulations, optimizing your investment allocation, cash flow analyses and tax planning strategies require special software that cost would cost you significantly – in time and money.

Please book your free, informal (and non-technical) consultation to share your situation and discuss how I can help you.  At worst, you spend a half hour finding you’re doing everything you can to ensure your financial success.  Alternatively you may find that paying for a professional in your corner may pay for itself financially, and allows you to spend more time doing what you really enjoy doing.

Anyone hiring a model?