Your equity, drawn to scale.
For software and hardware engineers paid partly in stock. Plot your vesting schedule, see what a flat withholding rate takes from each vest, then submit your inputs for referral to a licensed advisor who works with engineers and technical careers.
How it works
Answer a few questions
Four short steps: where you are, your finances in ranges, your goals, and how to reach you.
Check the inputs
We review the inputs and contact you to confirm the figures.
Referral
You get an introduction to a licensed advisor who works with engineers and technical careers. What happens next is your decision.
Vesting plotter
Enter a grant. The line steps up at every vest, and the hatched band is the part a flat withholding rate takes. It starts at 4,000 units at $150, four years, a one-year cliff, then quarterly.
- Cumulative gross value
- After estimated withholding
- Estimated withholding
Cliff vest, Month 12. 1,000 units, $150,000 gross, about $33,000 withheld.
Then 12 quarterly vests. 250 units each (whole units; rounding moves a unit between vests), about $37,500 gross and $8,250 withheld per vest.
After 48 months. 4,000 units, $600,000 gross, $132,000 estimated withholding at 22%, $468,000 after withholding.
Totals: $600,000 gross, $132,000 estimated withholding, $468,000 after withholding.
Vest table: every vest in numbers (13 rows)
| No. | Vests | Units | Gross value | Est. withholding | After withholding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Month 12 | 1,000 | $150,000 | $33,000 | $117,000 |
| 2 | Month 15 | 250 | $37,500 | $8,250 | $29,250 |
| 3 | Month 18 | 250 | $37,500 | $8,250 | $29,250 |
| 4 | Month 21 | 250 | $37,500 | $8,250 | $29,250 |
| 5 | Month 24 | 250 | $37,500 | $8,250 | $29,250 |
| 6 | Month 27 | 250 | $37,500 | $8,250 | $29,250 |
| 7 | Month 30 | 250 | $37,500 | $8,250 | $29,250 |
| 8 | Month 33 | 250 | $37,500 | $8,250 | $29,250 |
| 9 | Month 36 | 250 | $37,500 | $8,250 | $29,250 |
| 10 | Month 39 | 250 | $37,500 | $8,250 | $29,250 |
| 11 | Month 42 | 250 | $37,500 | $8,250 | $29,250 |
| 12 | Month 45 | 250 | $37,500 | $8,250 | $29,250 |
| 13 | Month 48 | 250 | $37,500 | $8,250 | $29,250 |
| Total | 4,000 | $600,000 | $132,000 | $468,000 |
Method
T = years × 12months;C= cliff;I= months between later vests.- Vests fall at months
C, C+I, C+2I, …and always atT. With no cliff the first vest is atI. - Units vested by month
m:floor(N × m ÷ T). Each vest is the difference from the one before, so the units add up toNexactly. - Gross value of a vest:
units × P, with the pricePheld constant. - Estimated withholding:
gross × r, whereris the rate you enter.
Real vests are valued at the share price on each vest date, and your final tax can be higher or lower than what is withheld. This does not model the alternative minimum tax, state tax, Social Security or Medicare. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Withholding at a flat rate is an estimate, not your tax bill. An advisor who works with engineers can look at the gap with your real numbers.
Find an advisor
Answer a few short questions. We review your answers, contact you to confirm what you need, and match you with a licensed financial advisor who specializes in engineers and technical careers.
What people ask advisors about
- RSUs, stock options or ESPP
- Alternative minimum tax on option exercises
- Too much of my wealth in employer stock
- Retirement accounts and mega backdoor Roth
- Planning for financial independence
- A full portfolio and wealth review
Guides
Ten guides, each about a four-minute read. Listed like sheets in a set.
- RSU Vesting and the Tax-Withholding Shortfall Nobody Warns You About
Your company withholds shares at a flat supplemental rate on every RSU vest. For most engineers in mid-to-high tax brackets, that rate is not enough — and the gap shows up as a surprise bill.
- ISO vs. NSO: Stock Option Basics Every Engineer Should Model
Two option types, two different tax triggers, two different risk profiles at exercise. The type printed on your grant agreement changes the entire decision tree.
- AMT Planning for Startup Equity: A Systems View
The alternative minimum tax behaves like a second tax system running in parallel to your normal return. For engineers exercising ISOs at a startup, understanding both systems is not optional.
- Mega Backdoor Roth 401(k) Mechanics, Step by Step
The standard 401(k) limit and the total plan limit are two different numbers. The gap between them, if your plan allows after-tax contributions and in-plan conversions, is the mega backdoor Roth.
- Comparing FAANG-Style Benefits Packages Beyond the Headline Number
Two offers with identical base salary and similar equity grants can differ by tens of thousands of dollars a year once 401(k) match structure, HSA contributions, and vesting cliffs are modeled properly.
- Negotiating Equity Refreshers: What Actually Moves the Number
Refresher grants are not automatic, and the process that determines their size is more mechanical — and more influenceable — than most engineers assume.
- 83(b) Elections for Early-Stage Equity: The Window You Can't Reopen
You have 30 days from grant to file an 83(b) election. Miss it, and a decision that could have been nearly costless becomes permanently more expensive.
- Engineer-to-Manager Compensation Transition Planning
Moving from IC to manager changes your equity refresh cadence, your bonus structure, and sometimes your leveling entirely — often before your paycheck reflects any of it.
- Geographic Arbitrage and Remote-Work Tax Residency Basics
Moving to a lower-cost-of-living or no-income-tax state as a remote engineer sounds simple. The tax-residency mechanics of actually making the move stick are not.
- Target-Date Funds vs. Self-Directed 401(k) Allocation for Tech-Industry Risk Profiles
A target-date fund assumes your only risk exposure is the stock market. An engineer with a large RSU position at the same employer as their paycheck has a second, correlated risk that default glide paths ignore.
Tools
Vesting plotter
Grant size, price, schedule and a withholding rate in; a vest calendar with gross value and estimated withholding out.
Concentration check
How much of what you own is your employer's stock, and what a price drop you choose would take with it.
After-tax 401(k) headroom
The room between your plan's total limit and what you and your employer already put in: the space a mega backdoor Roth uses.
Have a real grant on the table?
An offer to compare, a refresher, an option exercise, too much in one stock. Submit the numbers and we refer you to a licensed advisor who works with engineers and technical careers.