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Vesting plotter and tools

Three calculators that run in your browser. Each states its formula, labels its assumptions, and draws its result. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.

Vesting plotter

Grant size, price per unit, schedule and a withholding rate in. A vest calendar out: every vest’s gross value, the estimated withholding, and totals. Illustration only.

Inputs

Held constant at every vest.

22% is the IRS flat rate for supplemental wages up to $1 million in a year (IRS Publication 15). Above $1 million the required rate is 37%. Change it to test your own assumption.

Labels each vest with a month instead of a month count.

Detail: vest calendarIllustration, not a forecast
Stepped vesting chart: 4,000 units vest in 13 vests over 48 months. Total gross value $600,000, estimated withholding $132,000, $468,000 after withholding. Every vest is listed in the vest table.$0$200k$400k$600kCUMULATIVE VALUE AT VESTY1Y2Y3Y40CLIFF 12 MO12 VESTS / 36 MOGROSS$600kWITHHELD$132k123Stepped vesting chart: 4,000 units vest in 13 vests over 48 months. Total gross value $600,000, estimated withholding $132,000, $468,000 after withholding. Every vest is listed in the vest table.$0$200k$400k$600kCUMULATIVE VALUE AT VESTY1Y2Y3Y40CLIFF 12 MO12 VESTS / 36 MO123
  • Cumulative gross value
  • After estimated withholding
  • Estimated withholding

  1. Cliff vest, Month 12. 1,000 units, $150,000 gross, about $33,000 withheld.

  2. 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.

  3. 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)
Every vest with units, gross value, estimated withholding and value after withholding
No.VestsUnitsGross valueEst. withholdingAfter withholding
1Month 121,000$150,000$33,000$117,000
2Month 15250$37,500$8,250$29,250
3Month 18250$37,500$8,250$29,250
4Month 21250$37,500$8,250$29,250
5Month 24250$37,500$8,250$29,250
6Month 27250$37,500$8,250$29,250
7Month 30250$37,500$8,250$29,250
8Month 33250$37,500$8,250$29,250
9Month 36250$37,500$8,250$29,250
10Month 39250$37,500$8,250$29,250
11Month 42250$37,500$8,250$29,250
12Month 45250$37,500$8,250$29,250
13Month 48250$37,500$8,250$29,250
Total4,000$600,000$132,000$468,000

Method

  • T = years × 12 months; C = cliff; I = months between later vests.
  • Vests fall at months C, C+I, C+2I, … and always at T. With no cliff the first vest is at I.
  • Units vested by month m: floor(N × m ÷ T). Each vest is the difference from the one before, so the units add up to N exactly.
  • Gross value of a vest: units × P, with the price P held constant.
  • Estimated withholding: gross × r, where r is 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.

Unsure whether the flat rate covers your real tax? An advisor who works with engineers can model it with your numbers.

Read: RSU Vesting and the Tax-Withholding Shortfall Nobody Warns You About

Concentration check

How much of what you own is your employer’s stock, and what a price drop you choose would take with it.

Inputs

Vested shares, at today's price.

A number you choose to test against, not a forecast.

  • Lost in the drop
  • Employer stock left
  • Everything else
Share of what you own in employer stock
40.0%
Loss from a 40% drop
$120,000
That loss as a share of the total
16.0%
Total after the drop
$630,000

Method

  • Share = S ÷ (S + O)
  • Loss = S × d; as a share of the total = S × d ÷ (S + O)

S is employer stock, O everything else, d the drop you enter. The rest of your holdings are held still, which a real market rarely does. Your paycheck comes from the same employer, so a drop can arrive with a job risk this bar does not show.

Too much in one stock is a common reason engineers ask for an advisor.

Read: Target-Date Funds vs. Self-Directed 401(k) Allocation for Tech-Industry Risk Profiles

After-tax 401(k) headroom

The space between your plan’s total limit and what you and your employer already put in.

Inputs

Default: the 2026 IRS limit on everything added to one person's 401(k) in a year, $72,000, under age 50 (IRS, section 415(c)). Your plan may set a lower one; check it.

Default: the 2026 IRS employee deferral limit, $24,500 (IRS Notice 2025-67).

An example amount. Use your own.

  • Your deferrals
  • Employer money
  • Room for after-tax contributions
Room for after-tax contributions
$35,500
Used by deferrals and employer money
$36,500

Method

  • Room = max(0, limit − deferrals − employer)

The room only helps if your plan accepts after-tax contributions and lets you convert them to Roth, in the plan or by withdrawal. Catch-up contributions for people 50 and over are separate and not shown.

Whether a mega backdoor Roth is worth it depends on your plan's rules and your cash flow.

Read: Mega Backdoor Roth 401(k) Mechanics, Step by Step

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