Executive financial planning for founders and executives.
When you’re paid in salary, bonus, equity and deferred compensation, a basic plan stops working. We build one plan around all of it, so each decision supports the others.
What a vesting schedule decides
Complex pay, simple plans.
Most executives, founders included, earn a growing share of their wealth in forms a standard plan barely touches: stock options, restricted stock, bonuses, deferred compensation and benefits that change with every promotion.
Each piece comes with its own rules, deadlines and tax treatment. Decided one at a time, they rarely add up to a plan, and the most expensive mistakes tend to show up years later.
Most executives already have help with pieces of it: a CPA who sees the tax return once a year, a benefits portal at work, an advisor who manages the portfolio. Each does its job. None of them is looking at how the pieces affect each other.
What it costs you
- Taxes paid at the wrong timeEquity exercised or sold without a tax strategy can cost more than it needed to.
- Golden handcuffsA vesting schedule quietly decides when you can afford to leave.
- ConcentrationToo much of your net worth rides on one company’s stock.
- Benefits left on the tableDeferred compensation, insurance and retirement plans that were never coordinated.
One plan for how you’re actually paid.
Executive financial planning is personal financial planning for people paid in more than a salary. It brings your cash flow, equity compensation, taxes, insurance, investments and estate plan into one strategy, then keeps it current as your role and pay change.
We deliver it through the Pillar Planning Process™, either as a one-time plan or as a year of planning meetings, pillar by pillar, with quarterly investment reviews. Founders preparing for an exit can add the personal side of the sale with the Subscription for Founders.
Make every decision on your terms.
Instead of
So you can
Deciding on equity grants one at a time
Exercise and sell on a schedule you chose, not one set by deadlines
Guessing what it would cost to leave
Know when you’re free to go, and what leaving sooner would cost
An account-by-account view
See your whole net worth in one place, and how each decision moves it
Tax surprises every April
Walk into tax season knowing what’s coming
Travel points and perks left unused
Use the perks you’ve already earned
A plan that sits in a drawer
Keep a plan that changes as your career does
Six pillars, reviewed together.
Every plan covers the same six pillars, so a decision in one area never quietly undoes another.
Plan, Design, Analysis™
- Retirement planning
- Education planning
- Cash flow review
- Executive compensation and pension analysis
- Insurance gap analysis
- Asset allocation, tax and estate plan review
General Financial Planning™
- Personal financial statements and ratios
- Personal debt and credit review
- Cash reserve structure
- A funding process for every goal
- A travel hacking guide to make the most of your travel perks, benefits and points
Insurance Planning™
- Life and disability
- Long-term care (over 55)
- Health benefits
- Property and casualty
Investment Planning™
- Current allocation, diversification, risk and concentration
- Tax location
- New allocation and risk strategy
- Security-level recommendations
Tax Planning™
- Retirement tax strategy
- Gifting strategy design
- Taxable account tax location
Estate Planning™
- Will, trust and letter of intent review
- Powers of attorney and advance medical directive review
- Gift strategy review
Clear fees, set before we start.
Choose a one-time plan or a year of ongoing planning. Every engagement starts with a written agreement that states the fee.
| Flat fee | Subscription for Executives | Subscription for Founders | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fee | QuotedRequest a quote | $1,250 / month* | $2,000 / month* |
| The six pillars of the Pillar Planning Process™ | One complete plan | Planning meetings through the year, pillar by pillar | Planning meetings through the year, pillar by pillar |
| Investment reviews | Six-month review | Quarterly | Quarterly |
| Alternative investment recommendations | Not included | Included | Included |
| Collaboration with your tax professional | Not included | Included | Included |
| Collaboration with your estate attorney | Not included | Included | Included |
| Year two and beyond | Not included | Your plan evolves: updated plan, cash flow and debt review, insurance check, tax work with your CPA, beneficiary review | Your plan evolves: updated plan, cash flow and debt review, insurance check, tax work with your CPA, beneficiary review |
| Exit timeline mapped to your personal goals, your ownership stake on your personal balance sheet, and a personal guarantee and liability exposure review | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Business-related insurance and executive benefit review: key person, buy-sell funding, golden handcuffs, earnout and retention terms | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Employee compensation strategy and execution review, and a sale proceeds tax overview | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Hypothetical exit models built on business valuation work from your accountants or other professionals, including entity structure scenarios and their tax impact | Not included | Not included | Included |
*Subscriptions require a 12-month engagement. Business valuations come from your accountants or other professionals; we use their work to model your personal outcomes, and tax scenarios are coordinated with your CPA. Business-side exit work is handled by Founder’s Accounting, and divestiture and recapitalization transactions belong with an investment bank. Full fee details are in our Form ADV Part 2A.
A year, pillar by pillar.
On a subscription, we work through the six pillars in turn. Each typically takes 45 to 60 days, so the full process runs about a year, with investment reviews every quarter along the way.
After the first year, the plan evolves rather than starting over: an updated financial plan, a cash flow, cash position and debt review, a lighter insurance check focused on group and property coverage, quarterly investment reviews, tax planning with your CPA, and a check that beneficiary designations still fit.
How a planning year works
How it works.
- 1
Discovery Meeting
A complimentary conversation about where you are, what you’re building and whether we’re the right fit.
- 2
Plan, design, analysis
We gather your compensation, benefits, accounts and documents and analyze them together.
- 3
Pillar by pillar
We meet through the year, working through each pillar with clear recommendations and the reasoning behind them.
- 4
Coordination and evolution
We work with your CPA and estate attorney to put the plan in place, then keep it evolving year after year.
Questions we hear
I’m a founder. Is this service for me?
Yes. Every founder is an executive too. Choose the Subscription for Founders if you’re preparing for an exit; it adds the personal side of the sale to the full executive plan.
Is it worth the fee?
That’s one of the things the Discovery Meeting is for. Fit has to work both ways. We’ll look at how you’re paid and tell you plainly whether planning is likely to matter enough to justify the cost. If it isn’t, we’ll say so.
Why is there a 12-month minimum?
Each of the six pillars typically takes 45 to 60 days to complete around a busy schedule, so the full process takes about a year. After that, we keep the plan evolving instead of starting from scratch.
Do you replace my CPA or attorney?
No. We coordinate with them. Your CPA and estate attorney keep their roles, and every recommendation is shared so the whole team works from one plan.
How much of my time will this take?
We gather your documents once and do the analysis ourselves. Your time goes into planning meetings, where we walk you through recommendations and the reasoning behind them, scheduled around your calendar.
Your pay is built. Now build the plan.
In a complimentary 90-minute Discovery Meeting, we’ll look at how your pay is structured and point out the decisions most likely to matter this year. It’s also how we both decide whether we’re the right fit, with no obligation.