Nik Linton, CFP, CFA

03/31/2026

"I know what a PSU is."
A lot of people who say that are thinking of an RSU.
They're not the same thing.

A Restricted Stock Unit vests on a schedule.
Show up. Time passes. Shares arrive.
A Performance Stock Unit has a second condition.
The company has to hit a target first.
Miss the target? Payout drops.
Crush it? Payout multiplies.
The grant you were issued is not the grant you'll receive.

Here's where it breaks down in practice.
Someone comes in with a financial plan built around $200K of PSUs vesting next year.
That's the target number on their grant statement.
What they don't realize: actual payout can range from $0 to $400K depending on performance metrics they've never looked up.

At a public company, it's usually tied to stock price performance or earnings targets relative to a peer group.

Pre-IPO companies rarely issue PSUs. They typically issue RSUs with a double trigger instead. That means two conditions have to be met before anything vests: time served, and a liquidity event. And statistically, 2 out of 3 VC-backed companies never reach one.

The financial plan built around the target number hinges on a tenuous assumption.

That assumption might be fine.

It might also be the reason the financial plan next year doesn't add up.

DM me "PSU" and I'll send you a one-pager on how to stress-test the number before you plan around it.

03/27/2026

Every time I sit down with a senior tech employee, the same thing surprises me.
Not their comp. Not their equity package.
How little time they've spent looking forward at what it all means on a tax return.
──
The profile is usually similar.
VP of Engineering or a senior AE at a Series B+ company.
RSUs vesting quarterly.
Base plus bonus already deep in the top bracket.
And nobody — not their CPA, not HR, not a prior advisor — has ever mapped out what the next 3 years of vesting looks like as income.
Not the gross number.
The actual income.
──
When we lay it out together, the reaction is almost always the same.
"I had no idea it stacked like that."
──
It's not a knowledge problem. It's a bandwidth problem.
These are people running teams, closing deals, building products.
The financial complexity compounds in the background while they're heads-down on everything else.
Nobody's watching the whole board.
That's the gap I exist to close.
──
If you're in tech with equity vesting and you've never modeled the next few years of income — you're not alone. And it's fixable.
Follow if you want to know what getting ahead of it actually looks like.

03/23/2026

You're 11 days from your cliff vest.
Your manager just called.
If you don't know what that means for your equity — this is for you.
Senior engineers and PMs at Series B+ companies: your unvested RSUs are more negotiable than you think. Most people walk away from them without realizing they had options.
Here's what to understand before you leave:
① The cliff trap
If you have cliff vesting, you get nothing until a specific date.
Quit 2 weeks early?
Zero. Not pro-rated. Zero.
Graded vesting is different — shares unlock incrementally.
Know which one you have before you pick a resignation date.
② Acceleration clauses (most employees never check this)
Some offer letters include single or double-trigger acceleration.
If your company gets acquired, your unvested shares may vest immediately.
This clause is in your original grant agreement.
Most employees have never read it.
③ Severance is negotiable — even the equity
If you're being laid off, your unvested RSUs are on the table.
I've seen clients walk away with an extra vesting tranche just by asking.
Your package is not final until you sign it.
④ The COBRA tax trap
RSU income is taxed as ordinary income.
A large vest in the year you lose employer health coverage can quietly push you into a higher bracket.
This surprises people every year.

Before you give notice, DM me RSU and I'll send you my pre-resignation equity checklist.
It covers 5 questions most employees never ask — cliff timing, acceleration clauses, severance negotiation, vest date mapping, and COBRA tax exposure.
Takes 10 minutes. Most people find at least one thing they missed.

03/20/2026

His wife passed away just months earlier.
And nobody told him he needed to ask about a step-up in basis.
Not his broker.
Not his custodian.
Not anyone.
Not because they were incompetent.
Because it wasn't their job to ask.

Each institution did exactly what it was supposed to do.
Processed what was in front of them.
Filed what was required.
Moved on.
Nobody had the full picture.
Nobody was watching the whole board.

When he came to us — in the middle of grief, paperwork, and the relentless pressure of an executive role at a high-growth tech company — we noticed it immediately.
Made some quick inquiries.
Coordinated with his CPA.
Got him on the path to receiving what he was entitled to.
A step-up in basis that will save him tens of thousands in taxes.
And open the door to deconcentrating some of the riskier positions in his portfolio without the full tax hit.

This is how things fall through the cracks.
Not through bad intentions.
Not through obvious negligence.
Through a system where everyone is doing their job — and nobody is doing the job that actually matters most for his financial wellbeing.

Major life transitions hit financial, tax, and legal consequences all at once.
They don't wait for you to catch up.
Even the smartest, most capable people can't be expected to master all of it while also living through it.

Complex financial lives need someone quarterbacking the whole picture.
Not just servicing the accounts.

How many people are actually watching your whole financial picture right now?

03/19/2026

Most founders I meet don't know this exists until it's too late.

QSBS (Section 1202) can eliminate up to $10M+ in federal capital gains tax on your startup exit.

Ten. Million. Dollars. (said in your best Dr Evil voice)

But the window closes the moment your shares are issued.

Swipe to see if you qualify. ↓
—

amazonaws.com

03/18/2026

The W-2 is the most heavily taxed income structure in America.

Most high-income professionals don't realize it until they see the number.

Here's what's quietly stacking up at $200K+:

F**A stops being fair at $168,600
Social Security tax cuts off at the wage cap.
Medicare never does — and above $200K you pay an extra 0.9% surcharge with no employer match.

NIIT adds 3.8% you didn't see coming
Net Investment Income Tax hits at $200K single / $250K married.
RSU vests + held company stock = this compounds fast.

AMT punishes ISO holders before they sell a share
The spread between your strike price and FMV gets added to your AMT income at exercise — even if you haven't touched the stock.

Your real all-in rate isn't 37%
Federal + F**A surcharge + NIIT + state taxes can push your effective rate past 50% in CA, NY, or NJ.

The W-2 trap isn't one tax.
It's every layer stacked on top of each other.

DM me "W2" if you want a breakdown of your specific situation.

Educational content only — not tax advice.

03/17/2026

Most tech employees have no idea what their RSU grant is actually worth.

Not because they're bad with money — because no one explained what happens between "grant" and "paycheck."

Here's the math:

Your company reports the full vested value as ordinary income on day one. That triggers automatic withholding — federal, state, F**A. All at once.

Real example:

$300K RSU vest in California

→ Federal: 37%

→ CA State: ~13.3%

→ F**A on top

You're taking home somewhere between $145K–$160K.

That's not a complaint. That's math you need to know before it happens — not after.

If you're not planning around vest timing, tax brackets, and concentration risk in advance, you're leaving money on the table every single cycle.

Most people learn this the hard way.
You don't have to.

What % did taxes take from your last vest? Drop it in the comments

06/18/2025

A career mentor once told me something that stuck with me:
"In your 20s, LEARN all you can. In your 30s, EARN all you can. In your 40s and 50s, SAVE all you can."

At the time, I thought—shouldn't we start saving earlier? And shouldn't we always keep learning?
Yes and yes. But over time, I realized the deeper message:
✅ Learning boosts your earning power
✅ Earning makes saving possible
✅ And your financial focus naturally shifts as life moves forward

That final point—and the confusion many people feel about how to adjust their financial strategy as they go—is what inspired our Retirement Planning Series this July.

No matter your age or stage, I'd love for you to join me and my co-host Egan. We'll be sharing practical tips, smart strategies, and tools to help you feel more confident about your retirement plan.

👉 Know someone who might benefit? Tag them or share this post. Let's plan smarter, together!

amazonaws.com

05/28/2025

🎯 Different giving goals require different vehicles 🚗
Let's look at two options:
🏛️ Private Foundation and 💼 Donor-Advised Fund (DAF)
🛤️ Each one offers a unique path to support the causes you care about.
Read below to find out more:

raymondjames.com

05/13/2025

I'm excited to kick off the Navigating Retirement series this month!

Embarking on retirement is like an epic sailing adventure you've planned for years. But watch out! Serious risks lie ahead like the storms of market volatility and the sharks of inflation, taxes, and unexpected medical bills. Decisions made in panic can steer your ship off course into dangerous waters. Successfully navigating these challenges is key to reaching your dream destination. 🌅🏝️

Together we'll cover:
⚠️ Typical planning mistakes
💰 Mitigating Taxes
🧓 Social Security & Medicare
⚓ Funding your voyage
🎯 Finding Purpose in retirement
🛡️ Risk management
📜 Estate Planning

Join us for a fun and informative workshop where you'll learn all the strategies you need to sail smoothly through retirement.

👉 Register here: https://www.raymondjames.com/niklinton/contact-us/event-rsvp