TFP #060: Beyond The Baby Registry: A New Parent's Money Guide

One of the best parts of my job is watching our client’s families grow. This year alone, we've celebrated with no less than a dozen clients welcoming new babies - many of them first-time parents. And almost every time, amid the joy and excitement, they ask me the same crucial question:

"What should we be doing to prepare financially?"

Here's what most new parents get wrong:

They wing it.

Parenting? Yes - it’s a lot of improvisation and DoorDash at 11pm because your baby finally went to sleep.

But your family's financial foundation?

That's not something you want to piece together from the delivery apps in your phone.

If you're a new parent (or soon-to-be one), this guide will walk you through the five essential financial moves you need to consider. While each could be its own deep dive, consider this your starter roadmap for protecting your growing family.

TFP #059: 5 More Money Myths

Over the past 4+ years of working and talking with hundreds of people in tech, I've found a number of myths and half truths that people believe.

Last year I wrote about 5 Money Myths, and now I want to write about 5 more.

So today we will break down these 5 down, and why they can be so harmful - namely, they drive people's behavior around money. And by avoiding these 5 myths, you will become a better investor and saver.

Now, let's dive in.

TFP #058: Almost Everyone Gets Financial Planning Wrong

The paradox of our time is that we’ve never had more information at our fingertips, and yet the answers aren’t any clearer. Google (and now ChatGPT) has no shortage of results for any financial planning questions you have, and social media is full of clickbait articles like “11 Things Your Financial Plan is Probably Missing.”

The problem is that while there’s an abundance of information, very little of it applies to your personal situation. More often than not, it places the focus on all the hot topics of the day (and very little of which is helpful for your plans!)

So today I want to show you how most people in tech approach financial planning, why that’s the wrong way to plan, and 4 steps to plan the right way.

Let’s dive in.

TFP #057: Navigating Your E-Trade Account: A Guide For Procore Employees

I get a lot of questions about trying to understand your equity at E-Trade, which is fair. It’s very confusing. Words like potential value, current value, total value - it’s not super clear. And some views are helpful, and some aren’t.

So candidly, I don’t use the website until it’s time to sell or exercise. When I work with clients, I have them send me this CSV (you can get it by logging in to E-Trade, then select your Stock plan, go to "holdings", then "view by status", "download", "download expanded".)

Today I want to walk you through what I look for and the flow I go through. At a high level, this report tells me 3 really important things about your equity.

  1. What you have already

  2. What you are able to exercise

  3. What is unvested

TFP #056: Reflections On 4 Years In Business

4 years in business - wow that’s fun and crazy to type.

This is my second time reflecting on the business and sharing it with the wider world (last year was reflections on 3 years in business.)

It’s a little bit of our Coastal Capital state of the union - looking back on the previous year and looking ahead - what’s working, what’s not, and where we are headed.

Let's jump in.

TFP #055: 9 Ways To Manage Your Company Stock

There’s only 3 ways to approach your company stock:

  • Sell none of it

  • Sell some of it

  • Sell all of it

But there can be variations - particularly if you are looking to sell some.

Let’s run through 9 of the most common ways to manage your company stock, and we’ll include an example for each one.

For simplicity’s sake, let’s say you hold 10,000 shares of XYZ company, and XYZ company currently trades at $50 / share.

Which means you currently have $500,000 worth of XYZ stock.

TFP #054: When Should You Hire A Financial Planner?

Read Time: 4 minutes

Welcome to the 54th edition of the Tech Financial Planning (TFP) newsletter.

When should you hire a financial planner?

This was the title of a recent Ben Carlson blog.

It’s a question I get asked a fair amount, especially since we work with a predominantly younger group of clients (at least compared to the wealth management industry at large). 

Ben lists 7 of the biggest (but certainly not only) reasons you should hire a financial advisor.

I really liked his list so I decided to put a spin on it with 5 reasons people have hired us (and again, certainly not the only reasons).

Here they are.

TFP #053: Don't Tip The IRS

Read Time: 3 minutes

Welcome to the 53rd edition of the Tech Financial Planning (TFP) newsletter.

If you have company stock, please, please, pretty please, make sure you report the correct cost basis.

It can be the difference between owing $7,000 and owing $10 (aka tipping the IRS).

I was chatting with someone earlier this week on LinkedIn and they were doing their taxes in TurboTax and they were surprised with how much taxes they still owed.

TFP #052: The 1% Difference: Small Changes = Big Impacts

Read Time: 4 minutes

Welcome to the 52nd edition of the Tech Financial Planning (TFP) newsletter.

In late 2023, a new client, let’s call her Sally, started working with us.

Sally was already doing quite well with her investments and career, but she felt something was missing with her financial strategy.

Despite already having an advisor, Sally wasn’t getting the proactive planning she needed.

Her investments were doing reasonably well enough, but when she asked questions about her comp plan, diversification, future planning, and budgeting, she didn’t get the answers she was looking for.

Her old advisor's advice was simple: “Just keep doing what you’re doing; you’re doing great.”

Indeed, Sally was, and is, doing great.

She’s propelled her career, increased her income, and grown her investments significantly over the past few years.

But “just keep doing what you’re doing” is a huge miss.

We believe that even when you’re doing 90%, 95%, or even 99% of things right, that remaining 1% can have a massive impact.

It’s that last piece that provides more flexibility and freedom in the years to come.

In our partnership with Sally, we went beyond the standard advice of “keep doing what you’re doing.” 

We dove into her compensation, put a plan in place for her company equity (both what she  has and what she will be getting), diversified her investments, and crafted a proactive plan for the years ahead

The result?

Sally not only continued her success but is now even better positioned for the future.

Why share Sally’s story?

Because it highlights a fundamental truth: even when you’re doing well, there’s almost always room for improvement.

It’s about making the most out of your income, your career, and your equity, and ensuring that every piece aligns for your future.

TFP #051: Should You Participate In Your Company’s Tender Offer?

Read Time: 5 minutes

Welcome to the 51st edition of the Tech Financial Planning (TFP) newsletter.

When you work at a private company, the big dream for most is that your company goes IPO one day.

And while IPOs often grab headlines, it’s not the only way that you can turn your private company stock into cash.

The past few months we’ve helped several clients at two different private companies evaluate tender offers.

Tender offers are “a structured liquidity event that typically allows multiple sellers (including employees and early investors) to sell their shares either to another investor, a group of investors, or back to the company at a predetermined price. 

In other words, it’s a potential way for employees to sell their shares for cash while the company is still private”

TFP #050: 2 Big Changes To The Procore 401k

Read Time: 7 minutes

Welcome to the 50th edition of the Tech Financial Planning (TFP) newsletter.

There are 2 big changes to the Procore 401k plan in 2024.

  1. A $5,000 cap on the Procore match

  2. Adding an after-tax contribution option to the 401k plan, with In-Plan conversion (if this sounds like gibberish, that’s to be expected)

Let’s dive into each and what this might mean for you.

TFP #049: How We Work With Clients

Read Time: 2 Minutes

Welcome to the 49th edition of the Tech Financial Planning (TFP) newsletter.

My typical client looks like this:

  • Tech employee with equity comp

  • Household income of $350k+ (potentially more once you factor in equity comp)

  • Good chance current / former Procore

  • Usually 1-2 kids (or planning on it) and probably a dog

  • High cost of living

  • Looking for someone to help them navigate all the complex planning that comes up.

Here are the 6 areas we cover for clients.

TFP #047: It's Ok To Pay Taxes

Read Time: 4.5 Minutes

Welcome to the 47th edition of the Tech Financial Planning (TFP) newsletter

Everyone feels like they are paying too much in taxes.

A common pain point: 

“We are getting killed in taxes. 

We make $300k-$500k+ as a W2 household and we routinely pay 5 to 6 figures in taxes every year. 

What can we do?

Unfortunately, there’s no magic wand that you can waive to make your taxes go away.

Spoiler alert: sometimes it’s ok to bite the bullet and pay the taxes.

Because saving (or deferring) taxes almost always comes at some sort of cost.

It’s usually costs you one of two things

  1. Access

  2. Less money in your pocket today

TFP #046: Thinking In Bets

Read Time: 4 minutes

Welcome to the 46th edition of the Tech Financial Planning (TFP) newsletter.

I recently started the book Thinking In Bets by former pro poker player Annie Duke.

It’s not a book about poker, but about “how to get comfortable with uncertainty and make better decisions as a result.”

I love the sub title too - “Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All The Facts.”

Doesn’t that get down to the heart of financial planning?

We are trying to make good financial decisions today based on an unknown, uncertain future.

TFP #045: 4 Good Things I’ve Read Lately

Read Time: 7 minutes

Welcome to the 45th edition of the Tech Financial Planning (TFP) Newsletter.

I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or timing but lately I’ve come across some great financial wisdom that I wanted to share with you.

Advice on saving, managing uncertainty, wealth, and investing in down markets

In this newsletter I’ll share 4 excerpts from blogs / books I’ve read lately with some thoughts & observations.

TFP #044: A Doctor Who Cares

Read Time: 5 minutes

Carly and I are expecting our first kid early next year (and no, we aren’t finding out if it’s a boy or girl).

With that comes a lot of doctor appointments (and doctor bills, but that’s a different story). While we are still a few months away, we recently started researching potential pediatricians. Many things “kid-related” in Santa Barbara are in short supply - OB/GYNs, pediatricians, daycare, and so forth. Credit to Carly, she’s been very on top of getting us appointments and on waitlists.

On Wednesday we met with a potential pediatrician, and it was such a pleasant surprise. 

TFP #043: How Is Financial Planning Different For Tech Employees?

Read Time: 5 Minutes

Welcome to the 43rd edition of the Tech Financial Planning (TFP) Newsletter.

What on earth is financial planning, and how is it unique for people in tech?

Or put more simply, what is it that we actually do with clients?

In this newsletter we’ll break down what financial planning is, both broadly and for our clients, and some ways we’ve helped clients this year.