Our clients generally fall into two groups. The first is mid-career professionals who earn company stock as a meaningful part of their compensation. They work in tech, biotech, financial services, and consumer brands. Their pay includes RSUs, stock options (ISOs and NSOs), ESPPs, and sometimes deferred compensation plans. They typically earn between $150,000 and $500,000 or more per year, and their financial picture has gotten complicated enough that handling it alone or with a generalist advisor means they are probably leaving money on the table, especially around equity vesting events and tax planning. The second is pre-retirees and early retirees. These clients have accumulated significant wealth and are shifting from building assets to living off of them. They need a withdrawal strategy that accounts for tax efficiency, sequence of returns risk, the gap before Medicare and Social Security, and a time horizon that could stretch 30 or 40+ years. Both groups tend to share a few traits: they are analytical, they value transparency on fees, and they have reached a point where the financial decisions ahead of them feel too high-stakes to manage without a specialist. We work with clients across the entire United States. Most are based in cities like Austin, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, New York, and Washington D.C., though location does not matter as long as you are in the U.S.

Yes. We are based in Austin, Texas, but we work with clients in all 50 states. Many of our client relationships are fully virtual (although we are happy to meet in person with local clients). Meetings typically happen over video call. You get access to a shared financial planning portal (powered by RightCapital) where you can view your plan, track your goals, and see updates to your financial picture in real time. During review meetings, we share screens so you see exactly what we are looking at and can ask questions as we go. There is no difference in scope, response time, or quality of planning between a local Austin client and someone in California, New York, or anywhere else. If you have an internet connection, we can work together. We are currently unable to work with individuals who live outside of the United States.

Many of our clients are in demanding careers. They do not have hours to spend on financial planning, and they should not have to. Here's what the time commitment looks like in practice. During onboarding (the first few months), expect to spend roughly ~5 hours total. That includes an initial meeting, linking your accounts in the planning portal, and the follow-ups leading to the review of your plan. We walk you through every step. After onboarding, the ongoing commitment is manageable. Most clients meet with us two to four times per year for scheduled reviews, each lasting 45 to 60 minutes. Between meetings, we handle the investment management, tax planning coordination, and monitoring. If something comes up that needs your attention (a vesting event, a job change, a tax decision), we reach out. The whole point of hiring an advisor is to take things off your plate. You should be spending less time thinking about your finances after you start working with us, not more.

We don't rush anything. Many of the financial decisions involved in equity compensation and retirement planning are irreversible, and making them under pressure is how people lose money. Here is how the process typically unfolds. First, we meet to understand your situation, your goals, and what feels most urgent. You then set up your profile in our planning portal, which involves linking your accounts and answering a few questions about your financial priorities. Within the first few weeks, we deliver your initial financial snapshot. It shows where you stand today, your probability of reaching your goals, and where the biggest gaps and opportunities are. From there, we prioritize together. Some items (like fixing a glaring tax issue or adjusting your 401(k) contributions) may make sense to address right away. Others (like an estate plan or a long-term Roth conversion strategy) can unfold over months. You control the pace. We make recommendations, explain the reasoning, and let you decide when to act.

This is the right question to ask, and you should ask it of every advisor you talk to. Here is what makes this firm different. The fee model. Most advisory firms charge 1% of your assets under management every year. That means as your portfolio grows, the fee grows, even if the work stays the same. On a $2 million portfolio, that's $20,000 per year. On $3 million, $30,000. We charge a flat annual fee that covers both financial planning and investment management. Your fee doesn't increase just because the market went up. The credentials. I hold both the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) and CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designations. The CFP covers the full range of financial planning. The CFA is the most rigorous credential in investment analysis and is held by a small fraction of practicing advisors. That combination means the same person building your financial plan is also managing your investments. There's no handoff to a separate team. The specialization. This firm is built specifically for professionals who earn company stock (RSUs, stock options, ISOs, NSOs, ESPPs, deferred compensation) and for people transitioning into retirement. These are areas where the planning is genuinely complex and where a generalist advisor is likely to miss things that cost you real money. The background. I spent 15+ years in the institutional investment industry, including at J.P. Morgan and Cohen and Steers, working on complex investing and tax strategies. That experience shapes how I manage client portfolios and approach financial planning decisions today. The fiduciary standard. I'm a fee-only fiduciary and a NAPFA member. I don't earn commissions. I don't sell insurance products, annuities, or proprietary funds. The only revenue I receive comes from the flat fee you pay for planning and investment management.

Your investment accounts are held at Altruist, an independent third-party custodian. SWP never has direct custody of your money. You can log in to Altruist at any time to verify your balances, review transactions, and confirm that everything matches what we report. This separation between your advisor and your custodian is one of the most important safeguards in the advisory industry. For financial planning, we use RightCapital, a planning platform with bank-level encryption. Your account data is pulled in through read-only connections, meaning the software can see your balances and transactions but can't move money or make changes to your accounts. All communication containing sensitive information is handled through secure channels. We don't send account numbers, tax documents, or personal financial details over unencrypted email.

Most clients meet with us two to four times per year for scheduled reviews. Each meeting runs about 45 to 60 minutes and covers your financial plan updates, investment performance, tax planning status, and any upcoming decisions or life changes. Between scheduled meetings, we're available whenever something comes up. If you get a new job offer, receive an unexpected equity grant, need to decide about exercising stock options, or just have a question about your portfolio, you don't have to wait for the next quarterly review. We also reach out proactively when something affects your plan, whether that's a market event, a tax law change, or an approaching deadline related to your equity compensation. You'll never be in a position where something important happened and nobody told you.