Executive Compensation Planning in Alpharetta, GA
Decisions With Deadlines You Didn't Set
Equity and deferred comp come with vesting dates, election windows, and trading restrictions that arrive on someone else's schedule. We help you decide before the window closes.
Fee-Only • Fiduciary • Independent RIA • CFP®, ChFC® • 30+ Years Serving North Atlanta
When Equity Is Most of Your Compensation
Base salary is the simple part. Restricted stock, options, performance shares, ESPP, and deferred comp are where most of the money is, and they come with rules your HR portal doesn't explain. Plenty of people who run large teams can't say exactly what they hold or when it becomes theirs, and that's awkward enough to admit that it often goes unsaid for years.
There's a second problem. When a large share of your pay arrives as company stock, your paycheck and your savings both depend on the same employer. Nobody sets out to do that. It builds one vest at a time until the number is large enough to matter.
At Daner Wealth Management, we help executives and senior professionals in Alpharetta, Roswell, and Johns Creek turn a stack of unread award agreements into a calendar of dates and decisions.
When to Start This Conversation
- A large vest is coming and you haven't decided what happens to the shares
- Employer stock has grown into a meaningful share of your net worth
- You hold incentive stock options and are weighing an exercise
- A deferred compensation election deadline is approaching
- You're changing jobs, with unvested equity to leave behind or new equity terms to weigh
- An IPO, acquisition, or other liquidity event is in view
How We Start
- Reading What You Hold. Restricted stock units, incentive stock options, non-qualified options, and performance shares are each taxed differently and carry different deadlines. Some grants allow an 83(b) election, which has to be filed within 30 days and cannot be filed late. We've written more on how the different types are taxed.
- Putting It All on One Calendar. Vest dates, election deadlines, option expirations, and the windows when you're allowed to trade all go on a single view of the year.That calendar does more than track the equity. It shows when a house down payment is realistic, when there's room to fund other accounts, and whether paying down debt makes more sense this year or next.
What We Work Through
- ISO Exercises and the AMT. Exercising incentive stock options and holding past year end can create a tax bill on a gain you haven't received in cash. The 2026 rules tightened this: the AMT exemption now starts shrinking at $500,000 for single filers and $1,000,000 for joint, and twice as fast as before. We run the numbers before you exercise, alongside your tax planning.
- A Concentration Limit and a Selling Rule. Two decisions get written down: the most you'll hold in one company, and what happens to shares as they vest. There's no single right answer, and the reasons people hold are usually loyalty, optimism, and how selling would look to colleagues. We set the threshold alongside your investment strategy.
- Deferred Compensation Elections. You choose the amount and the payout date years ahead, and the choice is hard to change. The balance is also an unsecured promise from your employer, which belongs in the decision alongside your other retirement income. More on how these plans work.
- Blackout Windows and Insider Rules. If you're a director or Section 16 officer, when you can sell depends on the calendar and on what you know. Preset 10b5-1 plans carry a waiting period, generally 90 days, so they have to be in place months ahead.
As a fiduciary, we're accountable for how these pieces fit together, and we revisit the plan as your grants, your tax situation, and your goals change.
We don't charge by the service or take commissions on products we recommend. As a fee-only firm, we charge an all-inclusive percentage of assets under management, generally 0.75%–1.25% annually, so our only incentive is doing right by your plan. We'll walk you through exactly what that means for your situation before you commit to anything.
Why Choose Daner Wealth Management
Marc Daner, CFP®, ChFC®, has worked with executives and senior professionals on equity and deferred compensation as part of a full financial picture for more than 30 years. As an independent, fee-only fiduciary, we're required by law to act in your best interest, not selling products or earning commissions. We explain your options in plain language and stay with you as your plan evolves.
Start With a Conversation
If you have equity vesting, an election deadline coming, or a position that's grown bigger than you're comfortable with, we'd welcome the conversation. Schedule a consultation with Marc Daner to talk through how your compensation fits your full financial picture.
Executive Compensation FAQs
Get your questions answered about executive compensation planning.
Yes. Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest, based on what the shares are worth that day, whether or not you sell. A common surprise is that payroll withholding on a vest often falls short of what's owed, which is a cash flow problem as much as a tax one. Our complete guide for RSU holders goes deeper.
There's no universal number. It depends on your income, your other assets, and how much of your financial life already rides on that employer. What matters more is having a figure before the next vest arrives.
Unvested grants usually forfeit on your last day. Vested options typically come with a limited window to exercise afterward, sometimes as short as 90 days, and exercising may require cash you hadn't planned for. Terms vary by plan, so check them while you still have choices.
They're taxed at different points. With non-qualified options, the spread between the exercise price and the share value is ordinary income at exercise, and your employer withholds on it. Incentive stock options create no regular income tax at exercise, but that same spread counts toward alternative minimum tax if you hold past year end. So you can owe tax on a gain you haven't received in cash. Meeting the holding requirements can put the eventual gain at long-term capital gains rates.
