Demystifying California taxes, advanced insurance plans, and wealth-building for tech professionals.
Indexed universal life is misunderstood and often mis-sold. Here is the structure high-earners actually use — max-funded, minimum death benefit, and paired with a 401(k) that has already hit its ceiling.
Marissa Chen, CFP
Jul 28, 2026 · 11 min read
Between 22% federal supplemental withholding and a 13.3% state top bracket, most engineers under-withhold by six figures. A quarter-by-quarter model of the true bill.
David Alvarez, CPA
Jul 21, 2026 · 9 min read
Qualifying is the easy part. Proving it five years later — with cap table records, entity history, and gross asset tests — is where exits go wrong.
David Alvarez, CPA
Jul 14, 2026 · 13 min read
For directors and above, the deferral election is a multi-year tax arbitrage — and an unsecured credit exposure to your employer. How to size both sides.
Priya Raman
Jul 09, 2026 · 8 min read
Leverage magnifies illustration risk. A candid look at loan rate assumptions, collateral calls, and the client profile that can actually absorb them.
Marissa Chen, CFP
Jul 02, 2026 · 12 min read
With the federal exemption sunsetting and Peninsula real estate carrying most of the balance sheet, irrevocable life insurance trusts do the liquidity work probate cannot.
Elaine Whitfield, JD
Jun 24, 2026 · 10 min read
High-net-worth prospects screen for competence in the first four minutes. The question sequence that earns a second meeting with tech executives.
Jonathan Pak
Jun 17, 2026 · 7 min read
Why most agent–CPA partnerships die in April, and the quarterly cadence that keeps referrals moving in the Bay Area's densest advisory market.
Jonathan Pak
Jun 05, 2026 · 6 min read
A 1978 Palo Alto purchase and a 2026 transfer can differ by $40,000 a year in property tax alone. Modeling the hold-versus-sell decision for heirs.
Elaine Whitfield, JD
May 28, 2026 · 9 min read