RSU Planner
RSU Planning Tool
Model RSU vesting, tax withholding, concentration risk, and diversification decisions for equity compensation.
RSUs are taxed as ordinary income at vest. Most employer withholding is calibrated to a flat supplemental rate that sits below the actual marginal rate of high-income employees. The gap shows up in April as an unexpected tax bill. This planner surfaces the gap before it arrives.
Beyond the withholding shortfall, the planner models the household's concentration trajectory. Holding RSUs after vest is, mathematically, a decision to invest your tax-paid cash into a single stock — your employer. Sometimes that is the right decision. Sometimes it is not. Either way it should be a conscious decision, not a default. The planner shows you what your concentration looks like today, what it looks like under a sell-at-vest discipline over the next several years, and what the embedded capital gain trajectory of your held shares looks like.
What It Models
- Projected RSU vesting schedule and ordinary income recognition
- Federal withholding shortfall projection
- Concentration risk (employer stock as % of net worth)
- Diversification trajectory under a structured sell-at-vest policy
- Long-term capital gain treatment on held positions
What It Does Not Do
- Does not model AMT (use the broader Tax Planning Review for ISO/NQSO scenarios)
- Does not model state tax on RSU vesting
- Results are illustrative only — not a financial plan or recommendation
Sell-At-Vest vs. Hold
The cleanest concentration discipline for RSU compensation is sell-at-vest — converting each tranche to diversified cash on the day it lands. Holding RSUs after vest is identical to taking your tax-paid cash and buying single-name employer stock with it. Most households would never do that voluntarily. Yet that is exactly what holding does. The right answer is sometimes to hold — low concentration, strong conviction, tax considerations — and often to sell. The planner makes the implicit decision explicit.