The EQUITY System™Turn complex equity compensation into clear, actionable strategy
The EQUITY System™ is a six-step proprietary framework designed for tech professionals: a structured process that turns equity complexity into a plan you can follow.
The E.Q.U.I.T.Y. System™
After watching tech professionals leave money on the table, not from bad intentions but from not having a clear, coordinated plan for their equity compensation, Mitchell Ludwig, CFP® co-developed The EQUITY System™ with his brother Jon, a former tech professional turned Investment Adviser Representative. Jon navigated company stock, RSUs, 401(k)s, and promotion cycles firsthand, so the system is built on lived experience, not theory.
The result is a structured, six-step process designed to educate tech professionals on equity compensation basics, provide a clear decision-making framework, and deliver an actionable strategy designed to address key equity challenges and align with desired financial outcomes.
When to Exercise, Buy, or Sell
Know when to exercise, when to buy, and when to sell, so you can avoid missing a trading window, blowing an AMT deadline, or regretting a decision you can’t undo.
Strategies to Exit Effectively
Strategies to exit your concentrated position with a surgical, tax-aware approach that is designed to preserve what you’ve earned.
What to Reinvest In
We can help you replace single-stock risk with a diversified, institutional-grade portfolio built for long-term, generational wealth.
The Advisor for Equity
A dedicated practice, a structured financial-planning framework, and calculators built specifically for tech employees with equity, not a generalist bolting equity onto a standard plan.
Limited Capacity by Design
We purposely cap the number of clients we serve, so we can give each one the time and detail their unique equity situation deserves. We work with equity comp clients, because that's what we do best.
Event-Tailored Meetings
We build our check-in schedule around your vesting dates, trading windows, grant dates, and liquidity events, so you get answers when decisions actually happen, not just at year-end.
Equity
Quantify
Unify
Implement
Target
Year-Round
Equity Compensation Education and Evaluation
Many clients haven't had anyone explain their equity. So the first session is half education, on grant types, vesting, and how each piece gets taxed, and half evaluation of your package and financial situation. From there we send resources to review, name the top three challenges we'd address first, and lay out a high-level roadmap.
Quantify Risk, Tax & Wealth Impacts
Next we collect your documents and statements, from grant agreements and pay stubs to tax returns and account balances, and build out your financial picture. That data runs through our models to produce baseline metrics you can track progress against, plus scenario simulations that put dollar figures on your theoretical wealth, tax exposure, concentration risk, and the potential implications that inaction may cost.
Unify Financial Picture
We aggregate your accounts, including brokerage, 401(k)s, IRAs, and ESPP, into one view, helping eliminate blind spots in asset allocation and putting your whole financial picture in one place. You see the part your equity compensation plays in the rest of your financial life, and you stop rebuilding a spreadsheet every quarter.
Implement Wealth Plan
We propose a portfolio suitable for your risk profile, liquidity needs, and the constraints specific to your situation. Then we execute a tax-optimized reallocation that moves your concentrated position into a diversified, professionally managed portfolio, working around trading windows, insider restrictions, and any tender offer your company runs.
Target Liquidation & Investment Milestones
We map out your upcoming equity comp events and establish clear triggers in advance that are price-contingent, date-driven, or event-based, which takes the emotional paralysis out of the sell-vs.-hold call. That covers exercises, share sales, vest dates, and any tender offer your company runs, scheduled around trading windows and insider restrictions.
Year-Round Guidance
Financial planning isn't a one-time event, it's an evolving process. We work alongside you and your family on an ongoing basis, continuously reviewing and adjusting your strategy to navigate life transitions, regulatory shifts, equity events, and changing liquidity needs. With a dedicated Certified Financial Planner® Professional in your corner, you gain a long-term partner committed to guiding you toward true financial freedom. Individual needs vary and require consideration of your unique objectives and financial situation.
Three main problems stand in the way when it comes to your equity. The EQUITY System™ addresses each one.
1Equity scattered across a dozen portals
Your grants sit in separate portals, and no one has shown you the full position in one place: total shares, true cost basis, vesting dates, and how each lot is taxed. Plenty of people discover they've paid tax twice on the same RSUs, because the broker's cost basis left out income already reported on their W-2. You can't plan around a position you've never fully seen.
2Tax traps hidden until the bill arrives
Exercising ISOs can trigger AMT, a cash tax on paper gains that stings most when the stock is still private and can't be sold to cover it. RSUs are withheld at 22% while the income often lands in the 32–37% brackets, leaving a gap that surfaces at filing. Shares that could qualify for the QSBS exclusion get missed, forfeiting one of the largest breaks in the tax code.
3A fortune concentrated in one stock
Equity-heavy employees often hold 50–80% of their net worth tied to one company. Without pre-set rules, each move on that position becomes an emotional guess made under pressure. In Q4 2024, employees exercised just 32.2% of their vested, in-the-money options, near historic lows, a sign of how easily these decisions stall (Source: Carta).
The EQUITY System™ works through all three, in order and by design.
Client Transformation
The Outcomes We Want To Help You Achieve
Precise understanding of your equity position, tax situation, and net worth. You know your Freedom Number.
The maze of RSUs, ISOs, and vesting schedules becomes a chronological action plan with specific milestones pre-mapped.
Single-stock point of failure systematically replaced by a professionally managed, multi-asset portfolio built for growth potential.
A tax strategy that works to reduce AMT exposure, favor long-term capital gains treatment, and capture available efficiencies.
Clearly-structured, emotion-free exit triggers designed to remove the psychological burden of the sell-vs.-hold decision.
The equity that could have been squandered becomes the foundation of a legacy wealth roadmap that can be used for years to come.
The engineers who built lasting wealth from their equity had one thing in common: they stopped reacting and started executing. That's what The EQUITY System™ is built to do.
Individual needs vary and these strategies, including diversification, may not be appropriate in all cases. Neither United Planners nor its financial professionals render legal or tax advice. We work with you and your tax and legal counsel to assist you with your financial plan.
How We Work
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