Equity compensation education
Plain-English guides, tools, and answers on RSUs, stock options (ISOs and NSOs), ESPP, AMT, and QSBS — built for tech employees making real equity decisions.
New to equity? Start with the fundamentals
Types of equity
Equity 101 video course
What do you want to learn about today?
Equity Compensation, Explained: A Tech Employee's Field Guide
RSUs, ISOs, NSOs, and ESPP shares are four different instruments, each taxed on its own trigger. Here's what each one means for your bill.
Read the field guideWhy bother learning this yourself?
It’s free
Every guide, tool, and calculator here is free — no account, no gate on the learning itself. The expensive part of equity planning is the mistakes, not the education.
The stakes are real
Equity decisions are deadline-driven. Miss an 83(b) window, over-exercise into AMT, or break a QSBS holding clock and the cost is permanent. Learning early is the cheapest move you’ll make.
The outcome is worth it
People who understand their equity exercise with confidence, keep more after tax, and turn a confusing grant into real, diversified wealth instead of a single-stock gamble.
Serving tech professionals
We built The Equity Architect for one person: the tech professional sitting on equity they don’t fully understand. Everything here — our proprietary EQUITY System™, our custom calculators, and every guide — exists to turn that equity into wealth you actually keep. It’s written and reviewed by a CFP® who does this every day, not a content team.
Proprietary EQUITY System™
Our 6-step planning framework
Custom-built equity tools
Calculators made for your grants
Built for tech employees
Pre-IPO through liquidity
Mitch Ludwig, CFP®
Certified Financial Planner™
Mitch builds the equity and tax strategy — AMT, exercise timing, QSBS, and diversification — behind every plan and every tool on this site. He works exclusively with tech employees and founders navigating concentrated equity.
Latest articles
Important disclosures
Mitchell Ludwig is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and a Registered Investment Adviser Representative of Carolina Wealth Partners. Securities are offered through United Planners Financial Services, Member FINRA/SIPC. Carolina Wealth Partners and The Equity Architect are separate entities. Jon Ludwig is a Series 65–registered Investment Adviser Representative and promoter.
All content on this page is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Examples, illustrations, and client archetypes are composite in nature and do not represent any specific client. All tools and calculators are estimates only. Consult a qualified tax advisor or CFP® professional before making any financial decisions.
All marketing content is reviewed and approved by United Planners compliance in accordance with SEC Marketing Rule (Rule 206(4)–1). Past performance is not indicative of future results.