Corporate executives
From career success to retirement success.
Retirement planning for executives whose compensation comes in more forms than a paycheck.
Options, RSUs, deferred comp, a pension with several payout choices, and maybe a severance package with a deadline. Each one has its own tax rules and its own clock. We put them in order.
The moment
The two years before you leave can matter as much as the ten after.
Equity vests on the company’s schedule. Deferred comp elections are often locked in years in advance. Pension and severance choices can be one-time decisions. And the year you leave is often a high-income year, followed by one of your lowest.
The order in which you exercise, defer, convert, and sell during that stretch makes a real difference to what you keep.
What we plan around
Every piece of the package, in one plan.
Equity compensation
Exercise and sale strategy for ISOs, NSOs, RSUs, and ESPP shares, including AMT and concentration risk.
Deferred compensation
Election timing, distribution schedules, and how a nonqualified plan interacts with Social Security and Medicare premiums.
Pension and severance
Lump sum versus annuity, survivor options, and the tax treatment of a package you may have only weeks to accept.
The five-year tax window
Roth conversions and gain harvesting in the lower-income years after you leave, planned before you leave.
Health coverage
COBRA, the marketplace, and the move to Medicare, timed against your income to avoid surcharges.
Income design
Turning a portfolio, a pension, and deferred payments into a paycheck that lasts.
How it works
One plan for all of it, run by a team all year.
Qualifying call
20 minutes · Stacy
Tell us about your role, your compensation, and your timeline.
Discovery
60 minutes · Darren and Stacy
We review your plan documents and equity statements and map the decisions ahead.
Proposal
60 minutes · Darren and Stacy
The plan, the priorities in order, and the fee in writing. You decide.
Onboarding
60 minutes · Kylie
Accounts opened, transfers started, and your service calendar set for the year.
Year-round tax planning is built in, which matters most in the years your income swings. See how we work
Why Wurz
Advice that is not tied to a product.
We have worked with executives from Fortune 500 companies including Procter & Gamble and International Paper as they prepare to leave. The firm was founded in the 1980s and has been through many market cycles since.
We are fee-only and fiduciary, so the advice on whether to exercise, defer, or sell is not tied to anyone’s commission.
Questions we hear
Before your last day
Should I take the lump sum or the pension?
It depends on your other income, your health, and the plan’s terms. We model both before you choose.
How much company stock is too much?
Often more than people expect. We build a sale schedule that respects taxes and blackout windows.
What if I get a package with two weeks to decide?
Call us. We can help you understand the choices and their tax effects quickly.
Do you only work with executives in Ohio?
No. Our roots are in Cincinnati and Toledo, and we serve clients nationwide.
Retiring from the company in the next five years?
Let’s sequence the exit. One 20-minute call to start.
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