Frequently Asked Questions

A fiduciary has a legal obligation to put your interests ahead of their own. All LifeSighted advisors are fiduciaries and have taken a fiduciary oath to treat you with the highest ethical standards.

CFP® stands for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and the marks are recognized as the highest standard in personal financial planning. Not all financial planners are certified to use the marks. Only those who have fulfilled the certification requirements are able to call themselves a CFP®. Those requirements include an education component, experience working with clients, and a comprehensive financial planning exam.

To find out more, visit the CFP® Board website at www.cfp.net

An Enrolled Agent (EA) is someone who can represent taxpayers in front of the IRS. They earn this privilege by passing a three-part comprehensive IRS exam and have the same authority in representing taxpayers as an attorney or CPA in the eyes of the IRS.

To learn more, visit the IRS website.

We work best with people whose financial lives have gotten complex enough that they need a real partner, not just a product. That typically looks like:

• Tech professionals with RSUs, stock options, or other equity comp
• Families juggling multiple income sources, kids, and competing priorities
• High earners who want comprehensive planning, not just investment management

Not sure? Reach out and let’s see if we’re a good fit.

No! While you’re welcome to set up a time to meet in person, we primarily work remotely. We find it’s far more convenient for all of us, saves on travel time for you, and allows us to help more people than we could otherwise.

The first meeting is complimentary. We use it to learn a little bit more about your situation to see if we think we can provide real value to you. It’s a great opportunity to mutually determine whether we’ll be a good fit for each other.

We are an independent, fee-only firm. What that means is that 100% of LifeSighted’s income comes directly from our clients’ fees. We refuse to receive commissions or kickbacks of any kind. This minimizes our exposure to conflicts of interest and best aligns us with your success.

Fill out a short form on our contact page and we’ll reach out to set up a quick intro call. No prep needed—just a relaxed conversation to see if we’re the right fit.

Do we have any secret sauce? Nope. Can you do well on your own? It’s definitely possible. Is it worth it to hire us? We believe so.

There’s a body of research showing that working with an advisor adds meaningful value over time, primarily by minimizing the behavioral and emotional decisions that hurt average investors’ returns. Outside, objective advice helps you stay disciplined when markets get volatile and avoid the kinds of mistakes that compound over years.

Investments are only one area of your financial life, however. Though harder to quantify, we like to focus on the positive impact we have in other areas of your life too – for example, helping you set and track goals, looking for ways to cut down on expenses, working with you to increase your income, being a sounding board for financial life matters, ensuring you have the proper risk management strategy, providing you with peace of mind that someone else is looking out for your financial well-being, reduce the stress that money can bring to your life, and most importantly, giving you the freedom to do the things that make you happy and live the life you love.

It depends on what you’re paying for. If the fee only covers investment management, it’s fair to question the value. But comprehensive financial planning should go well beyond a portfolio.

At LifeSighted, you’re paying for a dedicated financial decision partner who understands your full financial life: your income, investments, taxes, equity compensation, goals, family needs, and the decisions coming down the road. Some of the value can be quantified, especially when tax planning, equity compensation decisions, or coordinated financial choices create a clear financial benefit.

The deeper value is clarity. You have someone helping you think through important decisions before they become urgent, so you are not carrying every financial choice on your own. That means less second-guessing, fewer late-night worries, and more confidence that your family has a plan, even if something happens to you.

The goal is not just to manage your money. It’s to help you make better decisions, with less stress, and a clearer view of the life you’re building.

Ongoing Financial Planning is offered in three tiers (Core, Plus, and Bespoke) priced based on the complexity of your situation. Investment management for portfolios up to $1M is included in the planning fee, with tiered advisory fees applying to assets above that level. Current pricing for each tier lives on our Ongoing Financial Planning page.

Our ongoing planning fee includes comprehensive financial planning, investment management for accounts we directly manage, and personal tax return preparation in one coordinated relationship. That means the same team helping with your portfolio is also looking at your tax picture, cash flow, equity compensation, employee benefits, retirement strategy, insurance, estate planning basics, and the major decisions coming up in your life. The relationship includes regular planning meetings, access to your advisor between meetings as questions come up, end-of-year tax projections, and guidance on workplace retirement plans you keep in your employer’s plan.

For investment assets, the first $1 million under advisement is included in the planning fee, with tiered advisory fees applying to assets above that level, which covers the work of implementing, monitoring, rebalancing, and adjusting the portfolio as your tax picture, cash needs, equity compensation, and life plans change. Current pricing is available on our Financial Planning page. Business returns, trust returns, bookkeeping, and certain additional tax needs may be available for an added fee.

Cancel anytime with 30 days’ written notice. Because we bill in arrears (you pay for work already done, not in advance), you’ll receive a final prorated invoice for the work performed through your last day. No termination fees, no penalties.

Yes. We’re based in California and work with clients across the country, virtually. Planning meetings happen by video, and we use secure online tools to share documents and review your situation together.

Your CPA prepares your tax return. We prepare it too, but we also build the financial plan that shapes what’s on the return. Tax prep informs the plan; the plan informs the tax decisions in front of you. Same team across both. Most CPAs only see you when you file your tax return. We’re available for the questions and decisions in between.

Two ways. First, integration: subscription services scale financial planning across many advisors at lower price points, and you may not get the same advisor twice. Tax preparation isn’t included. We work with fewer clients per advisor, with tax preparation done by the same team that handles your planning. Second, depth: subscription services handle generic financial planning well, but they don’t go deep on what actually drives complex tax bills, like equity comp mechanics, ISO/AMT modeling, secondary sales, and multi-entity planning. If your situation is genuinely complex, we’re built for it.

Yes. ISOs are one of the most common reasons clients come to us. We model exercise timing across tax years, project AMT exposure before you exercise, and coordinate the hold period with your overall tax picture. We also handle AMT credit recovery in subsequent years, which most CPAs miss.

Yes. For pre-IPO employees we plan around early exercise and the 83(b) decision, AMT projections for ISO exercises, secondary sale opportunities, and post-liquidity diversification. The work changes a lot post-IPO; we plan for both phases.

Not necessarily. Some accounts, like a 401(k) or other employer retirement plan, usually need to stay where they are. We can help advise on those accounts using the investment options and percentage-based allocations available in the plan.

For outside brokerage accounts, IRAs, and Roth IRAs, we generally recommend bringing those accounts under LifeSighted’s management if you want specific investment guidance. Specific advice on accounts we don’t manage can go stale before you act on it, or get implemented differently than we intended.

When we manage the account directly, we can take responsibility for the full process: portfolio design, tax-aware implementation, rebalancing, asset location, risk management, and ongoing monitoring. It also gives your family a more organized structure and a trusted point of contact if something happens to you.

You do not have to consolidate everything on day one. But the more of your investment life we are responsible for managing, the better we can align the portfolio with your plan and reduce the blind spots that come from accounts being spread across multiple places.

Not directly. Your employer chooses the 401(k) plan provider, and most don’t allow outside advisors to trade in the account. What we do is provide guidance: how much to contribute, how to allocate across the available investments, how the 401(k) fits with the rest of your plan, and how to coordinate the contributions with your overall tax strategy. For the accounts we can custody (IRAs, taxable, rollover IRAs), we manage them directly through Schwab or Altruist.

Twice-yearly planning meetings, with check-ins when life changes (a job offer, equity vest, baby, home purchase, divorce, layoff). We also run end-of-year tax projections every fall so April doesn’t surprise you.