These come up on most introductory calls. If yours is not here, ask it on the call — I would rather answer it before you decide anything than after.
Not automatically. The old plan sometimes has the better fund lineup, lower institutional pricing, or rules that matter if you retire before 65 — and sometimes it has none of those and is sitting in whatever the default fund was. It is worth checking rather than assuming, in either direction.
Unvested shares are usually forfeited, and vested shares are yours. The timing of a move, the vesting calendar and the tax year all interact, which is why this question is worth asking before you resign rather than after.
For most people, yes — once you have an emergency fund and the full 401(k) match. A typical 15% discount, especially with a lookback, is a return you do not have to forecast; check your own plan, because the discount and the lookback both vary and some plans have neither. Contribute what your cash flow allows. The lower-risk route is usually to sell soon after purchase, lock in the discount and reinvest somewhere diversified. Holding longer — past two years from the start of the offering period and one year from purchase — can shift part of the gain to long-term capital gains rates. The trade-off is that more of your money stays tied to one employer.
Count your runway before anything else: liquid cash, including the emergency fund, against essential monthly expenses, so you know exactly how many months you have. Then work through what you are owed — severance, unused PTO, COBRA or other benefits — and file for unemployment immediately if you are eligible. Freeze non-essential spending and build a bare-bones budget straight away, so the savings last longer. Hold off on retirement withdrawals and any large financial move until the income picture is clearer.
More than 5 to 10% of your net worth, or of your investable assets, is where I start pushing back. Your job already ties your income and your career to the company, so a large holding doubles the same bet: if the firm falters, the paycheck and a chunk of the savings can go at once. A broader ETF in the same industry gives you that exposure without the single-company risk — or one in an industry that moves against yours.
Generally, yes. Under IRS Notice 2014-54, when you take a distribution from your 401(k) you can direct the after-tax contributions to a Roth IRA tax-free, and send the pretax portion — including the earnings on those after-tax contributions — to a traditional IRA, where it stays tax-deferred. Because a plan distribution usually has to include a proportional share of pretax and after-tax money, this works best with a full distribution, or with a plan that tracks after-tax money separately and allows in-service withdrawals. Rules vary by plan, so check with your plan administrator and a tax professional before acting.
How I am paid, what happens after the first call, where I am registered, and whether your accounts have to move.
The $500,000 household minimum applies to ongoing investment management. Planning engagements are available below that, at the fees listed on the home page, and plenty of early-career scientists start there.
Yes, I act as a fiduciary in every recommendation I make, including insurance. My practice is fee-based rather than fee-only: most of my compensation is the advisory and planning fees listed on the home page, and if you put an insurance policy in place through me, that product pays a commission, which I disclose before you decide. Being fee-based changes where the money comes from, not the standard I hold myself to.
Discovery comes next: your documents, your goals and the constraints you are actually working under, including the parts of your compensation that are hard to value. Then the plan — best case, base case and worst case, with the assumptions written down so you can argue with them. Then implementation, and revisiting it as pay, markets and life change.
Gwynedd Wealth Partners, LLC is a registered investment adviser in Pennsylvania. If you are located in another state, mention it on the introductory call and I will confirm what is possible before we go any further.
Not for planning work. Accounts I manage are held at an independent custodian, and your workplace retirement accounts normally stay where they are while the plan accounts for them.
There are ten questions worth asking any advisor before you hire them, including me. Mine are answered in full on a page of their own.
The answers here are general information, not personalized advice. What is right for you depends on your plan documents, your tax situation and the rest of your balance sheet.
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