My RSUs are withheld at 22%. Is that enough?

Usually not. The 22% supplemental rate applies to the first million in supplemental wages, while your actual marginal rate may be 32–37% federal plus California on top. That gap shows up as an April surprise. We project it and adjust withholding or estimated payments before the year closes.

How much of my company stock is too much?

There's no universal number, but once a single employer represents more than roughly 10–15% of your investable assets — while also being your paycheck, your health insurance, and often your partner's too — the risk stops being theoretical. We set a written policy for what happens at each vest, which takes the decision out of the moment.

Do we have to live in Irvine to work with Aequitas?

No. Aequitas is fee-only and virtual-first — we work with LGBTQ+ households in Irvine the same way we work with clients across Orange County and the rest of the US. This page is written for the Irvine demographic, not as a residency requirement.

Is there a minimum account size?

No asset minimum. Engagements are priced based on planning complexity, not portfolio size, so we can work with LGBTQ+ high earners still building wealth — not just clients who already have it.

What happens on the intro call?

Twenty minutes, video or phone. We ask what you're actually trying to figure out, share how Aequitas would approach it, and decide together whether an engagement makes sense. No pressure, no product pitch.

LGBTQ+ couple in Irvine, Orange County reviewing their financial plan

Orange County · Irvine

LGBTQ+ financial planning for Irvine

Two high W-2s, RSU refreshes on both sides, Mello-Roos on the property tax bill — and no one has actually stitched it together into one plan. That's what we're for.

Schedule a free intro call 20 minutes · video or phone · no product pitch

Quick answer

Is there a financial advisor for LGBTQ+ households in Irvine?

Yes. Aequitas Financial is a fee-only fiduciary practice serving LGBTQ+ professionals, couples, and families in Irvine and across Orange County. Meetings are virtual, there is no asset minimum or commission, and plans are built around CA tax, titling, and chosen-family protections.

Source: CFP Board — Code of Ethics & Standards of Conduct

Who this is for

Built for Irvine LGBTQ+ households

Irvine is one of the highest-earning LGBTQ+ zip clusters in OC — dual-income tech, healthcare, and finance households in master-planned single-family, with a growing two-mom / two-dad cohort.

You both have RSUs and ESPPs and no one has sequenced the sales or looked at concentration across the two of you.
Your effective property tax runs 1.1–1.25% because of Mello-Roos and CFDs, and no one has factored that into your long-term cash-flow model.
Filing jointly is costing you real money at the top brackets and no one has priced the alternative or the timing question of when to formalize.
You'd like to fund 529s for two kids and max mega-backdoor Roth — you probably can't do both fully, and no one has helped you choose.
Irvine's LGBTQ+-comfortable pockets run $1,400–$2,000/mo above further-inland OC, and Mello-Roos stacks on top — on two big tech W-2s, that premium is quietly the difference between fully funding mega-backdoor Roth and fully funding two 529s.

On the ground

Irvine: equity compensation and two ambitious careers

Irvine's LGBTQ+ households look a lot like the Bay Area's, at a lower altitude: medical-device, biotech, gaming, and enterprise-software professionals with RSUs, ESPPs, and sometimes options, living in a master-planned market where the entry price is high but the schools and safety are the reason people stay. Two of those incomes stacked lands squarely in the federal marriage-penalty zone and California's top brackets.

The recurring problem is concentration by inertia. RSUs vest, taxes are withheld at a flat supplemental rate that is often too low for a high earner, and the shares simply sit. Two years later a household has a third of its net worth in one employer — the same employer paying the mortgage. Fixing that is mostly scheduling: a written sell-on-vest policy, ESPP hold-versus-sell rules, and an AMT projection before any ISO exercise.

How we help Irvine households

RSU + ESPP sequencing across two careers

Vest calendars, concentration risk, ESPP hold-vs-sell, and the tax bill hiding in your next refresh — coordinated with the rest of the plan, not treated as a separate problem.

Marriage-penalty and filing-status modeling

Two high W-2s stacked can cost you real money at federal and state brackets. We run the numbers before you decide when — or whether — to formalize.

Mega-backdoor Roth mechanics

Whether your plan actually allows it, how to sequence after-tax contributions and in-plan conversions, and how it stacks with backdoor Roth — done right, tens of thousands of extra Roth space each year.

Next step

Go deeper, or just talk to us

Skim the broader context if you want more before reaching out — or book the call and we'll cover it live.

LGBTQ+ financial advisor in Orange County

The city-wide overview: how Aequitas works with Orange County LGBTQ+ households across cash flow, tax, investing, and estate.

LGBTQ+ tax & cost-of-living guide: Orange County

State income tax, property tax, estate tax, and LGBTQ+ planning overlays specific to Orange County.

Schedule Your Intro Call

FAQ

Irvine planning FAQs

This page is part of our wider guide to LGBTQ+ financial planning — how fee-only, fiduciary planning works for queer households, and which topic to start with.

Ready to talk through your plan?

On a free intro call we'll walk through where you are, what you're trying to figure out, and whether an engagement makes sense — no pressure.

Schedule Your Intro Call