Pre-IPO Planning for the Bay Area LGBTQ+ households
Pre-IPO stock, 83(b) elections, tender offers, secondary sales, and eventual IPO or acquisition — the Bay Area still runs on this cycle. For LGBTQ+ households sitting on meaningful pre-IPO equity, the decisions in the two years before a liquidity event are worth more than the decade after it.
Schedule a free intro callWhy the Bay Area LGBTQ+ households approach pre-ipo equity planning differently
The right early-exercise + 83(b) election can lock in a cost basis worth six or seven figures at exit. The wrong one can create AMT liability with no liquid stock to cover it. Whether to exercise, when, and with what cash source is the single largest planning question a pre-IPO LGBTQ+ Bay Area household will face.
For dual-income Bay Area couples, timing gets more complex — one partner's tender participation, one partner's RSU calendar, and the household's community-property titling all interact. Community-property agreements done before a liquidity event can be worth a meaningful fraction of the eventual after-tax outcome via basis step-up planning.
Aequitas plans the whole arc — 83(b) election, secondary/tender decisions, QSBS eligibility, 10b5-1 setup post-IPO, and diversification pacing — as one continuous engagement, not a series of one-time consults.
Pre-IPO equity planning rolls up into the broader the Bay Area city plan, which covers city, state, and federal tax and legal context in more depth.
What we plan for the Bay Area pre-ipo equity planning
83(b) elections & early exercise
Cost-basis lockdown, AMT projection, cash-source planning, and downside modeling so the exercise decision is deliberate, not aspirational.
QSBS (Section 1202) qualification
5-year holding, gross-asset test at issuance, and up to $10M or 10x basis exclusion — planned for at grant, not discovered at exit.
Tender offers & secondaries
How much to sell into a tender, how to file taxes on secondary sales, and how to coordinate with a partner's separate equity plan.
10b5-1 setup for post-IPO diversification
Scheduled sales, DAF stacking, and concentration-unwind pacing tied to household risk tolerance and cash-flow needs.
Related planning pages
- LGBTQ+ financial advisor in San Francisco Bay Area
The city-wide overview: how Aequitas works with the Bay Area LGBTQ+ households across cash flow, tax, investing, and estate.
- LGBTQ+ tax & cost-of-living guide: the Bay Area
State income tax, property tax, estate tax, and LGBTQ+ planning overlays specific to the Bay Area.
- Same-sex couples planning in the Bay Area
Marriage-penalty math, benefits coordination, and two-career planning for the Bay Area same-sex households.
- LGBTQ+ estate planning in the Bay Area
Trust structure, healthcare directives, and beneficiary audits specific to the Bay Area.
- See all services →
From the blog
Pre-IPO Planning FAQs — the Bay Area
About the advisor
Aequitas Financial was founded by Taylor Bell, a fee-only fiduciary planner. LGBTQ+ planning isn't a side specialty here — it's the practice.
Ready to get started?
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.
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