For founders & executives with concentrated equity
An IPO, acquisition, tender offer, or secondary sale can outdate your estate and tax plan overnight — and some options narrow once your equity is re-priced. See where you stand in five minutes.
No account required. No obligation. Educational only.
If most of your net worth sits in a single company’s stock, the months before an exit are the highest-leverage — and most time-sensitive — planning period you may ever have. Decisions made after the event often can’t be reversed.
A net worth that jumps by an order of magnitude frequently outgrows a will, trust structure, or beneficiary designations built for a smaller balance sheet.
Certain planning techniques are far more effective while equity is still illiquid and lower-valued. Once value is realized, some of those windows narrow.
Many founders don’t know their pre-IPO liquidity choices — secondary sales, tender offers, financing against equity — until a window has already passed.
Start here
A short, guided questionnaire that produces a personalized snapshot of where your estate plan stands — family and household picture, key documents, beneficiary designations, insurance and liquidity coverage, and a prioritized list of topics worth discussing. It works from your answers alone. No documents to upload, no account to create.
Begin the 5-minute Estate Health CheckPowered by Vanilla. Your responses go to Guardant Wealth Advisors. Educational only — not investment, legal, or tax advice.
Your wealth may be less locked-up than you think. Each path depends on your company’s rules, your equity type, and your goals — understanding them is the first step.
Selling existing private shares to an outside buyer before an exit — where company policy, right-of-first-refusal, and board approval allow. Pricing typically reflects an illiquidity discount.
Company-organized events letting eligible shareholders sell a defined number of shares in a set window. Often the cleanest path — but participation is usually capped and time-limited.
Raising cash using your equity or unexercised options rather than selling — keeping upside exposure, but adding leverage and downside sensitivity that require careful evaluation.
Availability of any path depends on company policies, applicable law, and your circumstances. None is suitable for all investors. See full disclosures below.
Free educational guide
The five fundamentals that shape every plan — grant type, cost basis, holding period, state residency, and employer policy — plus a plain-language overview of collars, prepaid variable forwards, and exchange funds. Enter your email below to receive the guide.
No pitch, no obligation — a 20-minute discussion of your equity, your timeline, and the tax, estate, and diversification questions worth thinking about now.
Book a 20-minute callImportant disclosures. This page is provided by Guardant Wealth Advisors (“GWA”), an SEC-registered investment adviser, for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice, nor a recommendation, offer, or solicitation to buy or sell any security or to adopt any investment strategy. Registration does not imply any level of skill or training.
Any strategies referenced — including options, collars, prepaid variable forwards, and exchange funds — and any liquidity path referenced — including secondary sales, tender offers, and equity-based financing — involve risk, including possible loss of principal, and are not suitable for all investors. Availability depends on company policies, applicable law, and individual circumstances. Tax and legal outcomes depend on individual facts and current law, which is subject to change. GWA does not provide legal or tax advice; consult your own qualified tax and legal professionals before acting.
The Estate Health Check is an educational tool provided via Vanilla and does not constitute a financial plan or advice. No content on this page is a testimonial or endorsement. No assurance is given that any strategy will achieve its objectives or be profitable. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Advisory services are offered only pursuant to a written agreement and applicable disclosure documents (Form ADV Part 2A/2B), available upon request and at adviserinfo.sec.gov.
