Insights
The thinking behind the advice.
By situation: Equity compensation · Retirement inside ten years · A sale, an inheritance or a payout
Selected reading
What to Do With a Maxed-Out 401(k): A Guide for High Earners in Their 40s and 50s
Where high earners save after a maxed-out 401(k): catch-ups, HSAs, backdoor Roths, taxable accounts and California.
Read the guideAll writing, newest first
- Incentive Stock Options and the AMT: What Changed for 2026
Sizing and timing an ISO exercise against the 2026 AMT exemption, and the same-year sale that removes it.
- RSU Tax Withholding: Why 22% Leaves Los Angeles Executives Owing in April
Why the flat 22% federal and 10.23% California rates leave a shortfall on RSU vests, and how to close it before April.
- Your SpaceX Equity After the IPO: A Calm Plan for the Lock-Up Releases
SpaceX lock-up release dates, the tax on RSUs, ISOs and NSOs at each, and how to set selling rules in advance.
- What to Do With a Maxed-Out 401(k): A Guide for High Earners in Their 40s and 50s
Where high earners save after a maxed-out 401(k): catch-ups, HSAs, backdoor Roths, taxable accounts and California.
- Is a Recession Coming in 2026? How to Prepare Your Finances No Matter What Happens
What the economic data show as of October 2026, and steps that help protect your finances in any economy.
- Hit Sixty, Plan Seventy: Your Decade-Out Financial Tune-Up
A 60s tune-up: Social Security timing, Medicare and IRMAA, the senior deduction, RMD ages and a calendar to 75.
- Advisory Fees Compared: Westlight and Five Large Firms
My tiered fee next to five large firms' published schedules, with their disclosed conflicts and cash terms.
- 30-Something Money Health Check: Fix These Now to Cruise Into 40
The money items to fix in your 30s: the match, an HSA, cash reserves, income insurance, debt and basic documents.
- Your 40s Financial Checkup: What to Fix Now So You’re Ready for 50
A checkup for your 40s: savings pace, 2026 limits, the Roth catch-up rule, insurance, college and estate documents.
- Taxes, Trusts, and Giving: The 2026 Year-End Strategy
Ten year-end moves under the 2026 rules: payments, SALT, the new charitable floor, QCDs, gifts and trusts.
- The 20 Percent Pass-Through Deduction: A Guide to Section 199A
How the Section 199A pass-through deduction works under the 2026 rules, from the thresholds to rental real estate.
- How Founders Can Defer Seven-Figure Gains with a QSBS §1045 Rollover
How a Section 1045 rollover defers a founder’s federal gain on QSBS, and why California taxes it anyway.
- When the Tail Wags the Dog: How Options Trading Can Move U.S. Stock Prices
How options trading can move or pin stock prices, what the data show, and what it means for long-term investors.
- Concentrated Stock Positions: Five Ways to Reduce Risk Without Selling All at Once
Five ways to reduce a concentrated stock position without selling it all at once, and what each one costs.
- Roth vs. Traditional: Choosing the Right Retirement Account for Your Situation
Pay tax now or later: how Roth and traditional accounts compare in 2026, and how California treats each.
- ESG Integration for California Investors: A Step-by-Step Guide
What ESG integration means for an individual investor, what California’s climate laws require, and the trade-offs.
- Guarding Generational Wealth: Trust Strategies to Keep Family Fortunes Intact
How portability and credit-shelter, QTIP, SLAT and dynasty trusts work under 2026 rules, and what each costs.
- Mega-Backdoor Roth in a Solo 401(k): Step-by-Step Playbook
Filling the 2026 limit with after-tax solo 401(k) money and converting it to Roth, step by step.
- Tax-Loss Harvesting: How to Use Market Dips to Lower Your Taxes
How tax-loss harvesting works, why it mostly defers tax, and the wash-sale, crypto and California rules.
- Investor Emotional Intelligence: Why Temperament Matters More Than IQ
Why temperament matters more than IQ in investing: loss aversion, patience under pressure, and written checklists.
- Solo 401(k) or SEP IRA: Picking the Right Plan for a Single-Owner Business
Solo 401(k) or SEP IRA: 2026 limits, worked examples, Roth options and deadlines for a one-person business.
- Smart College Savings in Los Angeles: 529s, Coverdell ESAs, Roth IRAs & More
529 plans after the K-12 changes, plus Coverdells, Roth IRAs and savings bonds, for Los Angeles families.
- Great at a Fair Price: How Durable Growth Powers True Value in Your Portfolio
Why durable growth is part of value: what Graham’s GEICO purchase shows, and how to tell lasting growth from hype.
- Beyond Carbon: Measuring Water & Wildfire Risk in Southern California and Los Angeles Area Investments
How an LA household can check water and wildfire risk in a home, rental, municipal bonds or business.
- Why Estate Planning Still Matters After the One Big Beautiful Bill Raised the Exemption
What the $15 million exemption doesn’t change: portability, other states, basis at death, Prop 19 and probate.
- Beyond Returns: Comprehensive Risk Assessment with Westlight Wealth
What a comprehensive financial risk review covers, from insurance and taxes to liability, estate and behavior.
- Securing Your Legacy: A Practical Guide to Estate Planning
The core estate documents and how they work: will, living trust, incapacity papers, beneficiary forms and probate.
- Venice Home Equity in a Long-Term Portfolio: What It Costs to Hold, Sell or Pass On
How Venice home equity fits a long-term portfolio: concentration, Prop 13, Measure ULA, and passing a home on.
- Self-Employment Tax and the S Corporation: Why It Isn’t a Magic Bullet
What an S corporation really saves once reasonable salary, the 199A deduction and California’s costs are counted.
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