One household, two very different paychecks.
When one of you is paid in tech equity and the other has a public sector pension, you are running two financial systems that follow different rules. Austin Creek Capital builds a single plan across both: deferral capacity most households never use, concentration risk measured against guaranteed income, and tax decisions timed around vesting.
We are a fee-only, fiduciary registered investment adviser in Mill Valley, California. Our only compensation comes from our clients.
Why standard advice misses here.
Four things come up in nearly every one of these conversations.
- Two compensation systems that have almost nothing in common One of you is paid in salary plus equity that vests on a schedule and is worth whatever the market says on the day it lands. The other is paid a stable salary with a defined benefit pension behind it. Those are not two versions of the same thing. One needs decisions about concentration, timing, and taxes; the other needs decisions about service credit, survivor elections, and deferral capacity. Most advice is built for households where both incomes look alike.
- The pension changes how much risk the equity can carry A pension is a stream of income the market cannot take away. That has a real effect on the rest of the plan: it can support carrying concentrated employer stock longer, or it can argue for selling faster because the household already has its floor covered. Which way it cuts depends on the size of the pension relative to your spending, when it starts, and what survivor option you elect. Getting this backwards is common, and expensive in both directions.
- The deferral capacity almost nobody uses: $49,000 457(b) limits are set separately from 403(b) and 401(k) limits. A public sector employee with access to both a 403(b) and a governmental 457(b) can defer up to $24,500 to each in 2026, $49,000 in total, before any employer contribution. In a household where the tech salary already covers the spending, this is often the largest tax lever available, and it goes unused for years because nobody points it out.
- One income is predictable and the other is not, but the tax bill treats them as one Vesting equity stacks on top of a steady public sector salary, so a household that feels middle-income for ten months of the year can land in the top federal bracket and California's 13.3% top rate in the month a large tranche vests. Social Security tax stops at $184,500 per person, which changes the arithmetic further. The planning question is when to recognize income, not just how much you earn.
Figures cited are 2026 amounts. This is educational information, not individualized tax advice. Consult your own tax professional, and confirm plan-specific details with your benefits administrator, before acting.
What we actually do.
A first engagement usually covers four things.
- One plan that respects both compensation systems Pension projections and equity vesting schedules modeled in the same place, on the same timeline, so decisions about one account for the other. That sounds obvious and is rarely done, because pension math and equity math usually live with different people.
- A deferral strategy that uses the capacity you actually have Whether stacking the 403(b) and 457(b) makes sense given your cash flow, which of the two to fill first, and how that interacts with the tech spouse's 401(k) and any after-tax or mega-backdoor Roth capacity. The answer changes in years with a large vest.
- An honest read on your Social Security position The Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset were repealed by the Social Security Fairness Act, signed in January 2025. If you were told years ago that your public service would gut your Social Security benefit, that guidance is out of date. A surprising amount of published material still has not caught up.
- A concentration plan that accounts for the floor you already have How much employer stock the household can reasonably hold given a guaranteed income stream, and a written schedule for reducing it. The point is to make the decision once, deliberately, rather than every quarter under pressure.
Three ways to work together.
Households in this situation often start with a one-time project, because the first questions are structural.
| Engagement | Fee | Typical fit |
|---|---|---|
| One-time planning project | $3,000 to $10,000Most land between $3,000 and $5,000 | Reconciling two compensation systems into one plan, or a pension election decision. |
| Ongoing planning retainer | $1,500 to $3,000 to start, then $300 to $3,000 / monthInvestment management optional at 0.50% of assets, no minimum | Ongoing vesting to manage alongside deferral and conversion decisions. |
| Investment management | 1.00% to 0.75% of assetsBlended by tier, $7,500 annual minimum | When you want the portfolio managed alongside the plan. |
Fees are negotiable and individual accommodations may be made consistent with our Form ADV. Full terms are on the services and fees page and in our Form ADV Part 2A.
Common questions.
Do you work with CalPERS, CalSTRS, and other California public pensions?
Yes. The planning work is understanding what your specific plan provides: the benefit formula, your service credit, when you are eligible, what the survivor options cost, and how a pension changes the rest of the portfolio. We do not administer pensions or make elections for you, and for plan-specific questions your benefits office is the authority.
Can my spouse really contribute to both a 403(b) and a 457(b)?
If the employer offers both, generally yes. 457(b) contribution limits are determined separately from the 402(g) limit that governs 403(b) and 401(k) deferrals, so the two do not offset each other. In 2026 that is up to $24,500 in each, $49,000 combined. Whether it is the right use of cash flow is a separate question, and the answer depends on your bracket and your reserves.
Did the repeal of WEP and GPO actually change our situation?
It may have. The Social Security Fairness Act eliminated both provisions, with December 2023 the last month the Windfall Elimination Provision applied. Households that had written off a Social Security benefit, or a spousal benefit, because of public service may now have one. It is worth re-checking rather than assuming the old answer still holds.
We have very different retirement dates. Does that complicate things?
It is one of the more interesting parts of the plan. A pension that starts at one age and equity that vests on another schedule creates a window where the household can control its taxable income deliberately. That window is often the best opportunity for Roth conversions or for realizing gains at lower rates, and it closes once both incomes and Social Security are running.
Which of us should you be talking to?
Both of you, together, at least for the first conversation. Households in this situation frequently arrive with two separate mental models of their finances that have never been reconciled. Reconciling them is a meaningful part of the value.
Is our situation big enough to need this?
There is no asset minimum for planning work. Investment management on its own carries a $7,500 annual minimum fee, waived for ongoing planning clients. Many households here start with a one-time project because the questions are structural rather than about managing a portfolio.
Twenty minutes is enough to know if we're a fit.
No pitch, no pressure. A short call where we ask what's actually on your mind right now, and you decide whether you want to go further.