More than 2,600 clients†
Managing over $910 million†
We work with $400K+ portfolios
Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors: tax-first retirement planning for tech employees
Here's what you get when we plan around your equity:
A tax estimate for every RSU sale before a single share moves
A written selling schedule for your company stock, spread across tax years
An exercise-or-wait recommendation for each stock option grant, with its tax cost
A retirement date tested against your equity, savings and yearly spending
clients served as of 10/5/2026
by Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors†
†Client count and assets under management (2,600; $910 million) are as of 10/5/2026.
What Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors does with your equity and accounts
Equity compensation planning
A calendar of every vest, exercise and ESPP purchase, with the tax each one adds.
Concentrated stock positions
A multi-year selling schedule for your employer stock, priced out in taxes year by year.
Roth conversion planning
Conversion amounts sized to the low-income years between your last paycheck and Social Security.
401(k) rollover help
A rollover plan for old employer accounts that keeps your backdoor Roth option clean.
Equity compensation planning
A calendar of every vest, exercise and ESPP purchase, with the tax each one adds.
Concentrated stock positions
A multi-year selling schedule for your employer stock, priced out in taxes year by year.
Roth conversion planning
Conversion amounts sized to the low-income years between your last paycheck and Social Security.
401(k) rollover help
A rollover plan for old employer accounts that keeps your backdoor Roth option clean.
What makes Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors different?
Before Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors suggests selling a single share, we estimate the tax on that sale versus holding, and you see both numbers side by side. After each review you get a one-page tax map: which lots to sell this year, which to hold and what next year's vesting will add to your income. We'd rather spread a big position over several tax years than sell it all at once, because one huge year usually costs more.
Who we are and what we see
Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors serves 2,600 clients† and manages $910 million† in client assets.
Why tech employees work with Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors
You've watched one stock grow into most of what you own. RSUs keep vesting, the ESPP buys more each purchase period, and options you've held for years could be worth a lot or nothing. Selling feels expensive. Holding feels risky. Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors puts both costs in dollars: the tax you'd pay to sell now, and what a 40% drop in that one stock would do to your retirement date.
Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors serves 2,600 clients with $910 million in client assets as of 10/5/2026.
Retirement planning at Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors: tax-first help for tech equity
Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors offers retirement planning for tech employees who hold stock options, RSUs and an employee stock purchase plan and have too much of their net worth in one stock. We help them price the tax of each sale before they make it.
Why would someone in that spot call? Usually because a vesting date, an option expiration or a job change is close, and every choice has a tax bill attached. We are tax-first: every decision starts with what it costs in taxes, this year and over a lifetime. Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors serves 2,600 clients and $910 million in client assets as of 10/5/2026.
- Client households
- 2,600
- AUM
- $910 million
- Account minimum
- $400K
- Services
- 7 services
- Serving
- Clients across the US
Numbers current as of 10/5/2026.
Who we are and what working together looks like
We built the firm around one kind of reader: the engineer, product manager or finance lead whose paycheck is only part of the story. Your RSUs vest every quarter, you hold options with a deadline, and the ESPP quietly adds more of the same company each period. Over the years the employer's stock can grow into a third or half of your net worth without any single decision that felt big.
Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors works with clients anywhere in the US, and the account minimum is $400K in investable assets. We meet by video or phone, so your location doesn't matter. Fees are explained up front, in writing, before you decide anything.
A caveat: if most of your savings sit in a workplace plan and you hold no company stock, you may not need us yet. A simple index-fund mix and a yearly check-in could serve you well.
How does communication work?
You talk to the same advisory team from the first call onward, and you can ask questions between reviews. Most clients meet us on video with their screen shared, so we can open your brokerage statements and equity portal together. Phone works too.
Reviews happen on a schedule we set with you, and we also call when something forces a date, such as a vesting cliff or a tender offer. After each meeting you receive a one-page summary listing what we decided, what you need to do and the estimated tax effect of each move.
We'd rather send a short note you will read than a thick report you won't.
Services and how they connect
The seven services below feed each other, which is why we don't treat them as separate products. Selling company shares creates a gain, and that gain decides whether a Roth conversion makes sense that year, which in turn shapes where withdrawals come from later.
Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors estimates the tax cost of a change before suggesting it. A fund swap in a taxable account, for instance, gets a number attached first, and sometimes we advise leaving it alone.
- Equity compensation planning: timing option exercises, RSU vesting and ESPP sales around your tax bracket.
- Concentrated stock positions: a staged plan to sell down one holding, with the tax of each stage estimated.
- Roth conversion planning: filling low-income years, such as a gap between jobs, with conversions.
- 401(k) rollover help: moving an old employer plan to an IRA, with the mechanics checked.
- Tax-loss harvesting: using losses elsewhere to offset gains from company stock sales.
- Tax-efficient withdrawal strategy: choosing which account pays for spending, year by year.
- Donating appreciated stock: giving shares to charity so the gain is never taxed.
What should you ask before choosing retirement planning help?
Five questions separate advisors who understand equity pay from those who don't. Ask them on the first call and listen for specifics.
- Will you estimate the tax of selling my company shares before recommending a sale?
- Have you handled ISOs, NSOs, RSUs and ESPP lots in the same plan, and how do you track basis?
- How are you paid, and will the fee schedule be in writing before we begin?
- Who answers if my employer announces a trading window or a layoff?
- What do you do when the best move is no move?
A hypothetical example: one holding, two ways to sell
Take a hypothetical engineer, Dana, single, with $1,000,000 in total savings. Of that, $500,000 is employer stock with a cost basis of $100,000, so $400,000 of it is gain. Half her net worth sits in one company.
Selling everything in one year realizes the full $400,000 gain. Suppose, for illustration, a 20% long-term rate applies: that's $80,000 of tax at once. Selling in four equal yearly steps realizes $100,000 of gain each year, and at the same assumed rate each step costs $20,000.
The total is the same in this simplified case, so staging isn't automatically cheaper. It helps if the smaller gains keep her in a lower bracket, or if she pairs sales with harvested losses or gifts shares to charity. The cost is that she carries single-stock risk for three more years, and investing involves risk, including loss of principal. We'd talk through that trade-off with her rather than pick for her.
What are the steps from first call to ongoing reviews?
The process is short and the first 90 days are mostly gathering and deciding. The table shows what happens in each stage and what lands in your inbox.
Nothing is sold, moved or converted until you've seen the estimated tax cost and said yes.
| Stage | What happens | What you receive |
|---|---|---|
| First call | We ask about equity and goals | Fee terms in writing |
| Weeks 1-3 | You share statements; we map holdings | List of lots and gains |
| Weeks 4-6 | We model sales and conversions | Draft plan with tax estimates |
| Weeks 7-12 | You approve; first moves made | One-page summary |
- Send the request form and we reply to set a first call.
- Share equity grant statements, recent brokerage and retirement account statements, and your latest tax return.
- Receive written fee terms before agreeing to anything.
- Review the draft plan together, with tax estimates per decision.
- Approve the first moves; we help carry them out.
- Meet on a regular schedule, plus calls when a vesting or deadline date requires it.
What Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors does
Equity compensation planning
A calendar of every vest, exercise and ESPP purchase, with the tax each one adds.
Equity compensation planning →Concentrated stock positions
A multi-year selling schedule for your employer stock, priced out in taxes year by year.
Concentrated stock positions →Roth conversion planning
Conversion amounts sized to the low-income years between your last paycheck and Social Security.
Roth conversion planning →401(k) rollover help
A rollover plan for old employer accounts that keeps your backdoor Roth option clean.
401(k) rollover help →Tax-loss harvesting
Losses captured in your brokerage account and used to offset gains from company stock sales.
Tax-loss harvesting →Tax-efficient withdrawal strategy
A yearly order of withdrawals across brokerage, pre-tax and Roth accounts, with estimated taxes.
Tax-efficient withdrawal strategy →Donating appreciated stock
Gifts of low-basis shares timed to your biggest income years, instead of cash donations.
Donating appreciated stock →Latest insights
- How Are RSUs Taxed? A Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors Walkthrough With Real Numbers
- Sell or Hold RSUs? What Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors Tells Clients
- ISO vs NSO Stock Options: What Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors Tells Clients Before They Exercise
- AMT on ISO Exercise: How Many Shares Fit Before It Bites (A Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors Walkthrough)
- When to sell ESPP shares: a Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors walkthrough of qualifying and disqualifying sales
- Fixing ESPP Cost Basis on Your 1099-B: A Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors Walkthrough
Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors serves clients nationwide; most meetings happen by video; the office is at 97 112th Avenue Southeast, Bellevue, WA 98004, United States. Contact →
Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors: common questions
Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors explains its fees in writing before you decide anything, so you can weigh them against what the tax work might save you. We don't publish fees on the website because they depend on the services you choose. Ask for the schedule on your first call.
Unvested RSUs aren't investable assets yet, so they usually don't count toward the $400K minimum at Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors. Vested shares, ESPP stock, brokerage accounts and retirement accounts do. If you're close, list your vesting schedule on the request form and we'll talk it through on the first call.
Bring your latest statement from the stock plan portal, last year's tax return and current 401(k), IRA and brokerage balances. Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors uses them to sketch the tax cost of selling versus holding before the conversation turns to anything else. A rough list is fine for the first call.
Yes. You'll meet with our planning team by video or phone, and the first conversation is about your grants: vesting dates, ESPP purchase dates, option strike prices and how each one is taxed. Broader investing questions come after we've seen your tax picture, because that's where the expensive mistakes usually hide.
Often you can lower the bill, though not erase it. Vested RSUs are taxed as pay at vesting, so selling right away usually adds little extra tax. Waiting creates gains or losses. Kestrel Bay Retirement Advisors estimates the tax on each sale option before you decide.
It depends on the option type, the exercise cost and your deadline. Many plans give about 90 days after departure. We compare the tax of exercising now, partly or not at all, and check cash needed so you aren't forced to sell.
Usually in stages, sized by the tax each sale triggers. At 40% in one stock, diversification generally comes first. We map your lots, sell high-basis shares first, offset gains with losses and consider gifting shares to charity.
Often yes, because lower income can mean a lower bracket on the converted amount. You'd pay tax now, which is a real cost. We compare that with expected later rates and check the effect on health premiums.
Yes, clients' accounts are often spread across an employer plan, a stock plan portal and a brokerage. We review them together on video, in one view of holdings and tax cost basis. Retirement planning works better when nothing is left out.
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