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6000 Turkey Lake Road, Suite 212, Orlando, FL 32819

407-248-9647
Private Strategy Session

When Your Equity Becomes Real Money

SpaceX employees are often engineers and technicians by training, comfortable with detail and disciplined by nature. That same rigor is worth applying to a concentrated equity position, because the risks that come with a large shift in net worth are different from the ones you manage day to day. A methodical plan helps you make decisions on your own terms rather than in reaction to headlines.

Equity compensation can arrive as restricted stock units, stock options, or shares purchased through an employee stock purchase plan. Each carries its own rules for vesting, taxes, and timing. The goal is not a single trade. It is a written plan that connects your equity to your broader picture: cash needs, taxes, diversification, and long-term goals.

McDonough Capital Management is an independent Registered Investment Adviser and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Why Equity Compensation Deserves Its Own Plan

The headline value of options and restricted stock is easy to see. The planning around them is where decisions get made, and it is easy to under-appreciate. Exercise timing, holding periods, and sale strategy each carry tax consequences, and a large position in a single company can quietly dominate your overall risk. Pressure-testing scenarios ahead of time tends to produce calmer, more informed choices.

After a company goes public, employee equity can still be shaped by lockup schedules, blackout periods, company policy, and the tax effects tied to vesting, exercises, and sales. A concentrated position that once felt abstract becomes a real question of how much single-stock exposure belongs in a diversified plan.

RSUs And Options

Restricted stock units and stock options vest and are taxed on different schedules. Coordinating exercise and sale decisions with your income and goals matters more than any single transaction.

ISOs And The AMT

Exercising incentive stock options can trigger the Alternative Minimum Tax, an outcome many employees do not anticipate. Modeling scenarios before you act helps avoid surprises.

ESPP Trade-Offs

An employee stock purchase plan can let you buy shares at a discount, which is attractive, but it also ties up cash and increases exposure to one company. Whether it fits depends on your broader plan.

Concentration And Liquidity

When one stock represents most of your net worth, diversification and a written sell discipline become central. Lockups and blackout windows can affect when and how you act.

This information is general and educational. It is not tax or legal advice. Please consult a qualified tax or legal professional about your specific situation.

How We Help SpaceX Employees

One integrated plan that treats your equity, taxes, and long-term goals as parts of the same system, so each decision supports the others.

Equity Compensation Strategy

We help you understand your full grant picture across RSUs, options, and ESPP shares, and build a framework for exercise and sale decisions that fits your goals rather than the news cycle.

Tax-Aware Timing

Vesting, exercises, and sales all carry tax effects. We coordinate with your tax professional and our tax planning to bring those effects into view before you act.

Diversification And Risk

When a single stock dominates your net worth, we design a glidepath toward diversification that respects lockups, blackout windows, and your comfort with risk. Investment management.

Wealth And Estate Coordination

A major liquidity event can reshape retirement timing, charitable goals, and estate plans. We coordinate retirement and estate planning so the whole picture moves together.

A Written Plan Before The Window Opens

The most useful time to define your approach is before liquidity arrives. When an exercise, sale, or lockup expiration is on the horizon, having your tax guardrails, target allocation, and diversification steps already in writing means execution follows a plan rather than emotion.

Why SpaceX Employees Work With Us

Choosing an advisor is really a decision about whom to trust with your family's future, especially when a concentrated equity position is involved. Our value comes from experience, a research-driven process, and a standard of care that puts your interests first in the advice we give you.

We are an independent Registered Investment Adviser in Orlando. Our team includes a CFP® professional who specializes in equity compensation plans and forward-looking tax strategies, and an engineer-trained founder who understands how technical professionals weigh trade-offs.

  • Equity Compensation Focus

    Shannon McDonough specializes in equity compensation plans, forward-looking tax strategies, and retirement income planning, which are central to a SpaceX equity picture.

  • Fiduciary Standard Of Care In Our Advice

    Our advisory recommendations are made in your best interest, designed around your goals rather than product sales.

  • Independent And Research-Driven

    A disciplined, analytical investment methodology with a focus on long-term planning, low-cost implementation, and tax efficiency. Securities are offered through Osaic Wealth, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC.

  • Coordinated, Not Fragmented

    Investments, retirement income, tax strategy, and estate coordination are managed together by a team that shares one office and one plan for each client.

Edward A. McDonough, BSME, MBA, CFP

Edward A. McDonough, BSME, MBA, CFP®

Founder / Chief Investment Officer

A Lehigh University mechanical engineering graduate with an MBA in Finance, working with clients and investments since 1987 and founder of the firm in 1999. Focused on helping clients accumulate and preserve wealth with attention to risk tolerance and tax efficiency.

Shannon McDonough, MBA, CFP

Shannon McDonough, MBA, CFP®

Wealth Advisor

Leads day to day client planning and specializes in equity compensation plans, forward-looking tax strategies, and retirement income plans. Crummer Graduate School MBA, with CFP®, Series 7, 63, and 65 registrations.

Put A Plan Around Your SpaceX Equity

Whether you are reviewing your equity compensation, preparing for a liquidity event, or thinking through diversification and taxes, a written plan brings clarity to the moving parts. We would welcome a conversation about your goals and how the pieces fit together.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What should SpaceX employees plan for around their equity?

The main gap is usually not the equity itself but the planning around it: the taxes and timing of exercises and sales, and how much of your net worth sits in a single stock. Reviewing your full grant picture across RSUs, options, and ESPP shares, then building a written framework for decisions, tends to matter more than any one transaction.

How are RSUs, stock options, and ESPP shares taxed differently?

They follow different rules. Restricted stock units are generally taxed as income when they vest, stock options depend on the type and when you exercise, and ESPP shares can involve a discount that is taxed at purchase or sale. Because the treatment varies, we coordinate with your tax professional before you act. This is general information, not tax advice.

What is the Alternative Minimum Tax and why does it matter for options?

Exercising incentive stock options can create income for Alternative Minimum Tax purposes even if you have not sold the shares, which can produce a tax bill many employees do not anticipate. Modeling scenarios before you exercise helps you understand the possible effect and plan for the cash it may require.

What can I do about having too much wealth in one stock?

When a single position dominates your net worth, we design a diversification glidepath that respects lockups, blackout windows, and your comfort with risk. A written sell discipline lets you reduce concentration steadily and deliberately rather than reacting to short-term price moves.

Do you only work with SpaceX employees?

No. We work with engineers across many employers. You can start with our Financial Planning for Engineers hub, or the Lockheed Martin employees page for employer-specific detail. McDonough Capital Management is not affiliated with SpaceX.