Deferred compensation planning is the timing work most executives never get: RSUs vesting in tranches, ISO/NSO math no one has modeled together, a 409A election window that closes early, withholding that quietly runs short of your real bracket. K&K quarterbacks that planning layer above your wealth advisor, CPA, and attorney so it all runs as one plan.
The bigger your title gets, the less of your income looks like salary and the more it looks like timing: when RSUs vest, when ISOs are exercised, when deferred comp is elected, when shares can legally be sold. The standard playbook (max the 401(k), use the ESPP, sit on equity, hope April works out) leaves real money on the table because nobody sees the whole stack in one room before the year closes.
Deferred comp is the bucket of executive pay you elect to receive later, usually a nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plan, a SERP, or a board-level deferral. Before the year starts, you decide how much to defer, when to receive it, and how it's invested in the interim. The IRS governs the mechanics under IRC Section 409A, which is unforgiving if the election or distribution is structured incorrectly.
Done well, the deferral shifts income out of peak earning years into a lower-bracket future window and coordinates distributions against Social Security and Roth conversion years. Done in a vacuum, the same election can starve cash flow or trigger immediate taxation plus a 20% penalty. That's why it runs alongside Advanced Tax Planning, retirement planning, and wealth management coordination.
RSUs are taxed as ordinary income the moment they vest, and the default 22% withholding is almost always too low at executive bracket. By April, a strong year turns into a six-figure shortfall. The proactive work surrounds the vest, not the vest itself.
When a heavy vest lands alongside a bonus, secondary sale, or Roth conversion, the bracket math shifts. Sequencing controllable events around uncontrollable ones is where the savings live.
Quarterly estimates need to track the actual marginal rate before the underpayment penalty hits.
Holding RSUs converts them into a concentrated single-stock position; selling locks in the value at the price you were already taxed on.
ISOs and NSOs change the lever set. NSO exercises trigger ordinary income on the spread; ISO exercises generate AMT preference items that can create a parallel tax liability. 83(b) elections and QSBS treatment open and close on specific windows. We model these alongside your CPA. See personal tax strategies for high earners for the broader personal-return work.
Employer planning benefits are limited in scope, biased toward the firm's products, and constrained by what HR can discuss. An outside team picks up what the in-house benefit can't: full-stack comp modeling across base, bonus, RSUs, ISOs/NSOs, ESPP, deferred comp, and SERPs; 10b5-1 plan design coordinated with insider-trading counsel; concentrated single-stock risk paired with asset protection planning and Risk Mitigation; residency and severance work; and equity-heavy estate planning inside Estate & Legacy Planning with sequenced gifting and trust structures.
You don't usually arrive at K&K because you need another advisor. You arrive because the three to five you already have aren't coordinated. The Virtual Family Office model was built for that picture.
Your wealth advisor keeps their seat. We quarterback between them and your tax, estate, and risk plans.
Your CPA stays your CPA. We hand them clean strategies on a proactive calendar.
Your estate attorney keeps drafting. We coordinate equity, trust structures, gifting calendars, and beneficiary alignment so documents match the financial life they cover.
Six disciplines, one quarterback, backed by a vetted VFO network of over 80 specialists who complement the advisors you already have. The network puts a specialist behind every part of the comp stack:
More on the about Kotini & Kotini page; the first 90 days lives on our process.
An arrangement where you elect to receive a portion of salary or bonus later, usually through a nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plan or Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan. Used well, it shifts income from peak-earning years into lower-bracket future windows under strict IRS rules.
Twice. First as ordinary income on the share value when they vest, then again as a capital gain or loss on any price movement between vesting and sale. Holding past vest converts a paycheck into a concentrated single-stock bet, so the hold-versus-sell decision is a risk question as much as a tax one.
Optimizing the full pay package (base, bonus, RSUs, options, deferred comp, ESPP, SERPs) to minimize tax burden and align every income event with the longer-term plan. It coordinates the comp stack with personal taxes, equity strategy, estate, and risk.
Yes, because the in-house benefit answers to HR and the plan calendar, not to your household. It can't model your spouse's income, your outside real estate, or a liquidity event, and it disappears the day you change jobs. An independent quarterback gives you continuity and a complete picture that follows you.
IRC Section 409A governs nonqualified deferred compensation plans with strict rules on election and distribution timing. Non-compliance triggers immediate taxation of the entire deferred balance plus a 20% penalty plus interest.
A discovery call maps your equity comp, deferred comp, and outside advisor team, names the gaps, and gives an honest read on fit.
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Important disclosure: Kotini & Kotini provides advanced tax planning and Virtual Family Office coordination. Tax filing and preparation are performed by your CPA or by CPA partners coordinated through the K&K Virtual Family Office network. K&K does not provide investment advisory or legal services directly. Licensed wealth advisors, attorneys, and insurance professionals execute their work in their licensed capacity, coordinated through the K&K planning team. See our disclosures page for the full description of the coordination model and partner relationships.
