Wealth Management for California Families and Professionals.
Personalized financial planning for tech executives, entrepreneurs, and established families navigating California's tax landscape and investment opportunities. Serving Los Angeles, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and the entire state with $2M-$20M in investable assets.
The World's Largest Concentration of Wealth, With Equally Complex Tax Rules.
California is not just wealthy. It is a global center of wealth creation. With 185 billionaires, a gross state product of $5.2 trillion, and unmatched ecosystems for technology, entertainment, and entrepreneurship, California has become synonymous with high-net-worth success. From tech executives and startup founders in Silicon Valley to entertainment professionals in Los Angeles to real estate investors across the state, California creates wealth at a scale matched by no other region.
But California wealth comes with a cost: a 13.3% top state income tax rate that combines with federal taxes to create a 37-54% marginal tax burden for high-income professionals. For tech executives with vesting RSUs, founders with concentrated stock, or any high-earner in the state, California's tax regime fundamentally changes the math for financial planning, diversification, and wealth transfer.
That's where we come in. We help California wealth creators navigate this unique landscape - maximizing after-tax wealth, optimizing equity compensation, planning for potential relocation, and building strategies that account for California's specific rules while preserving your upside. Real wealth planning for California isn't one-size-fits-all.
Financial Strategies Built for How California Builds Wealth.
Silicon Valley Tech Executives
If you're navigating equity compensation - RSUs, ISOs, NSOs - at companies like Intel (Santa Clara & Folsom), NVIDIA (Santa Clara headquarters and Endeavor/Voyager campuses), Apple (Cupertino), Microchip (Roseville, San Jose, Orange County, San Diego, Irvine), or other FAANG and scaling startups, you face a unique set of planning challenges. How do you diversify concentrated positions without triggering massive tax events? How do you manage the timing of RSU vesting alongside California's 13.3% state tax? How do you structure your financial life for the post-exit phase? We build strategies around the actual mechanics of tech equity across California locations, not generic portfolio advice.
Learn about our financial planningCalifornia Startup Founders & Entrepreneurs
You've built something meaningful in California's entrepreneurial ecosystem. Now comes the hard part: scaling the business, managing illiquid equity stakes, and planning for a potential liquidity event that could reshape your financial life. We help founders with pre-exit tax positioning, entity structuring, personal wealth diversification while still holding significant company stakes, and the post-acquisition transition. When the time comes to exit, you keep more of what you've built.
Learn about our business owner servicesCalifornia Families Building Lasting Wealth
From Palo Alto to Malibu, California families with $2M-$20M in investable assets face distinctly California planning challenges. How do you navigate the state's high income tax without relocating? How do you manage real estate portfolios in expensive markets? How do you structure an estate plan that accounts for California's community property status? We answer these questions with strategies tailored to your family's actual circumstances.
Learn about our tax & estate strategyWealth Management Built for California's Unique Landscape.
Tech Equity Compensation & Diversification
RSUs, ISOs, NSOs, and concentrated founder equity represent the majority of wealth for many California professionals - and they're among the most tax-inefficient assets to hold. We design systematic diversification strategies that account for vesting schedules, blackout periods, 10b5-1 plan mechanics, and the tax consequences of exercise and sale timing. Our expertise spans major California employers including Intel, NVIDIA, Apple, Microchip, and others - we understand the specific equity plans, tax implications, and relocation considerations at each company. For executives at public companies, we coordinate with your company's equity plan rules. For startup founders, we balance diversification with your commitment to the company. The goal is reducing concentration risk without creating preventable tax liability.
California Tax Optimization & Income Planning
California's 13.3% top state income tax rate - combined with federal tax - creates a 37-54% marginal rate for high-income professionals. This dramatically changes the math for retirement planning, investment strategy, charitable giving, and business entity selection. We work with your CPA to structure your income timing, maximize tax-advantaged retirement contributions, optimize the interaction between state and federal tax rules, and identify opportunities (like charitable remainder trusts or donor-advised funds) to offset the state tax burden.
California-to-Nevada Relocation Strategy
For some high-earning professionals and retirees, relocating to Nevada can create transformational tax savings - Nevada has no state income tax. However, tax residency is complex. It's not enough to move; you must establish genuine intent and change your domicile through concrete actions. We help clients evaluate whether relocation makes sense based on their timeline, tax exposure, and personal circumstances. We coordinate with your CPA and tax attorney to ensure the transition is structurally sound. For the right client, this single strategy saves hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Real Estate & Property Portfolio Management
California real estate is both an asset class and a concentration risk - often 30-40% of a family's net worth in one of the most expensive markets in the country. We help with 1031 exchange strategy to defer capital gains across property transitions, property tax planning within California's Prop 13/Prop 19 framework, integration of rental income into your retirement plan, liquidity planning for illiquid real estate holdings, and coordination with your overall investment strategy.
Business Exit & Succession Planning
Whether you're preparing for an acquisition, a secondary sale, or a generational transfer of a California business, the twelve to twenty-four months before close are critical for tax positioning. We work with your CPA, tax attorney, and transaction advisors to structure the exit to minimize California's top capital gains rates and federal tax, maximize after-tax proceeds, and plan your post-exit financial transition. For founders considering relocation post-exit, we address the timing and structure carefully.
Charitable Giving & Philanthropic Planning
California's high tax rates make charitable giving especially effective - and especially important to structure well. We help donors use charitable remainder trusts, donor-advised funds, charitable lead trusts, and direct gifts to reduce income and estate tax exposure while creating meaningful philanthropic impact. For entrepreneurs and executives with concentrated positions, charitable giving can be part of your diversification strategy. We coordinate with your tax and legal advisors to maximize your charitable impact while minimizing tax burden.
Explore our full service offerings or learn about our team.
From Silicon Valley to the Coast.
I had significant RSU holdings at a major tech company and was paying astronomical taxes without any real plan. They didn't just optimize my diversification strategy - they helped me understand how to navigate California's tax system while building real wealth. The combination of tax planning and investment management actually made a difference to my bottom line.
- Michael T., Palo Alto, CA
Tech executive, client since 2025
This testimonial reflects the individual experience of a current advisory client of Jay Chang at Farther Finance, Inc. It was provided voluntarily and without compensation. This client's experience may not be representative of other clients' experiences, and the testimonial does not constitute a guarantee of future performance or results. Individual outcomes depend on each client's specific financial circumstances, goals, and market conditions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What areas of California do you serve?
How does California's high state income tax affect my wealth strategy?
I have RSUs and stock options. What's the tax strategy?
Should I consider relocating to Nevada for tax reasons?
Is Jay Chang a fiduciary financial advisor in California?
We also serve families and professionals in Las Vegas, Nevada and Scottsdale, Arizona
Serving California Across Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Beyond
California Service Areas
Hours
Monday - Friday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Evenings & weekends by appointment
Service Areas
Los Angeles · San Francisco · Silicon Valley · Palo Alto · Newport Beach · Beverly Hills · Malibu · San Diego · Santa Barbara · Pasadena
Mailing Address
Farther
345 California Street, Suite 600
San Francisco, CA 94104
California Wealth Demands California Expertise. Let's Build the Strategy It Deserves.
Whether you're a tech executive navigating equity compensation, a startup founder planning for liquidity, or an established family managing California real estate and high income taxes, we'd welcome the conversation. Just a thoughtful discussion about what your financial life could look like with real expertise behind it.