I am predicting that Meta’s senior employee retention will fall off of a cliff after February 2027. A date that many within Meta have begun referring to as “The Rapture”.

This is Part 1 of a series that examines “The Rapture” in more detail trying to look at the impact on employee total compensation and what happens when the golden handcuffs come off.

It starts in February 2027

“The Rapture” actually begins in February of 2027.

February 15th, 2027 to be exact.

That’s the date of the final vest of the 2023 refresher. Based on my records, which go back to 2014, it’s on track to be the best-performing refresher Meta has ever awarded.

Including the remaining projected vests, that grant will have delivered more than three times its original value. A monumental 200%+ increase over the grant value!

The chart below compares each refresher’s original grant value with its total value at vest. Grants that haven’t finished vesting include projections.

I’ll use an E6 engineer in Menlo Park to show how this plays out in dollars.

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A Refresher on How Meta’s Stock Refreshers Work

Meta’s standard refreshers have historically been formulaic, based on role, level, location, and performance rating.

For this example, I’m using an E6 (Staff Engineer) in Menlo Park who consistently met all expectations, with no promotions or additional equity grants.

From 2020 through 2024, that employee would have received a $274,500 refresher each year, vesting quarterly over four years.

Each award is converted into RSUs when granted. Those shares vest over 16 quarters, so the amount the employee receives depends on Meta’s stock price at each vest.

Meta cut standard refresher values by approximately 10% in 2025 and another 5% in 2026. For this E6, the annual award fell from $274,500 to $234,650, a total reduction of about 14.5%.
Standard E6 refresher grants in Menlo Park:

How Overlapping Refreshers Normally Work

To understand the cliff, it helps to start with a simple case: assume the stock price never changes.

A $274,500 refresher split across 16 vests pays out $17,156.25 per quarter. With four of those grants vesting at once, that adds up to $68,625 per quarter, or $274,500 per year.

The chart starts in May 2023, with the 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 refreshers all vesting. Each color represents one grant.

The 2020 refresher finishes vesting in February 2024, and the 2024 refresher starts in May. Both were $274,500 awards, so the quarterly payout stays the same.

Starting in 2025, the smaller refreshers replace larger grants, gradually bringing that payout down.

When the 2023 refresher ends in February 2027, the quarterly total falls from $64,415.63 to $61,925 in May, including the assumed 2027 refresher. That’s a modest decline of about 3.9%.

But Meta’s stock price didn’t stay flat.

The 2023 refresher bought 1,491 shares, compared with 588 shares for the same $274,500 award in 2024.

That gave the employee more than twice as many shares benefiting from Meta’s stock recovery.

The bottom half of this chart shows how those grants contribute to each quarterly vest. The 2023 refresher pays out 93.21 shares per quarter through February 2027. The assumed 2027 refresher replaces that with 22.55 shares per quarter, starting in May.

Here’s what those grants are worth over their full vesting periods. Each bar separates the original grant value from its gain or loss. For grants still vesting, the total includes projected future vests.

The 2023 and 2024 refreshers both started at $274,500, but the 2023 grant bought more than twice as many shares. Meta’s stock recovery then made those shares substantially more valuable.

This E6’s quarterly RSU payout is projected to fall from $120,770 in February 2027 to $71,566 in May, including the assumed new refresher.

That’s $49,204 less per quarter, a 40.7% drop in equity compensation.

Nearly $200,000 less in annualized compensation from RSUs alone.

The Rapture.

Does Meta Care About the Rapture?

This example assumes an E6 who keeps meeting expectations, with no promotions or additional equity. Higher ratings, promotions, and retention grants can make the cliff smaller or eliminate it.

Meta can offer additional equity to people it wants to keep. If other employees leave and their roles aren’t backfilled, the company can reduce headcount without another round of layoffs.

So perhaps some of this attrition is a feature, not a bug. Of course, Meta doesn’t get to choose who leaves.

For employees approaching this cliff, it’s worth remembering how unusual these past few years have been. This was a generational run for those who stayed long enough to collect the vests. I was laid off in May 2023, before most of that rise.

For some employees, those payouts may have brought financial independence years closer. Maybe 2027 is the year they decide they have enough and finally FIRE by choice.

Are you approaching the cliff?

In Part 2, I want to look at actual compensation histories, including salary, bonuses, promotions, and additional equity. How much is total compensation dropping, and is it changing anyone’s plans?

If you’re at Meta and this affects you, reply to this email. Are you waiting for that last vest? Staying regardless? Has a promotion or retention grant changed the math?

I’m looking for people willing to share their compensation and vesting data for anonymized examples. We can start with a conversation and agree on what can be published.

Subscribe to get Part 2 of The Meta Rapture.

“What will I do when I retire??”

This is one of the most common questions I get from people who are starting to approach their FIRE number. The standard FIRE dogma will tell you that “you should FIRE to something, not away from something”.

When I was early in my pursuit of FIRE I loved reading that. It was aspirational.

I agreed with it… in principle. But I think it ignores the realities of working a demanding FAANG job. Yes the total comp is high, but with that comes high expectations.

So you end up with an extremely demanding career, an overachieving personality that struggles to turn it off at home, a growing family, aging parents who live far away, and everything else life throws at you.

How are you supposed to find the time to figure out what you want to do with your life once the financial constraints are gone?

My advice?

Give yourself permission to do nothing for a little bit.

There is nothing wrong with not having an answer. You don’t need to know what your next thing is. You don’t need to have a new passion to jump into. You don’t need to kick off a side hustle. You don’t need to immerse yourself in the world of AI.

It will probably be the first time in your life that you have time off without a clear idea of what happens next.

Give yourself time to decompress.

You can try new things. Decide that the new thing sucks and change your mind (or hurt yourself like I did).

It’s been over 1,000 days since my last day at Meta, and I still don’t have it all figured out.

But I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with not having an answer.

The entire point of FIRE to me is having optionality over my time. The freedom to try new things, decide they aren’t for me, and change my mind.

I spent years working towards that optionality. Fight the urge to turn it into yet another thing you need to optimize.

As we head into the final months of 2026, I wanted to revisit a financial account not enough FAANG workers are contributing to.

What I consider the “Tax Advantaged Cherry on Top” of my cashflow prioritization waterfall.

What that means is that among all the tax advantaged accounts you can contribute to, I view the backdoor roth as the “nice to have” bonus.

That is to say you should 100% try and contribute to it, but if you miss it while doing everything else, it isn’t the end of the world.

But seriously, if you have the cash flow, just do it. Like right now. We are just going to do this together, unless you currently have a traditional IRA or rollover IRA. Then you are going to follow this prior walkthrough where the first step involves rolling your current traditional IRA or Rollover IRA funds into your current workplace 401k to avoid the pro-rata rule.

• Disclaimer: I’m not a CPA, accountant, financial advisor, or tax professional. This walkthrough is for educational purposes and shows how I personally complete a Backdoor Roth IRA. There are additional considerations if you have existing pre-tax IRA balances or other complications. If you’re unsure whether this applies to your situation, consult a qualified tax or financial professional.

Quick Recap on the Backdoor Roth:

• A Roth IRA is a tax-advantaged account where after-tax funds can grow tax free and be withdrawn tax free in retirement.

• In 2026 the contribution limit is $7,500.

• If you earn more than $168k single or $252k married you can’t contribute directly to a Roth IRA.

• A “Backdoor” Roth IRA involves making a nondeductible contribution to a traditional ira and then converting those funds into a Roth IRA.

• This allows high earners to effectively fund $7,500 per year into a Roth IRA despite any income limits on direct contributions by going through the backdoor of a traditional ira.

• Like all IRAs, they require earned income. However, if you are MFJ and have a non-working spouse, they can still make contributions (spousal ira contributions).

• The important caveat is that you want to make sure you have $0 in all Traditional IRA, rollover IRA, SEP IRA, and SIMPLE IRA accounts by the end of the year or else you will be subject to the “pro rata rule”.

• You can do and should do this in addition to the “Mega Backdoor Roth”. Their made up names sound similar, but they don’t interact with each other in any way.

Step 1: Open a Traditional IRA Account

I personally will be using Fidelity for this walkthrough, but I would use whichever institution you already have other retirement accounts with. Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab are all perfectly fine options (none of the sign up links are sponsored/affiliates.)

Open a Traditional IRA (Fidelity)

If you already have a Traditional IRA from prior years backdoor roth fun, you can just use that one. If there is already money in the account that is from a prior traditional IRA contribution… be aware of the “pro rata rule” which probably makes this not worth doing until you resolve it (ok, i’ll stop bringing it up).

If you are following along on Fidelity I needed to click “Open a traditional IRA” one more time to avoid a Fidelity managed upsell.

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Step 2: Fund Your Traditional IRA Account

The $7,500 I am using to fund this account is in another Fidelity account (their cash management account). After you select where the funds are coming from, you select “one-time” and then enter the full annual contribution “$7,500”.

This step ends with a fully funded Traditional IRA. It may take a few days for the funds to settle if your deposit was from an external account.

Step 3: Open a Roth IRA (If You Don’t Already Have One)

If you already have a Roth IRA at your institution (fidelity in my case) you can skip this step. Otherwise, open a Roth IRA just like you opened a Traditional IRA. Just don’t fund it.

• Fidelity Roth IRA Account Link: https://www.fidelity.com/retirement/roth-ira

Step 4: Convert The Traditional IRA Deposit Into Roth IRA

To make things easier, I always just go through the dedicated Fidelity Roth Conversion flow.

• Fidelity Roth Conversion Landing Page: https://www.fidelity.com/retirement/roth-conversion

Note: It often takes a business day or more before the funds in your Traditional IRA are settled and available to do the Roth Conversion step. Create a reminder for yourself to finish this step tomorrow!

Here you can see the conversion flow where I selected that I am transferring funds from my newly opened Traditional IRA into my Roth IRA. I am also acknowledging the tax withholding disclaimer which would be applicable if I was doing a normal roth conversion of pre-tax funds, but because I am doing a Backdoor Roth using already after-tax funds (and am not subject to pro-rata), the need to withhold additional taxes doesn’t apply to me.”

Confirmation screen:

You are nearly at the finish line! You just completed the backdoor roth conversion step! The next step is just as important, please don’t stop here!

Step 5: Invest (Don’t Forget This Step!)

Depending on when you completed the conversion, the market may be closed, and you have to wait until tomorrow to make your investment. Once again, set yourself a reminder for tomorrow so you don’t forget!

I then spot checked my asset allocation to see whether I should buy US equities or International equities (see my boring approach). In this case I was light on US Equities, so I just bought more of the Fidelity Total Market mutual fund I had previously bought in the account.

Note: In my taxable account I make it a point to stick with ETFs that can easily move to other brokerages. In my tax advantaged accounts, like my Roth, I often utilize Fidelity’s zero fee funds. I do not recommend buying these in your taxable due to lack of portability. Deeper topic for another time.

I could have just as easily bought VTI on the open market, there wasn’t any deep optimization. Just easier to buy more of what i already had that also fit my investing goals.

BOOM! You have just finished the backdoor roth ira. You are a badass.

If you are married, be sure to walk your partner through the process too so they can join you in badassery. Even if your partner isn’t working full time, if you are married filing jointly, and you have the household income, they can go through the same flow. The flow is the same one, but it is referred to as a Spousal IRA contribution if you wanted to read more.

Step 6: Don’t Fuck Up Your Taxes

The entire benefit of a backdoor roth is that you are moving funds that were already taxed and putting them into a Roth IRA where they will never be taxed in the future. The process is very similar to a normal roth conversion which involves intentionally paying taxes on converted Pre-Tax funds from a Traditional IRA and putting it into a Roth IRA.

A Backdoor Roth that is properly entered should result in near $0 in additional taxes. If your taxes increased after entering it, there is a submission error. See How to Properly Enter a Backdoor Roth into TurboTax.

Quick way to check past returns: Look at your 1040, field 4b. If it is $0 you are good. If it isn’t you may have made this mistake.

You will also want to make sure your tax software has you filing a Form 8606 which tracks your basis on your Roth Conversions.

Additional Backdoor Roth Q&A

Question: I finished the backdoor roth, but now my Traditional IRA has a random $0.75 in it?

Answer: This is often due to your deposit earning interest prior to finishing the conversion. I would just convert the remaining balance. This will result in needing to pay taxes, but it is on an entire $0.75. Not a big deal.

Question: I rolled an old 401k into an IRA years ago after leaving my first job out of college. Any strategies on how to handle given the pro-rata rule and what steps to take?

Answer: Easy! If you are currently working, just roll that old rollover IRA into your current employer’s 401k. Boom, you end the year with $0 in your Rollover IRA and don't have to worry about the pro rata rule.

Any other questions? Drop them in the comments.

I don’t think everyone needs to be as boring as me, but I think there is plenty of room for more of you to at least be a little more boring when it comes to your investments.

The goal is for the 95% boring portion of my portfolio to fully represent my “FIRE Portfolio”. The same portfolio that reaches my Enough Number, supports a 3% withdrawal rate, and never requires me to earn another dollar again.

My 95% portfolio shouldn’t get me excited. If talking about the underlying investments makes my heart start beating faster, it probably isn’t boring enough. If it is something worth talking about at parties, it probably isn’t boring enough. Not that this stops me from talking about mega backdoor Roths at parties. This could be why I stopped getting invited to parties.

What Does Boring Look Like?

I view boring as aligned with the Boglehead philosophy of investing. Focusing on broad total market index funds with very low fees. Trying to match the overall market, not beat the market.

Like many of you, I won the income game having worked in FAANG and being in a dual-tech, dual-income household. I don’t need to worry about trying to win the investment game.

The simplest Boglehead approach is the three-fund portfolio.

• VTI for US Equities

• VXUS for International Equities

• BND for Bonds

VTI, VXUS, and BND are simply Vanguard ETF examples commonly used by Bogleheads. There are plenty of other low-fee index funds that fit my definition of boring, many of which I own myself.

There isn’t a specific asset allocation that makes a portfolio boring. Having a clear asset allocation that aligns with your goals and consistently sticking with it is what makes it boring.

My asset allocation target remains where it was when I changed it in 2024:

• 58% US Equities

• 27% International Equities

• 15% Bonds

I was actually just spot checking my asset allocation today, and it looks like I am right on target.

For most of my working career I was closer to 10% or less in bonds. I slightly increased that to 15% as I approached FIRE.

So we have boring, low-fee index funds.

We have a clear target asset allocation aligned with my goals.

Boring also means making smart decisions when it comes to minimizing lifetime taxation. This is where Asset Location comes in, which in the simplest terms means holding assets in their most tax efficient location. For example, you wouldn’t want to hold most of your bonds in taxable because they spit out distributions taxed at ordinary income rates… which isn’t ideal while working in FAANG and living in California.

This has led me to hold most of my bonds in my Pre-Tax 401ks. My Meta 401k is actually 100% bonds. This is why it is important not to worry about the asset allocation of any individual account, but instead zoom out and look at all your accounts together. My Meta 401k can be 100% bonds while my overall bond allocation remains at my 15% target.

I have more detailed articles on these topics below:

• My Asset Allocation and Asset Location

• My Rebalancing Process

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Consistently Putting Excess Cash to Work

Being boring, consistently over a long period of time, coupled with one or two high-paying jobs… is FIRE on easy mode. Being boring is about ensuring the highest probability of reaching my enough, not just reaching a new high score.

Anytime I have excess cash, I simply go through my cash flow waterfall to see which account is next. I spot check my asset allocation to see which asset is underweight. I don’t need to think hard about it. I am able to just execute.

Recap: Boring is low-fee, broad total market diversification, an asset allocation that matches your goals, a tax-smart asset location, and consistent execution over time.

What Isn’t Boring

No Airbnbs, no private equity, no individual stocks, no complicated insurance products, no trading options, no art, and no crypto.

You can still very much have those things. But I would bucket them into your non-boring allocation and be explicit about what percent you allow.

A concentrated position in a single company isn’t boring either!

I intentionally do not include individual stock holdings as part of my 95% boring FIRE portfolio (beyond those in my direct index).

Particularly when you have large concentrated positions in tech stock or crypto, your 5% non-boring allocation can easily balloon to 15% after a few good news articles or earnings releases.

What about the 5% non-boring?

The entire point is that the 5% is small enough that if you nail things with the 95% you can’t hurt yourself too much regardless of what you do with the 5%.

I also make my life harder by not counting that 5% towards my Enough Number. My 95% boring portfolio is my FIRE Portfolio. That is the portfolio I expect to support my spending and never require me to earn another dollar again.

This creates an incentive for me to become even more boring over time. If I have $100k sitting in a concentrated stock position, I don’t give myself credit for that $100k towards reaching my Enough Number. It only “counts” after I sell it and diversify.

The 5% is a cap. I don’t need to go out and seek something interesting to do with 5% of my portfolio. If I end up 97% or 100% boring, even better.

Should I be 100% boring? Yes. But having that 5% as an explicit allowance gives me enough space to scratch any itch that I may have.

My investing is boring, so the rest of my life doesn’t need to be.

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Other Financial Tools I Use from my Partners

• Top Free Tool: Empower. If you are looking for a free alternative to track your overall net worth Empower (formerly Personal Capital) is my recommendation.

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• Premium Net Worth Tracking Tool For Complex Scenarios: Kubera. Kubera has quickly become one of my favorite net worth trackers. It helps me break down my entire net worth in all the ways I want. Designed to help high-net-worth individuals track their overall finances.

If you ever find yourself wanting to hear even more from me, I have been posting more frequently over on LinkedIn.

I understand that LinkedIn isn’t for everyone.

You can also find me on Threads.

I use LinkedIn/Threads to quickly post my more raw off the cuff thoughts. Those frequently turn into longer form articles here on Substack. Here are the most popular posts from the past month.

1. Meta Offering Some IC6+ Engineers Retention Grants + RSU Cliff

235,500 LinkedIn Impressions, 46,500 Threads Views and an Impressive 174 Threads Shares

Meta offering some IC6+ eng retention grants right now is fascinating. This is a trend I have been keeping an eye on and has the latest. There is another layer here though that he didn't hint at...

All these IC6+ engineers who have been around since 2022 or earlier are going to be hitting potentially huge RSU cliffs after the February 2027 RSU vest.

They may have been getting refreshers each year on top of additional discretionary equity offerings, but the appreciation of the 2022 refresher is hard to smooth out.

The fact that Meta is already pushing harder on retention offers might signal how they plan to approach things... at least for the specific people they really want to keep.

Going to be very very interesting!

I am currently working on an article focused on the February 2027 equity cliff, stay tuned!

2. San Francisco Rich or Vallejo Rich?

220,200 LinkedIn Impressions

If you earn $500k per year you are Vallejo rich… but not yet Santa Rosa rich.

I personally think income is the wrong “rich” metric, but is definitely highly correlated

SFChron Article: https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2026/bay-area-rich-calculator/

3. Reality Check on Side Hustle Income

165,000 LinkedIn Impressions, 50 Comments (mostly about Avocados)

Reality check. My income today is less than 1/6th of what it was at Meta.
Tech influencers love selling the side hustle lifestyle. Telling you that you can earn multiples of your W2 salary with your own projects.

I can not emphasise how exceptionally rare that is if you are currently in a senior + level at a place like Meta.

Could I get my income back to my Meta levels? Probably. But if my goal was to earn money, I would just go back to another W2.

Luckily I earned enough during my W2 time where my optimization function doesn't revolve around $$.

I already won the $$ game via my FAANG job. Now I can optimize around other things, like frequency of getting recognized while buying avocados at Costco.

4. Just Because You Have $5 million…

Friendly reminder that just because you have $5 million dollars doesn't mean you need to buy a house, invest in your friends start up, join that real estate syndicate, invest in oil and gas, buy airbnbs, buy rental property, invest in opportunity zones, invest in private equity..... You can still keep it boring.

As the numbers get larger there is this pull to start making things more complicated.

Things I hear:
"I am a qualified investor now, I have access to XYZ"

Just because you have access to something doesn't mean you need to invest in it.

"But my friend's friend has an allocation of this sweet AI fund"

That allocation looks like it is an allocation of an allocation with 5 layers of fees.....

"If I do a cost segregation analysis I can offset my income...."

Do you actually want to be a landlord, much less an airbnb landlord? What about next year? You planning on buying another airbnb in perpetuity? Guess what happens when you go to sell...

It is perfectly fine just keeping it simple. Sometimes it is about optimizing the return on hassle component more than the "projected" roi.

A Few More Things I Am Thinking About

It has been a wild year where the tail of the S&P 500 has out performed the Mag 7.

All the FAANG and the broader tech stocks are no longer moving in unison. It is a bit all over the place YTD.

If you have a diversified portfolio you are probably sitting near your all time high net worth.

Currently Relevant Articles

I’ll close with the price I every price I paid for a pack of avocados so far in 2026. A totally normal thing, totally normal people keep track of.

• February 14, 2026 – Costco: AVOCADOS $5.99

• March 1, 2026 – Costco: AVOCADOS $5.99

• March 18, 2026 – Costco: AVOCADOS $5.99

• March 26, 2026 – Costco: AVOCADOS $5.99

• April 16, 2026 – Costco: AVOCADOS $6.99

• April 29, 2026 – Costco: AVOCADOS $6.99

• May 8, 2026 – Costco: AVOCADOS $6.99

• June 1, 2026 – Costco: AVOCADOS $7.99

• July 13, 2026 – Costco: AVOCADOS $7.99

• July 18, 2026 – Costco: AVOCADOS $7.99

• August 16, 2026 – Costco: AVOCADOS $7.99

Have a good weekend!

-Andre

What if I told you that you might be better off spending more?

The early FIRE movement was built around the core tenets of frugality, anti-consumerism, delayed gratification, and living well below your means.

Save more than 50% of your income. Drive a used Civic. Invest what you save in low-fee index funds. Keep your spending low even as your pay rises over time. Boom, the magic behind retiring early.

Frugality was at the heart of everything.

I think that can be a very powerful place to start.

In fact it is where I started my FIRE journey.

Combine that level of frugality with a high tech salary and, with a well-defined idea of “enough,” you can reach financial independence on something close to easy mode.

But it can go too far.

That frugality that helped you be at the doorstep of your FIRE number 10, 20, or even 30+ years early may now be preventing you and your family from fully enjoying the life you worked so hard to build.

As you approach your enough number, the question should be:

How could I spend more to make my life meaningfully better?

I don’t want to adjust my lifestyle to fit my enough number; I want my enough number to reflect the lifestyle I want to be living.

A quick note on this post: it isn’t designed for everyone. It is designed for the FAANG worker who is already saving and investing aggressively and is within five years of their enough number.

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Spending for Sustainability?

I captured a similar sentiment in my Dear Highly Paid Tech Worker post:

Make it sustainable

Dear High Paid W2 Tech Workers (except Rohan),

You might be better off spending more.

Working at a FAANG can be a grind. Find ways to make it sustainable. This can include things like spending more money on making it sustainable.

Imagine ways that you could spend an extra $1,000 per month that would make your life more enjoyable. If spending that extra $1,000 makes it so you can work your FAANG job two weeks longer, it would be worth it.

This includes using your damn vacation. There are too many burnt out tech workers sitting on a maxed out PTO balance.

The theme of spending to make the FAANG grind sustainable clearly resonated with many of you and generated some great comments over on LinkedIn last week.

But I think there is another layer here worth exploring, particularly as you approach FIRE. As you get closer to your enough number, the question starts to change.

It is no longer: What can I spend money on to make work more sustainable?

It becomes: What can I spend money on to make my life meaningfully better?

The Shift to Spending for Happiness

That shift from sustainability to happiness is what I have been experimenting with this year.

Experimenting is the key word. That is the moment to begin testing which expenses actually improve your life.

You want to learn whether you enjoy business class flights before you FIRE, not after. If your enough number does not factor in that expense, then you are making a sacrifice. That sacrifice may be worth it, but you should know that before you lock in your enough number.

Boundary Testing For FIRE

This is where the idea of Boundary Testing comes into play.

In addition to being a lifelong optimizer, I also spent a decade focused on Growth at Facebook. I have been hard wired to approach things with a “Growth” lens. One of the tools that we used to grow products at Facebook often involved running boundary tests. This lets you understand what the maximum potential metric driver a specific growth lever could be and more importantly allows you to learn “when does adding more of that lever stop being incremental”. This is critically important when it comes to prioritizing which projects your team should be invested in, with a focus on driving topline metric impact.

Enough of the growth lesson. What does any of this have to do with FIRE?

At the end of the day it is all about maximizing a metric. In this case though, the metric I want to be optimizing is “Lifetime Enjoyment”, or lifetime utility for the economics folks, and the lever I am pushing is “spend”.

Pick one category of spending and test it intentionally.

What categories should you experiment with? You tell me. What are things you personally enjoy? Travel, hobbies, coffee, restaurants, donating to charities…

Don’t make this feel like work. This is supposed to be fun.

If you are telling me you have something that you love to do, but the thought of spending more money doing that stresses you out… that is also a really good realization to have before you FIRE. If this is the case I would encourage you to test spending more on mental health. Which I promise you will be easier to spend on while you have baller FAANG health coverage.

Remember, this isn’t a carte blanche permission slip to spend frivolously. Be disciplined in your approach. Spend explicitly.

Do This Before Your FIRE

I highly encourage you to run these boundary tests while you are still working full time. It is extremely common for all retirees to struggle with the transition from accumulating assets to spending down their assets. You are just increasing the amount of struggle by telling yourself that during your early retirement you will be comfortable increasing your spend even more.

The way I think about it is that spending more while you are working can help give you even more confidence in your final enough number and how long you need to keep working to really FIRE the way you want.

Not to mention the simple fact that it will be mentally easier to spend more while you are still earning a steady salary.

This is especially important if you are like me and come from a frugal background where saving money is easy but spending it is hard.

My Travel Spending

One area of spend that I have consistently struggled with is travel.

I really want to increase my annual spending on travel and experiences with my family. But wanting to spend more and actually spending more are two different things.

To help me be more intentional, I created a dedicated travel category inside my Wealthfront Cash Account and pre-funded it with money I actually want to spend on travel this year.

The goal isn’t to let that balance sit at $15,000 forever. The goal is to make the money feel intentionally available for the travel plans I already decided I want to fund.

In a weird way, the “goal” is to get that category down toward $0 by the end of the year. Not because I want to spend money just to spend money, but because the whole point of the spend goal is to help me actually follow through on spending that aligns with the life I want.

Then, in January 2027, I’ll refill it back to whatever my 2027 travel goal ends up being.

If you end up opening a Cash Account to set your own goals, use Wealthfront.com/Andre for an extra 0.75% APY boost for three months on up to $150,000 for new clients and get another 0.25% APY increase with direct deposit ($1,000/mo) and maintaining a funded investing account

Travel is just one category. The point is not that everyone should spend more on travel. The point is that you should be testing the categories that matter to you before you lock in your enough number.

I don’t want to adjust my lifestyle to fit my enough number; I want my enough number to reflect the lifestyle I want to be living.

If you are getting close to your FIRE goals, you should be testing what spending more feels like.

It is infinitely easier to just work another year than it will be to realize your “enough” number doesn’t finance the type of life you really find fulfilling.

Homework

Pick one category in the next month. Double your spend on it, upgrade it, or pre-fund it.

Then ask: did this actually improve my life enough to deserve a permanent place in my enough number?

I’ll leave you this LinkedIn comment thread that I really wanted to include in this post:

Disclosures: Andre Nader is a Wealthfront client and was compensated ~$3,330 for the testimonial and promotion of the Wealthfront Cash Account. This compensation creates a conflict of interest. Experiences may vary among Cash Account clients, and results are not guaranteed.

The Cash Account, which is not a deposit account, is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC (”Wealthfront Brokerage”), Member FINRA/SIPC. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank. The Annual Percentage Yield (”APY”) on cash deposits as of January 30, 2026, is representative, requires no minimum, and may change at any time. The APY reflects the weighted average of deposit balances at participating Program Banks, which are not allocated equally. Funds in the Cash Account are swept to Program Banks where they earn a variable APY and are eligible for FDIC insurance. Conditions apply. For a list of Program Banks, see: www.wealthfront.com/programbanks. FDIC pass-through insurance, which protects against the failure of Program Banks, not Wealthfront, is not provided until the funds arrive at the Program Banks. While funds are at Wealthfront Brokerage, and while they are transitioning to and/or from Wealthfront Brokerage to the Program Banks, the funds are eligible for SIPC protection up to the $250,000 limit for cash. FDIC insurance is limited to $250,000 per customer, per bank, regardless of whether those deposits are placed through Wealthfront Brokerage. You are responsible for monitoring your total deposits at each Program Bank to stay within FDIC limits. Wealthfront works with multiple Program Banks to make available up to $8 million ($16 million for joint accounts) of pass-through FDIC coverage for your cash deposits. For more info on FDIC insurance coverage, visit www.FDIC.gov.

The Direct Deposit Plus Investing Program from Wealthfront Advisers LLC and Wealthfront Brokerage LLC provides eligible clients a 0.25% APY increase above the base APY on eligible Cash Account balances (up to an overall boosted rate of 4.30% for a limited time when including the three month 0.75% APY boost for new clients) when you direct deposit $1,000 a month, plus open, fund, and maintain an investing account. Wealthfront may change or end the program at any time and determine eligibility at its discretion. Terms apply. Full details at wealthfront.com/promo-terms.

For the FAANG FIRE bundle, I reached out to the teams behind those tools to put together something useful for Extra Guac members.

Members of the “Extra Guac” tier of FAANG FIRE now receive over $1,200 in tools and coaching for $200 annually:

• 1 year free of ProjectionLab Premium financial projections ($129 value)

• 1 year free of Sequence’s financial automation ($119 value)

• 1 year free of Mezzi Plus AI advisor ($499 value)

• 1 year free of Silvia AI Pro CFO ($240 value)

• 1 year free of Lunch Money personal finance tracker ($100 value)

• 30 Minutes free 1:1 FIRE Coaching with Andre ($200 value)

Unlock Extra Guac Bundle

If you want access to the bundle, upgrade to Extra Guac here. Existing Extra Guac members can find redemption instructions at the bottom of this post.

Disclosure: No company paid to be included in the FAANG FIRE bundle. I put this bundle together by reaching out to companies whose tools I personally use, have tested, or believe are relevant for FAANG FIRE readers.

In most cases, I asked the companies to skip any affiliate commission they might otherwise pay me so that Extra Guac members could receive a free year or other member-only benefit instead. FAANG FIRE may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up outside of the bundle through one of my links.

The bundle is intended to make Extra Guac more useful to members by giving them a way to try out my favorite tools, not to sell placements to companies.

How I Use The FAANG FIRE Bundle

This post breaks down exactly how I use each of the tools included in the curated FAANG FIRE bundle.

A clear theme across all of these tools is that they are still getting better every week. These are not stale legacy products resting on an existing user base. Most have active communities, including Discord groups or subreddits, and their teams are regularly shipping improvements.

ProjectionLab: For FIRE Projections

ProjectionLab is one of my favorite FIRE tools. I turn to ProjectionLab as soon as I am ready to move beyond what my spreadsheets are capable of. It is purpose built by a small dedicated team to simply be the best tool for helping you build your own financial plan. You can see it in action where I leaned on ProjectionLab to help me answer “Can I FIRE in San Francisco?”.

The team keeps making it better too. They recently introduced an “Optimize” feature that can run through hundreds of strategies to help identify opportunities to improve your plan.

Sequence: Automating Your Finances

Sequence is the smart money automation tool that I always wished existed. I am now able to fully automate how money moves across my accounts. I have personally been using Sequence for the past year to make my cash flow more automated.

I originally viewed it as an “If this, then that” rule based system for my money, and it does an excellent job at exactly that. You can even recreate much of my FAANG FIRE cash flow waterfall directly with Sequence. I have not personally used another consumer finance tool that lets me execute money movement rules this directly.

This is just scratching the surface. For the builders out there, Sequence has been investing heavily in their AI agent frameworks. This means that with a Sequence API key you can unlock actual execution into the personal finance tools you are building for yourself.

It is still early days, but I am really excited for this future that Sequence is helping enable.

Mezzi: AI Powered Financial Advice

Mezzi was built with AI at the center, but what stood out to me is that the team has put real effort into being an SEC registered fiduciary advisor, prioritizing personalized, accurate financial advice over generic AI answers.

The Mezzi team has also built one of my favorite features, “Exposure X-Ray”. It helps you understand your Unknown Concentration Risk. You have unknown concentration when your actual exposure to a single company stock is larger than you realized, primarily due to also having additional exposure through Index Funds.

Mezzi’s X-Ray solves this. It is a powerful tool that helps you fully understand your actual concentration by showing you not only your direct concentrated positions, but also factoring in how much is held within the index funds and target date funds.

What makes this problem even harder is that 401ks are full of proprietary funds and target date funds. I worked directly with the Mezzi team on a beta that allows users to assign proxies for these proprietary holdings (just contact Mezzi for help as they automate the workflow).

Mezzi is giving all FAANG FIRE Extra Guac members a free year of their Plus membership which normally runs $499 per year!

Silvia Pro: Your AI Powered CFO

Co-founded by ex-Meta PM (Anthony Pompliano), Silvia is an AI assistant focused on helping investors make smarter financial decisions.

I use Silvia to help me proactively stay on top of my entire financial life. Silvia is so much more than just an AI-powered net worth tracker. My favorite features of Silvia are:

• Radar, which allows me to have custom AI powered alerts for specific market moves as well as changes to my asset allocation.

• The research tool, which I utilized in an analysis comparing the top 10 positions in my direct index to their relevant weights in VTI.

Silvia is giving all FAANG FIRE Extra Guac members a free year of their Pro tier which gives you 10x the AI token capacity over their base tier.

Lunch Money: Sneaky Powerful Personal Finance and Budgeting Tool

More and more people are finally discovering Lunch Money. I really love what the small and dedicated indie team behind it is building. Imagine a powerful, simple-to-use personal finance tool that supports multiple currencies, has a robust API, offers SDKs across multiple languages, and has an extremely active Discord community. That’s Lunch Money.

Not only that, but it makes my favorite FIRE projection tool (ProjectionLab) even better via a joint partnership that helps keep your ProjectionLab data in perfect sync.

1:1 FIRE Coaching (30-min with me 👋)

I don’t talk about my FIRE coaching very often. I currently have a waitlist for all my coaching packages. You see, 1:1 time doesn’t exactly scale. At the same time these are some of the most energizing conversations. These 30 minute calls are a great way to get answers to your questions, talk candidly about your finances, and just have a fun conversation about FIRE!

Extra Guac Redemption Details

1. You must join the “Extra Guac” tier.

2. You must be a new, first time customer of the tools to be eligible

3. If you request a refund, chargeback, or cancel your membership, your perks and discounts will be removed.

4. What you will receive:

   1. ProjectionLab: One year of the Premium Tier ($129 value)

   2. Lunch Money: One year of the Paid Subscription ($100 value)

   3. Mezzi: One year of Mezzi Plus Membership ($499 value)

   4. Sequence: One year of Sequence ($119 value)

   5. Silvia AI : One year of Silvia Pro Membership ($240 value)

   6. 1:1 FIRE Coaching: 30 Minutes 1:1 with Andre ($200 Value)

How to get “Extra Guac”:

1. You need to be subscribed to the “Extra Guac” tier of FAANG FIRE.

2. You can upgrade from the Annual or Monthly Subscription (annual is prorated): Upgrade Here

3. If you were already a “Founder Tier” subscriber, congrats! You are automatically upgraded to the “Extra Guac” Tier.

4. If you currently have an “Extra Guac” tier membership you can claim your codes by clicking on the link below:

Read more

Over those two years, I contributed $355,136 to the account, which has now grown to $443,398, while harvesting nearly $45,000 in losses during a bull market.

In this post, I break down exactly how my direct index has performed, how to think about incrementality, and how I’ve been able to use those losses to reduce a concentrated Uber position in my portfolio.

This Post is Sponsored by Frec

Just last month Frec crossed $1 billion in customer assets on the platform.

Frec direct indexing can help you earn more by unlocking tax savings, no matter the market. You can start direct indexing for as little as 0.09%.

Invest

FAANG FIRE readers are eligible for a $250 sign up bonus when you join Frec and invest at least $20,000 into one of their Direct Indexing portfolios. Frec also offers Long Short Direct Indexing, and Diversify which can help transition concentrated stocks into a diverse index with minimal tax impact.

Note: I am a Frec client and Frec paid a one-time fee for this post. I also receive $250 for each referral that uses my link and earns $250 which creates an incentive for me to recommend Frec.

Direct Indexing Recap

Direct Indexing is a strategy where instead of simply buying an index fund like the S&P 500 (VOO), you buy the actual individual shares that make up the index.

Why would you want to do this?

Reason #1 Index Customization

Let’s say you work at Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, or Meta. Each of these companies makes up a meaningful portion of the S&P 500. So every time you buy more VOO, you may also be adding to your unknown concentration risk.

With direct indexing, you can exclude specific companies from your index.

For example, my wife still works at Uber. Because of that, we already have enough Uber exposure, and the stock can only be traded during open trading windows. With my direct index, I can exclude Uber completely instead of accidentally adding more Uber exposure through my index.

I personally try to avoid pretending I am smarter than the market by picking random companies to exclude. But I do think customization can be compelling if you are trying to invest in the broad index while avoiding a specific employer stock, concentrated position, sector, industry, or future IPO exposure if companies like SpaceX, OpenAI, or Anthropic eventually become public and enter major indexes.

For me, capturing market returns while also tax loss harvesting (more on this below) is the main reason. Customization is a useful bonus. The ability to exclude employer stock is the hard requirement.

Reason #2 Tax Loss Harvesting Opportunities

Tax loss harvesting is a strategy where you sell a stock at a loss in a taxable account to offset capital gains or income, potentially reducing your current tax liability. With a direct index holding hundreds of individual positions you drastically increase the number of daily opportunities to harvest losses. Vanguard illustrates this nicely, highlighting that even in years where the S&P 500 is positive, a significant number of the underlying companies are negative.

My personal direct index was able to harvest losses on 315 days since I first started using it in June of 2024, generating $44,388 in realized losses.

This is a key driver of what's often referred to as "tax alpha," or the additional after-tax return that direct indexing can deliver compared to simply owning the equivalent index fund.

Past Posts On Direct Indexing

In June 2024, I started with a $100,000 deposit into Frec’s S&P 500 Direct Index.

In early 2025, I transitioned to Frec’s CRSP US Total Market Index. Frec did not offer this index when I first joined, but it better matches my preference for investing in the total U.S. market rather than only the S&P 500. As part of that transition, I added another $74,000. The additional cash helped me move from the S&P 500 index to the CRSP US Total Market Index without necessarily needing to realize capital gains during the transition.

Since my last post, I have added another $181,136 into my Frec direct index, bringing my total contributions to $355,136.

The May 2026 Update

As of May 11, 2026, my Frec portfolio has grown to $443,398.

It has harvested nearly $45,000 in losses, even as the overall market has continued pushing toward new all-time highs. At the same time, the portfolio has continued to closely track its underlying benchmark, VTI.

The Setup

• Start Date: June 6th, 2024

• End Date (for analysis): May 11th, 2026

• Index Tracking:

  • Originally: S&P 500, Excluding Uber (my wife’s employer)

  • Current (as of 12/29/2025): CRSP US Total Market Index, Excluding Uber

Portfolio Results

• Lifetime Contributions: $355,136

• Current Balance: $443,398

• Full Period Performance: 24.85%

• Money Weighted Returns: 45.65% (21.5% annualized)

• Time Weighted Returns: 41.61% (19.7% annualized)

Tax Loss Harvesting

• Total Losses Harvested: $44,388

• Total Harvest as Percent of Contributions: 12.5%

• Estimated Tax Savings (per Frec): $19,645

  • Based on 35% federal, 20% LTCG, 9.3% California, 3.8% NIIT

Costs and Income

• Total Fees: $535.61 (Frec’s CRSP US Total Market direct indexing fee is 0.13%)

• Cash Dividends & Interest: $5,204.05 (reinvested)

Past performance is not indicative of future results. Performance shown is for the 6/6/2024 - 5/11/2026 and is presented net of advisory fees. Net performance reflects the deduction of Frec’s AUM fee. Individual client results will vary.

Harvesting Losses in a Bull Market

VTI is up 38% since June of 2024 when I started my direct index. It is hard to emphasize how hard it would have been to harvest losses during this crazy bull market.

The reason this is possible is that the index can be up while hundreds of individual stocks inside the index are down at different points along the way. The portfolio harvested $44,388 in net realized losses. You may see $45,873.44 used in some of the charts; that is the value before wash sales.

Frec was able to harvest losses steadily even as VTI moved higher. The spikes underneath show that the harvesting was not smooth. A few volatile days did a lot of the work, but smaller daily harvests kept adding up over time.

Should You Explore Direct Indexing?

This is a complicated question.

My honest answer is: It depends.

I still believe that the tax benefits of direct indexing are oversold within the financial community. Harvested losses are not magic free money. That is especially true when other direct indexing providers charge 0.25%, 0.35%, or more1. The higher the fee, the more tax benefit you need just to break even compared to buying a low-cost index fund.

They are most valuable when you have a clear use for them and the benefits outweigh the additional fees and complexity compared to just buying an index fund.

That is where better automation and much lower fees start to matter. A product like Frec becomes far more compelling if you have an immediate or planned use for the losses it creates.

That is precisely my use case.

From my wife’s job, we still have highly appreciated Uber shares. I have always tried to keep any individual stock below my personal 5% portfolio threshold, but after years of doing very little, Uber’s stock finally woke up.

Because of that, I have been able to use every single loss my Frec portfolio has generated. This came after the losses I manually harvested over the past 15 years had finally run dry.

I especially like the use case for people who expect large capital gains in the future. This may be even more relevant if you work at a company where future liquidity is taxed as capital gains, rather than RSUs, which are taxed as income at vest.

That is also where other flavors of direct indexing, including long short strategies that can capture market-like returns while generating additional tax losses, may become more interesting.

Further Down the Rabbit Hole

In classic FAANG FIRE fashion, this is the part where I start getting too in the weeds.

It won’t hurt my feelings if you sign up for the FIRE-side chat, like this post, and then close out this email.

The next few sections are for the 27 of you who are a little more curious about what is actually happening under the hood after two years of direct indexing.

I’d also like to thank of for acting as a sounding board for how I was thinking about this. If you are one of the 27 who like this next section, you will very much like Brent’s work. Including our joint semi-dormant podcast where we covered all the various tax strategies for dealing with concentrated positions.

What If I Just Bought VOO and VTI?

Let’s begin our journey into the weeds by attempting to evaluate in more detail how Frec has performed relative to my typical approach of buying index funds.

Frec says historically their simulation results have found an S&P 500 index to remain either above or below the index by a maximum of 0.77% per year2.

In theory, Frec’s provided “relative return” should have answered the question around “What if I just bought VOO and VTI?”. The challenge though, is that I switched indexes and the data within Frec doesn’t continue cleanly across all time periods.

In the UI I can see the ”relative return”, which fluctuates day to day, but has rarely been outside that .77% threshold overall.

But this is supposed to be a rabbit hole… not a UI walkthrough.

Naturally… let’s try to see if we can answer “What If I Just Bought VOO and VTI?” manually. How hard could it be?

The first step was reconstructing every single tax lot. Which involved translating every single deposit into FREC into an equivalent VTI or VOO buy. It also involved manually computing the reinvestment of dividends within VTI and VOO. This all took an embarrassingly long time.

Thankfully most AI tools are now capable of math. That allows us to “quickly” compute this fun table:

This is saying that the proxy VTI and VOO portfolio came out an entire $1,902.56 ahead, 0.4% of the direct index. Very important to point out that my Frec portfolio excludes Uber which makes up 0.24% of VTI.

Uber is up ~10% over the entire time period, so probably around $100 of the delta could be from that. The rest is likely the random day to day drift. This fluctuates daily, just like the data directly within Frec, but it is nice to have an additional data point.

That gives me the ability to make a nice little comparison of Frec vs a Proxy index:

Performance results are hypothetical and generated using an AI-based simulation model. Please see footnote3 for important limitations regarding AI-generated simulations and historical data.

There is an extra layer here that I leaned on SilviaCFO’s AI to help compute, which is how much in losses I would have been able to manually harvest. Under the most optimistic scenario. Where you can operate like a machine harvesting losses anytime any of your lots were down 5%, it estimated an ETF only portfolio could have harvested ~$25k4.

Although in practice, most people wouldn’t have executed this properly. In fact… I have a “failed experiment” where I bought $100k in VTI at the exact same time as I started my direct index. It is a “failed” experiment, because I should have bought VOO and considered the experiment doomed… and promptly forgot about this purchase (it is a single tax lot of many within my VTI holdings, I didn’t just forget about $100k).

So what does holding this tax lot still tell us exactly? Well… it is hard given the tools available today to perfectly tax loss harvest manually. Particularly in a bull market. Even with the volatility we have seen these past years.

Frec’s quant team has also put out a very good research paper specifically comparing direct indexing to ETFs. Their historical simulations suggest that an S&P 500 direct indexing approach may harvest 1.9x to 2.1x more capital losses than a comparable ETF-based tax loss harvesting approach. You can read more about their methodology and assumptions in their full research paper here.

Takeaway: I think it is conservative to say that Frec was able to harvest 2x more losses5 than I would have done manually. So since they harvested a total of $44,388 in losses, nearly $22k of that is completely incremental to what I could have done with ETFs.

Alpha?

If we are able to calculate an incremental $22k in tax loss harvesting from direct indexing, we are closer to calculating the alpha that the strategy gave us over the alternative!

I used every single dollar of losses provided to sell off Uber shares which were long term capital gains. I am in California. So we are going to assume the following tax treatment:

• Federal Long Term Capital Gains; 20%

• NIIT: 3.8%

• California: 9.3%

Which gives us…

… drum roll…

So my very personal tax alpha of 1.57%, or $5,575 of after-tax value.

Note: This is complicated to calculate. It is also going to be different for every single person. If you were in a higher tax bracket than me and were offsetting short term gains, your alpha could be even higher. I also simplified things and treated everything as if it occurred in 1 year for tax purposes.

An incremental $5,575 in after tax value is just the pure financial element too. Having these losses helped me more quickly diversify out of my concentrated position. This led me to liquidating even more Uber near their all-time highs of nearly $100 before they came back to earth in the $70s. None of that is factored in here.

What Exactly Does My Direct Index Hold?

The target index I selected with Frec is the CRSP US Total Market Index which comprises roughly 3,460 total stock tickers!

I originally thought I would own all 3,449 companies, but it turns out that my direct index currently holds 795 positions. Over my entire history using Frec, I have held 1,735 unique tickers.

The actual holdings don’t matter to me, but what does matter is Frec continuing to avoid “drift”, as mentioned earlier has generally stayed within Frec’s target of “above or below the index by a maximum of 0.77% per year”.6

Since the US market is so top heavy, I thought it would be interesting to see how my top ten holdings are stacking up to the overall US market. Especially since looking at the top ten list above, I noticed my former employer, Meta noticeably on the second page with Micron taking its place.

Top Ten Holdings

Looking at VTI’s reported holdings as a proxy, the top 10 positions represent ~32% of the total index’s weight, which is exactly the same as my Frec direct index.

Google appears to be overweight in Frec, but when you combine GOOG and GOOGL they represent the actual delta is closer to 1% representing ~5.82% Frec vs 4.77% in VTI (which is also lagging with Vanguard’s latest data only through 3/31/2026).

My Frec index is also nearly 1% lighter on META relative to VTI. This is reflective of META’s recent drop after earnings which saw my direct index do its job by harvesting the losses and reinvesting in correlated assets.

Zooming Into Meta

Since Meta is currently the most underrepresented, let’s look deeper at how Frec’s algorithms managed with Meta’s fluctuations. Across all purchases, sales, and dividends, there were 78 total META transactions in the direct index.

What about NVDA?

The above graph had me curious about NVDA. My index was very active playing catch up early on. I ran into an edge case where I contributed to my original direct index just prior to a stock split. I am guessing there was a hard coded exclusion for a short time period that I fell into. Although it was able to make up for lost ground with over 50 buys.

Here is that same chart with my deposits overlaid.

This helps explain more of the “why did it buy then?” questions I had. Additionally you might notice an increase in buying and selling behavior starting in mid-2025. I believe this lines up to when I enabled “Strategic Wash Sales” within Frec.

“This feature enables customers to make frequent deposits without negatively impacting tracking error and while providing opportunity to increase average tax loss harvesting opportunities by up to 15.5% for weekly deposits and up to 13.7% for monthly small to medium-sized deposits when investing in the S&P 500.”7

Here is my attempt to visualize some of those wash sales.

It has been fascinating to see how Frec’s algorithms have managed to keep the overall portfolio from drifting away from its benchmark, particularly as it regularly harvests losses from these extremely large positions.

My Approach To Contributions

Starting in 2025 I began to treat my direct index simply as part of my U.S. equities allocation. Any time I needed U.S. equities I would add new funds into my Frec direct index.

The continuous new contributions have allowed me to increase tax loss harvesting opportunities by regularly adding new shares at fresh cost basis, putting more “juice” or potential harvesting opportunities into my direct index. This approach is designed to closely track the broad market’s performance while simultaneously creating future tax loss harvesting potential into the index in my account.

Historically Frec’s research, based on historical simulations, a CRSP US Total Market may generate 29%8 of your original investment value in losses over the first 3.5 years. This is slightly more than their simulations against the S&P 500 direct index which resulted in 25%9 in losses after 3.5 years. I bring up the S&P 500 comparison since Frec has longer historical simulations showing 40%10 in losses over 4 years.

Did This Make Your Taxes A Pain?

Whether having thousands of trades makes my taxes more complicated is one of the most common questions I receive. Luckily, this one comes with an easy answer!

No.

My 1099 was exactly 587 pages… But that didn’t make my taxes any more complicated than my 1099 from Fidelity. All the information I needed was directly in the summary.

Closing Thoughts

You survived the rabbit hole!

I am getting real, after-tax value from my direct index with Frec. I’m going to keep using it as long as I have new U.S. equity contributions and a real use for the losses.

Claim $250 Frec Credit

Disclosure: I am a Frec client and Frec paid a one-time fee for this newsletter. I also receive $250 for each referral that uses my link and earns $250 which creates an incentive for me to recommend Frec.

This blog represents my personal experience and may not be representative of other Frec clients. My results are not a guarantee of future performance or success, and individual clients results will vary based on market conditions, deposit timing, and personal tax circumstances. I nor Frec provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. The tax information presented is for illustrative purposes only and is based on assumed tax rates that may not apply to your situation. You should consult your own tax advisor regarding your individual circumstances before making any investment or tax-related decision.

Investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. Simulated results do not reflect actual trading and are not a guarantee of future results. Individual results will vary based on market conditions and personal tax circumstances.

Advisory services provided by Frec Advisers LLC, a SEC-registered investment advisor. Brokerage services provided by Frec Securities LLC, member SIPC/FINRA. Both are wholly owned subsidiaries of Frec Markets, Inc.

Certain illustrations in this post, specifically the VIT/VOO proxy portfolio reconstruction, are hypothetical and are presented solely to illustrate what a comparable index ETF approach might have produced over the same period using the same deposit schedule. These illustrations do not reflect any actual client account, were generated with the benefit of hindsight using assumptions selected after the fact, and may not reflect transaction costs, dividend timing, or all applicable tax effects. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

I was part of Meta’s May 2023 “year of efficiency” layoffs, so this is personal to me. I hate writing these posts. I am annoyed that layoffs are happening so often that creating a severance calculator makes sense.

Yet here we are.

For Meta employees, the date is set for May 20th, when 10% of Meta’s current workforce will be let go. That is roughly 8,000 employees impacted, with signs that this might not be the last layoff this year.

In today’s post, I want to lay out the specific timeline a Meta employee might experience, what to expect if you are impacted, and a simple Google Sheet to help estimate what your severance could look like.

My goal is to remove as much uncertainty as possible from the financial side, because the emotional side is hard enough.

Let’s start with the headline severance terms, then we’ll walk through what the actual timeline looks like.

The Severance Details

• Base Pay: Affected staff will receive 16 weeks of base pay.

• Service-Based Compensation: An additional two weeks per year of employment.

• Health Insurance: Meta will cover the cost of COBRA healthcare coverage for employees and their families for 18 months.

While “16 weeks of base pay” gets the headline, it is worth understanding what that actually includes. In California, roughly 8.5 of those weeks overlap with the legally required WARN period where employees remain on payroll. In New York, that WARN period is closer to 13 weeks. The real incremental severance is the portion above WARN, plus the two weeks per year of service, accrued PTO, and 18 months of paid COBRA.

Still, there is a major bright spot: Meta did not cut the severance package from prior layoffs. They seem to have improved it.

Specifically, they expanded paid COBRA health insurance coverage from 6 months to 18 months. Props to the team who advocated for this improvement. It is a big deal.

Estimated Timeline:

Estimated Timeline for Typical 60-Day WARN Period

• May 20th : Layoff Notification, WARN Period Begins

• May 22nd: Normal Paycheck that includes 2-Days of WARN Period Pay

• June 5th: WARN Period Paycheck

• June 19th: WARN Period Paycheck

• July 3rd: WARN Period Paycheck

• July 17th: WARN Period Paycheck

• July 19th: Last Day of WARN Period (no longer a Meta Employee)

• July 31st: Accrued PTO Payout

• August 1st: COBRA Health Coverage Period Begins

• August 14th: Final Severance Lump Sum Payout

• February 28th 2028: COBRA Health Coverage Ends

Full Estimated Breakdown with $200k Annual Base

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Very important note for those assigned to the New York office, your WARN Act is 90 days! That would mean an additional RSU vest as well as pushing your final severance payout and COBRA start date into September.

New York Timeline:

• May 20th : Layoff Notification, WARN Period Begins

• May 22nd: Normal Paycheck that includes 2-Days of WARN Period Pay

• June 5th: WARN Period Paycheck

• June 19th: WARN Period Paycheck

• July 3rd: WARN Period Paycheck

• July 17th: WARN Period Paycheck

• July 31st: WARN Period Paycheck

• August 14th: WARN Period Paycheck

• August 15th: RSU Vest!

• August 18th: Last Day of WARN

• August 28: PTO Payout + Remaining WARN Period Pay

• September 1st: COBRA Health Coverage Period Begins

• September 11th: Final Severance Payout

• March 31st 2028: COBRA Health Coverage Ends

There isn’t a major difference in severance but the key difference is that the 90-day WARN extends past the August 15th RSU vest which can make a significant difference.

If your mind works like mine… the answer is no. You can’t move to New York now to fall under their provision and get one more vest. I may or may not have emailed the NY Labor Department who shot down the idea.

FAANG FIRE Severance Calculator (aka janky spreadsheet)

To help make the estimations a little less annoying, I built a very FAANG FIRE severance calculator, aka a slightly janky Google Sheet, to estimate your timeline, WARN pay, service-based severance, and PTO payout dates.

Create a Copy

How to Use the Severance Calculator

A lot of the values in this calculator are hard-coded for the May 20th, 2026 Meta layoff. You can adapt it for other layoffs, but pay close attention to the WARN period, payroll dates, COBRA start date, and severance payout date.

To personalize the calculator, update:

• Annual base pay: Your current annual base salary

• Years of service: Use completed years of employment based on the last day of your WARN period.

• Current PTO balance: Pull this from your most recent paystub.

• WARN period: Select 60 days for the typical California timeline or 90 days if you are assigned to the New York office.

• Important to note for those with a 90-day WARN period: the calculator does not include the August 15th RSU vest, but you would be eligible to receive.

Everything else will be calculated automatically

A lot of this was calculated based on my personal layoff in May 2023. Looking back at my old pay stubs to try and reconcile specific dates. It is very possible that the specific dates end up being different. Use this for educational purposes to give you a rough idea of how being laid off may impact you.

Practical things to think about:

Start by Building a Buffer

Between today and May 20th you will receive 1 paycheck and 1 RSU vest.

If you are laid off you will still receive roughly 6 normal paychecks.

I highly recommend that you prioritize building a cash buffer.

Now, more than ever, treat that RSU vest as income. Because it is income at vest regardless of whether you sell it or not.

Other Stream of Conscious Things to Factor In

• If you get laid off, you are technically still employed by Meta through the WARN period. You will receive normal paychecks and can still make 401K contributions.

• Your strategy around your 401k can vary depending on what your plans are for the rest of 2026.

  • If you know you will be getting another job, it could make sense to strategically contribute to your pre-tax only up to the match while maxing out the mega backdoor.

  • (see post: optimizing 401ks when you switch jobs).

  • The mega backdoor is capped at Meta, so regardless of what you do, the maximum you can contribute for 2026 is $35,250.

• You will accrue additional PTO during your WARN period. I am estimating this to be 3.47 days for the 60-day WARN period and 5.2 days for the 90-day WARN period.

• Apply for unemployment: The specifics will vary by state and how Meta codes your WARN-period pay. When I was laid off, my payments were treated as pay in lieu of work rather than a regular paycheck, which meant I was still eligible for unemployment under California rules. Don’t assume either way. Check the specifics and apply if eligible.

• Don’t sleep on the 18 months of paid COBRA coverage! Even if you get a new job, it could make sense to stay on the META paid COBRA plan. Just look into when your COBRA coverage ends and when you can get new coverage. Loss of COBRA is not normally a qualifying life event to sign up to a new plan. Edit: Loss of COBRA coverage IS a qualifying event.

What if you are ready to FIRE?

What if this is your sign to be done with big tech?

Could this be the final push you need to fully FIRE?

First, congratulations. Go eat an avocado sandwich to celebrate. Severance FIRE can be a good way to exit the workforce. Depending on your tenure, WARN period, PTO, RSUs, COBRA, and service-based severance, you may be getting paid for months while only actively working for a very small part of that period. I personally ended up with 25% less comp for the year while only needing to work 4 months of the year. Not bad!

But please do the real math before you call it. Make sure you really understand whether you have enough! Make sure you understand your spending, your cash runway, your health insurance, your tax situation, your portfolio allocation, and whether you truly have enough. Not vibes. Real numbers.

And even if the numbers say you are ready, that does not mean getting laid off will feel good. Trust me, it doesn’t. It sucks.

It has been nearly three years since I was impacted by Meta’s year of efficiency. I have zero desire to go back to full-time work. In hindsight, the layoff accelerated the semi-FIRE life I was already moving toward.

But it still sucked.

So if you are impacted, I’m sorry. Be kind to yourself. Take a breath. Run the numbers. Give yourself some time before making irreversible decisions.

My hope is that this post helps remove a little uncertainty from the financial side, because the emotional side is hard enough.

Want to read about my layoff journey?

• My Layoff Post (May 2023)

• Layoff Chronicles: Week 1

• Severance Chronicles Ends

-Andre

Once again I used TurboTax.

I still believe that if you are smart enough to work in big tech you are smart enough to do your own taxes. For the average W2 FAANG worker, their taxes are simply not that complex. Sure, the numbers can get big, but that doesn’t mean the complexity increases. (Just be aware of the common gotchas).

That said, I’ve moved on from the idea that everyone should do their own taxes. If throwing money at the problem gives you back time and peace of mind, that is a perfectly rational trade. I just hate when I see fear mongering that you need a professional.

But this is 2026, so we need to talk about AI.

Is next year the year AI does my taxes and I stop using TurboTax?

I put the question to LinkedIn and here are the results.

Most of you think I’ll use TurboTax again. But an AI tax preparer is honestly not as far off as I expected. On Threads, TurboTax held up about the same, but AI pulled much further ahead of the CPA crowd.

Reflecting on my own experience this year, I did not use AI to file my taxes, but it replaced more than 90% of my Google queries. Instead of getting pulled into IRS PDFs, forum rabbit holes, blog posts, and tax subreddits, I used Gemini and ChatGPT to work through the arcane edge cases.

But next year?

I have a few predictions.

Prediction 1: TurboTax pulls an AI rabbit out of their hat

Inertia is a hell of a thing. When something has mostly worked, the default is to keep doing it. So the default is that I stick with TurboTax.

But this year made something very clear: instead of relying on Google searches, forum rabbit holes, and TurboTax support threads, I relied on AI whenever I got stuck. That creates both a huge risk and a huge opportunity for TurboTax.

Why should I need a third-party AI tool hovering over my browser when TurboTax could build this directly into the product? They’ve already been investing here with Intuit Assist and have now gone even further with OpenAI. (Though I couldn't benefit from it this year; I still use their desktop software, which somehow lacks basic 1099 importing functionality.)

That is the real question. TurboTax has the trust, the accuracy checks, the distribution, and the existing workflow. The question is whether they are willing to disrupt their own model, especially when so much of the current value prop comes from upselling live help.

I know there are a lot of smart people at Intuit thinking about this already and a team with a fun AI first code name tackling what “AI FIRST TAX” looks like. The question is whether they can move fast enough to surprise me by next tax season.

The biggest issue with AI and taxes is trust. If TurboTax can integrate AI in a way that feels native and trustworthy, they have a massive advantage over random AI tax startups asking you to upload your Social Security number, your spouse’s Social Security number, your kids’ Social Security numbers, and the rest of your most sensitive financial data.

That is why I think this is still TurboTax’s game to lose.

Prediction 2: AI Tax Review Tools Explode

Even if you do not use an AI tax preparer next year, I am extremely confident that most of the FAANG FIRE audience will end up using some form of AI-driven tax review. So even if you are not relying on AI to take all your forms and complete your return, you may still use it to review the output from TurboTax or whatever software you use and check for mistakes.

This is basically a code review exercise, which is something AI should be pretty good at. It also feels extremely solvable.

There are a handful of gotchas in FAANG employees’ taxes where AI could catch huge issues almost immediately:

• Hey, those RSUs you uploaded have a $0 cost basis; this is probably wrong.

• Hey, it looks like you added ESPPs but you didn’t make any adjustments.

• Hey, it looks like you did a backdoor Roth, but you entered it wrong and you got taxed on the entire amount.

I already have very specific ways people can check these manually, but that still requires them to go digging through their tax forms. If they can just upload everything to a tool and have it flag the obvious issues, boom, you have either saved them thousands of dollars or caught a costly mistake before they file.

I wish TurboTax did this natively, but whether it comes from TurboTax or not, I think a huge percentage of you will be using tools like this next year to review your return. And once people get comfortable using AI for review, it becomes a lot easier to imagine them trusting a full AI filing solution after that.

Prediction 3: None of This Should Exist

Think about how much mental energy, engineering talent, and startup money is being poured into AI taxes right now. None of this should even exist.

The government already has most of the data. Your W-2s. Your 1099s. Your brokerage forms. For most people, the correct system is obvious: send them a completed or near-completed return, let them review it, make any edits, and be done.

Instead, we created an entire industry around forcing people to rebuild their financial life from scratch every April. And now we are throwing AI at a problem that never should have existed in the first place.

/rant

A few quick hits that are top of mind:

• If you are married and earn >$1.5M in California, you should look into whether it makes sense to file as 'married filing separately' instead of 'jointly'. I know multiple households who made the switch, saving themselves upwards of $10k.

  

• If you were shocked by your tax bill, you should understand what caused it and why it might not be a big deal.

• If you left California or New York and don’t understand why they are still taxing you…

Yeah… that does not exactly roll off the tongue.
So for now, let’s just call it: The 3-75 Rule

The 3-75 Rule:

If there is at least a 75% chance you will need the money within the next 3 years, that money should not be invested in stocks.

It can apply to any large purchase, but I use it most often with coaching clients who are considering buying a home.

Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Wealthfront.

Doing my taxes and seeing how much interest my cash generated last year was a good reminder that this stuff adds up. It reinforced why Wealthfront is a core part of my 2026 goal to simplify my financial life.

My high-yield Cash Account at Wealthfront has consistently provided access to one of the highest APYs I’ve seen along with up to $8M in FDIC insurance through program banks.

Right now for a limited time, Wealthfront is offering my audience an exclusive 0.75% APY boost for three months on up to $150,000, for a total 4.05% variable APY when you open your first Cash Account using my link. Go to wealthfront.com/andre. Base APY is 3.30% as of 1/30/26, is provided by program banks, and is subject to change. Promotional terms and conditions apply. See our affiliate link for more details.

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The Core Framework

Ask yourself if you are 75% confident that you will make the purchase (like buying a house) in less than 3 years.

• If you are less than 75% confident: You should keep investing your excess cash beyond your emergency fund in equities rather than sitting on it.

• If you are at least 75% confident: That is the trigger to start being realistic, pull back your equity exposure, and build up a cash position for the down payment. At this stage, you shouldn’t keep those funds exposed to potential 20% market drops.

The Standard 5-Year Trap

Traditional financial advice often uses a five-year timeframe. If you’re going to need money in the short term, it should not be exposed to stock market volatility.

But in cities like San Francisco, New York, Seattle… I have seen so many people fall into the trap of “we’re going to buy a house in 5 years“.

It becomes a nebulous rolling timeline of you saying “5 more years, 5 more years, 5 more years”. Next thing you know it has been 15 years and y’all are still saying “we’re going to buy a house in 5 years”.

The trap here is that you have been leaving your excess cash uninvested this entire time!

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The 3-75 Rule is supposed to challenge you. Are you really planning on buying a house? I want to force you to be honest with yourself.

Why 3 Years?

In 2026, five years feels like an eternity. It is just too far away to be useful.

Three years feels different. It feels close enough that I can be directionally right.

I’ve been using a personal three-year rule for bigger life decisions for a while now, from my career to where I want to live to school decisions for my daughter.

I am writing this right now in March 2026. That means I want to really think about whether you are going to buy that house any time between now and March 2029.

Try imagining your life in March 2029.

I can personally picture my daughter finishing her final months of 5th grade. As I extend my vision out into 2030… everything gets fuzzy!

How old will you be? How old will your kids be? What grades will they be in? Will you still be working the same job? Will you be itching to live somewhere else?

The 3-75 Rule is really just the financial version of that broader idea.

The 75% Confidence Threshold

There is nothing magical about 75%.The point is forcing yourself to put a number on the decision.

Sitting on cash for a year or two is fine. If you do not end up using it, sure, it probably would have been better off invested. But over a short stretch, that usually is not going to make or break your plans.

The real problem is when that cash drag quietly stretches into 10 years.

That is why the 75% threshold matters. It forces you to be honest with yourself. Are you actually likely to buy within 3 years, or are you just using a future purchase to justify holding more cash than your investment philosophy would otherwise support?

That is the real question: Are you at least 75% sure you are going to do this within 3 years?

Is there a deeper reason you are sitting on that cash?

I really want to push people on this whenever they’re saving for bigger purchases.

Are you actually 75% sure you’re going to go through with it in the next 3 years? Or has that future purchase become a stand-in for something else?

Because sometimes the cash is not really about the house. Sometimes it is about wanting flexibility. Wanting optionality. Wanting to feel safe in a world that feels uncertain.

And to be clear, there is nothing wrong with that.

There is nothing wrong with being more conservative. There is nothing wrong with holding more cash. There is nothing wrong with wanting a bigger safety net.

But be honest about what that cash is doing for you.

If it is truly for a near-term purchase, great. Call it that.

If it is really there because it helps you feel more secure, that is fine too. Call it an expanded emergency fund. Write down the number that actually makes you feel safe, whether that is six months, twelve months, or something else entirely. Then invest the rest with confidence.

Because over the next 5, 10, 15, or 30+ years, what matters most is not whether you perfectly timed one future home purchase. It is whether you built the habit of consistently investing your excess cash instead of leaving it on the sidelines because maybe, possibly, someday, you might need it.

That’s the FAANG FIRE 3-75 Rule. Tell me what you think in the comments!

Disclosures:
Andre Nader is a Wealthfront client and was compensated ~$3,330 for the testimonial and promotion of the Wealthfront Cash Account. This compensation creates a conflict of interest. Experiences may vary among Cash Account clients, and results are not guaranteed.

The Cash Account, which is not a deposit account, is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC (”Wealthfront Brokerage”), Member FINRA/SIPC. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank. The Annual Percentage Yield (”APY”) on cash deposits as of January 30, 2026, is representative, requires no minimum, and may change at any time. The APY reflects the weighted average of deposit balances at participating Program Banks, which are not allocated equally. Funds in the Cash Account are swept to Program Banks where they earn a variable APY and are eligible for FDIC insurance. Conditions apply. For a list of Program Banks, see: www.wealthfront.com/programbanks. FDIC pass-through insurance, which protects against the failure of Program Banks, not Wealthfront, is not provided until the funds arrive at the Program Banks. While funds are at Wealthfront Brokerage, and while they are transitioning to and/or from Wealthfront Brokerage to the Program Banks, the funds are eligible for SIPC protection up to the $250,000 limit for cash. FDIC insurance is limited to $250,000 per customer, per bank, regardless of whether those deposits are placed through Wealthfront Brokerage. You are responsible for monitoring your total deposits at each Program Bank to stay within FDIC limits. Wealthfront works with multiple Program Banks to make available up to $8 million ($16 million for joint accounts) of pass-through FDIC coverage for your cash deposits. For more info on FDIC insurance coverage, visit www.FDIC.gov.

If you are eligible for the overall boosted rate of 4.05% offered in connection with this promo, your boosted rate is also subject to change if the base rate decreases during the three-month promotional period.

This is the vibe I’m sensing from nearly everyone I talk to across tech. It is especially pronounced among those at Meta.

Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Wealthfront.

One of my 2026 goals is to simplify my financial life. Wealthfront is a key part of that simplification. I have been a Wealthfront customer since 2020.

My high-yield Cash Account at Wealthfront has consistently been among the highest Annual Percentage Yield (APY). Their website is designed for how we actually manage money today, not a legacy bank bolting on features.

Right now for a limited time, Wealthfront is offering my audience an exclusive 0.75% APY boost for three months on up to $150,000, for a total 4.05% variable APY when you open your first Cash Account using my link. Go to wealthfront.com/andre. Base APY is 3.30% as of 1/30/26, is provided by program banks, and is subject to change. Promotional terms and conditions apply. See our affiliate link for more details.

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Layoff Rumors and Rumblings

With the news coming out last Friday, including unsubstantiated reports of a 20% layoff, it is safe to say everyone is on heightened alert. For a company that has already had multiple rounds of layoffs and increased rigor in its performance review process, it seems they still find new ways to cause mass internal disruption. Meta’s PR reply only added kerosene to those concerns: ‘This is speculative reporting about theoretical approaches.’

Meta employees also just came out of annual performance reviews, which already included harsher short-term performance-based headcount cuts. That means any potential new layoff, particularly at the rumored 20% level, cannot be purely performance-related. That reality adds to the tension. Nobody feels safe.

To be fair, I don’t know if there is a clean way to handle layoffs at this scale without causing widespread panic. But that doesn’t make it any easier for the people going through it, particularly when you see the company absolutely crushing it financially.

Seriously, Meta brought in nearly $60 billion in Q4 2025 alone, up 24% year-over-year. For the full year, they cleared more than $200 billion and posted nearly $23 billion in Q4 net income.

AI Spend Gone Wild

At the same time, they are pouring money into AI. Capital expenditures for 2026 are expected to land between $115 billion and $135 billion, about double 2025. Then layer on the US data center buildout, $2 billion on Manus, $14.5 billion on Scale AI, and high-profile hires costing tens or hundreds of millions each.

The unnerving thing for all tech workers is that Meta isn’t alone in this trend.

It is hard to feel sympathy for the company, but you should absolutely feel empathy for the employees.

The Hidden Weight of Waiting

It is the prolonged anticipation that weighs on you. Needing to learn about your own team’s reorg plans from news leaks rather than leadership. Being told once again to “focus on what you can control“ as if that magically eases the anxiety you feel in your chest.

That feeling sucks. You start questioning every vague meeting invite, reading into every moved 1:1, every org wide notification, and every single company wide email.

Trust me, I know.

Use This Feeling as a Forcing Function

Know Your Numbers

What I lean on in times like this is making sure you really understand your numbers, now more than ever. Make sure you have an emergency fund or access to funds that can last you at least 6 months.

You may also have the “benefit” of being at a company that has gone through multiple layoffs, so these severance packages are known.

Meta’s Prior Severance:

Think through what your plan is if you did lose your job. Think through what it would take financially to go more than six months or even a year before you land a new role. Think through what new expenses you’ll have.

Be Proactive in Your Job Hunt

Don’t get caught flat footed. Log back into LinkedIn (connect with me while you are there), reply to recruiter outreach. Even if they are not perfect fits, the act of replying sends signals to LinkedIn which will lead to you showing up more frequently in recruiter searches. Accept those old invites from past co-workers. Start replying to recruiter messages. Reach out for referrals. Kick off the process.

Back in 2023, Meta pre-announced 3 rounds of layoffs. I started interviewing ahead of my actual layoff. It is about giving yourself options.

I ultimately ran the numbers and concluded that I was not ready to commute back down into the peninsula.

Reflect on Your Enough

It’s also very possible that in the process of reviewing the numbers, you realize you might actually have enough and perhaps a severance isn’t the worst way to go. Sure, it would be nice to make it through March 2027 :), but maybe it’s no longer worth it.

Whatever happens, please be kind to yourself. It will suck. Over time, it will suck less.

Past Posts on Layoffs:

Disclosures: Andre Nader is a Wealthfront client and was compensated ~$3,330 for the testimonial and promotion of the Wealthfront Cash Account. This compensation creates a conflict of interest. Experiences may vary among Cash Account clients, and results are not guaranteed.

The Cash Account, which is not a deposit account, is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC (”Wealthfront Brokerage”), Member FINRA/SIPC. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank. The Annual Percentage Yield (”APY”) on cash deposits as of January 30, 2026, is representative, requires no minimum, and may change at any time. The APY reflects the weighted average of deposit balances at participating Program Banks, which are not allocated equally. Wealthfront Brokerage sweeps cash balances to Program Banks, where they earn the variable APY.

If you are eligible for the overall boosted rate of 4.05% offered in connection with this promo, your boosted rate is also subject to change if the base rate decreases during the three-month promotional period.

Being a parent has taught me that predicting the future is a fool’s errand. Yet here we are, expected to model college expenses for 2036, while I don’t even know how much summer camps will run me this summer.

I’m also working with a sample size of one, so consider anything involving kids older than 7.8 to be pure conjecture.

Still, I wanted to share my personal approach to children and finances. If for nothing else, perhaps you can take comfort in my lack of confidence.

Fitting Kids into Your FIRE Plans

My pre-FAANGFIRE FIRE plans involved making lots of money in a HCOL area where the overall compensation would allow me to accelerate my savings towards my “enough” before moving to a lower cost of living area. Pretty basic spend less than you earn type stuff.

Kids changed everything. The idea of moving to a lower cost of living area just so I didn’t need to work suddenly felt selfish. I could no longer optimize my FIRE plans without taking into consideration how they would impact my daughter’s future.

That realization is how I formulated my original FIRE mission statement, where I made clear that achieving FIRE shouldn’t come at the expense of my daughter’s future opportunities.

“I want to achieve my goals while also ensuring that I also set up my daughter to have a future where she is able to contemplate ridiculous things like early retirement”

This also leaves me with the lingering question of how do I even define something so fluffy as “setting up my daughter to have a future where she contemplates ridiculous things like early retirement?”

I still don’t know. When asked, I often say, in jest, that it involves living somewhere that values strong public schools while also lowering the probability of my daughter ever setting foot into a lifted pickup truck (sorry Texas).

Perhaps reality isn’t too far…

Much of that is shaped by an often conflicting reflection on my own life. My internal monologue of “I went to public schools in Texas and I turned out all right” vs “I should be using every resource available to give my daughter a leg up in this world”.

Then there is the example I am setting. She will likely only remember me in this post-semi-FIRE state. I love that this allows me to provide a living counter to the gender norms she will be exposed to throughout her life. Seeing her mom as the financial powerhouse forces a normalization of that view. I just have to hope the benefits of that example outweigh all the other unknown ways this arrangement could mess up her future.

I am not alone. I have heard firsthand from many other families who share this same internal conflict. It is the balance of using your financial resources to ensure the odds are stacked in their favor, while also recognizing that your own success was perhaps amplified by a certain amount of struggle.

The Hedge of Uncertainty

I don’t even know what the future of college looks like. This shapes how I approach it from a financial perspective. This uncertainty forces a strategy that values optionality. I definitely don’t want to commit 100% of my daughter’s future college savings into a rigid savings account that might only allow paying for educational expenses (a la 529).

I also only have one child. Perhaps if I had multiple, this conundrum would be less of an issue. Thanks to the beauty of being able to change the beneficiary of a 529 at any time, when you have multiple kids you are more easily able to spread things around if perhaps one child doesn’t end up needing the funds or skips college altogether while the other decides they want to go to private school.

With flexibility in mind I’m aiming to cover just half of the projected costs (a target of $400k in 2036) in a 529, with the rest in a flexible taxable brokerage. I’m also thinking about the decades that follow. Researching UTMAs, the new Trump Accounts (launching in July that were part of OBBB), and other financial accounts. My goal is to maximize impact: I want to help her in her 20s or 30s, not dump a portfolio on her when she is 60 and I die at the ripe old age of 91.

Current Status

This uncertainty prevented me from doing what likely would have been the more optimal financial move. That would have entailed superfunding a 529 with up to 5 years of contributions in the year my daughter was born. That likely would have been a good “one and done” move to take care of college expenses. I didn’t though. I also am even less certain now of college expenses than I was 7 years ago. I didn’t do nothing though. I have intermittently added to a California 529 via scholarshare. The account currently sits at around $90k. If I was able to earn ~8%, the current $90k should naturally grow to reach my $200k target of 50% coverage. Banking on a linear 8% over the next 10 years leans optimistic. If I assume 5%, that would see my current $90k growing to $150k, a $50k shortfall. Doing a little math gets me to needing an additional $33k invested today to hit my 529 goal.

Be right back…

Ok, I now need ~$14k more in the 529 and I should be set.

What about the other half? The half I plan to fund out of a normal brokerage account. As of right now I plan to treat it like any other expense. I am likely to create a new brokerage account that is called “College” even though it will still be in my name. Just to give it some visual and accounting distinction to convey its real intent. This earmarks it without any of the commitment or restrictions.

More To Come

This year I want to write more about FIRE and kids. It’s been top of mind for me and for a lot of you. I want to give my daughter a real tailwind, but I don’t want that tailwind to turn into a headwind later. I can tell my instincts are shaped by how volatile money felt when I was younger. The goal is stability. I just don’t want to overcorrect and turn money into the main character in her life, or in mine.

How are you currently approaching this? For those who are ahead of me, how does my plan sound? Anything you would change?

-Andre

I created this dashboard for my personal use. With Meta & Uber RSUs constantly moving I honestly didn't know my overall compensation. If RSUs are a significant part of your compensation package, then this dashboard will help you finally understand how much you make.

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Total Compensation & RSU Dashboard Overview

The Total Compensation Dashboard is a free and powerful tool that will help you understand your compensation in real time. I created this dashboard for my personal use. With Meta & Uber RSUs constantly moving I honestly didn't know my overall compensation.

Make Your Own Copy

Total Compensation Tab (link)

This tab shows you your annual total compensation projections, monthly income summaries, upcoming RSU vests, and a look into all your RSU Grants. Future RSU income will automatically stay up to date with the current stock price.

RSU Dashboard Tab (link)

The RSU Dashboard tab gives you everything you would want to know about past and future RSU vesting. Future RSU vest values are based on the current stock price and past RSU values are based on the price on the day of vest.

RSU Simulation Tab (link)

New for 2026, the RSU SIM tab allows you play around with different future RSU values. You can manually change the “Simulated Price” and the two charts showing future RSU vests and Future RSU vests by year will update their calculations based on the price you added. This can be helpful to answer “what happens to my RSUs in 2026 if my stock drops 25%”.

Hold vs Diversify Tab (link)

I always sell my RSUs when they vest. I was always curious to understand what would have happened if I didn’t sell. This tab gives you a very simplified historical view of holding vs diversifying into IUIT. I am using IUIT since it represents just the tech portion of the S&P 500 since I thought it was a better comparison to holding a single concentrated tech stock. You can change the comparison stock to VTI in the Insert Data Here tab.

This tab is more “for fun”, and I don’t want people to make future vesting decisions based on the FOMO of holding.

Dashboard Setup Instructions

Youtube Walkthrough:

This is from the 2024 version of the dashboard, but it is largely the same. I’ll be recording a higher quality version soon.

Step 1: Creating Your Own Personal Copy

Make A Copy

The default dashboard is populated with RSU data that was created for the “New Grad FAANG Engineer’s Path to FIRE” series. The data should simulate the RSU grants to a Meta engineer who joined the company in May 2021. It is all just placeholder data and the real magic happens when you add your own data.

Clicking the link above should automatically prompt you to create a copy. If you want to view the dashboard before making a copy you can access it through this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dqyys-uGCQBbbWRId1XWSVLVb5ifTgdau8K_puUb2Ok/copy

Step 2: Updating Your RSU Data

Once you have your own copy of the dashboard it is time to add your RSU data. This sheet takes in all your equity vests to power all the dashboards.

The “Insert Data Here” tab where the raw data that powers the dashboards lives. It should be the only tab where you need to enter your vesting data. 

The primary thing you will need to update is the Company Stock Ticker in K11, followed by your Vesting Date, Shares Granted, Date Granted, Vest Description for all your RSU vests starting in Row 20.

There is some data entry required here but most of it is just copy and pasting your RSU data from whatever broker your company. Below is a specific example of how a Meta employee would access the information needed.

How To Access This Information

Meta Employee Example (May be similar if your company uses Schwab)

1. Go to Schwab > Equity Awards > Equity Details https://client.schwab.com/app/accounts/equityawards/#/equityTodayView 

2. Check “Show All Historical Awards”

3. Click “Export” in the top right to access the raw csv

The “Vest Date” and the “Shares Granted” can be copied directly from the exported CSV. For each section you will want to add the data for the “Date Granted” (which is the Award Date in the CSV) and give each vesting section a description. For Meta employees the easiest will be naming your first grant “New Hire Grant” and then each refresher with the year to help distinguish the different grants (ie “2022 Annual Refresher”).

Uber/ Solium Shareworks Example

1. Go to ShareWorks > Portfolio> RSUs, Stock Options, & Awards https://shareworks.solium.com/solium/servlet/ui/portfolio/awards

2. You will need to click into every single grant one by one

3. My process was to manually copy and paste into Excel followed by manually cleaning up the data. The key columns you want are the Vest Date and Granted (number of shares granted on that vest date).

To get the full benefit from the dashboards you will want to add all historical vests. Depending on how your equity is setup it can be a manual process, but you should only have to do this once.

Step 3: Confirm RSU Dashboards Are Populating

The dashboard should now accurately show all your RSU vests. If it is populating as expected, you are 80% of the way there!

Running into errors? Check to see if the formatting of the dates and grants is the exact same in the Insert Data Here tab as before you personalized it. This is the most common issue I have run into. There are also thousands of calculations going on in hidden tabs to populate all the calculations, sometimes things get a little buggy.

Step 4: Setup Total Comp Tab

The hardest part of your total compensation is your RSU income. Luckily, after completing the initial step, your RSU compensation will automatically update. That means all that we are left with is Base Salary and any Bonus information.

For 2023-2025: I would recommend looking at your final paycheck of the year and inputting your total Base Salary and bonus information. Your RSU data will automatically populate.

For 2026-2028:

• Annual Base Salary: Change Cells B14:B16 with your current Base Salary. If you get promoted in 2025 be sure to have your Base Salary adjusted to account for how many months you were at each salary level.

• Bonus: Update Cells C14:C16 with your expected bonus. Since these vary by company, role, level, individual performance, company performance…. how you include these is at your discretion. I prefer to assume default of 100% of my bonus percent at my level.

Monthly Income Values

• The Monthly Salary take the value for the “Year” selected in the drop down, divided by the “Pay Periods per Year” selected in the drop down, multiplied by the “Pay Periods” entered in the column for that month. Note: Meta employee’s will want to change the “2” in the December row to 3. This will treat the 27th paycheck as an extra pay period vs dividing your salary by 27. I hope to simplify this in the future!

• The Equity Value for future vests is the current stock price. For past vests, they are the stock price on your vest date.

• RSU Refresher: Depending on your employer, you may not have your most recent equity refresher. You will want to update the data after you receive those. If you employer has formulaic refreshers, you could project your refreshers by adding “estimated” vests in the primary “Insert Data Here” tab.

Prototype Tax Dashboard

One of the most requested features are more robust tax estimates. I included a tab with a very early prototype that Nathan Brown, CFP put together. I hope to flush this out more over the year. Right now, every year will use 2026 tax brackets and the state taxes are 2025.

Share your Ideas!

I hope you enjoy this spreadsheet, it was a lot of fun to make! I am sure there are a dozen bugs, please let me know what you find. I am looking forward to publishing more of my personal dashboards that helped me on my path to FIRE. If you have any ideas on future versions, be sure to share them!

Looking to accelerate your 2026 Financial Goals?

Accelerate your financial goals by partnering with me 1:1 to identify your FIRE goals and create an action plan on how to achieve it.

Each coaching plan is personalized, confidential, and the best way to get my thoughts on the specifics of your situation.

From on-going accountability, setting up a path to fire, and one-off deep dives. All from a fellow tech worker who has been there.

Book 1:1 Coaching

FAANG FIRE w/ Extra Guac

If you want to kickstart 2026 with access to some of the financial tools I actually use, that’s what the Extra Guac subscription tier is for.

For $200 annually, Extra Guac members get access to the following tools free (new users):

• 1 year free of ProjectionLab Premium financial projections ($129 value)

• 1 year free of Sequence’s financial automation ($119 value)

• 1 year free of Mezzi Plus AI advisor ($499 value)

• 1 year free of Silvia AI Pro CFO ($240 value)

• 1 year free of Lunch Money personal finance tracker ($100 value)

• 30 Minutes free 1:1 FIRE Coaching with Andre ($200 value)

Subscribe now

Offers available for first time customers of the tools, you can upgrade to the Extra Guac tier and to claim your codes which will be delivered within 2 days.

Other Financial Tools I Use from my Partners

• Top Free Tool: Empower. If you are looking for a free alternative to track your overall net worth Empower (formerly Personal Capital) is my recommendation.

• Top All-In-One Paid Tool: Monarch. If you care about strong categorization of your spending, goal setting, smart automation, good design, and are willing to pay Monarch is an easy option to recommend ($99 normally but available 50% off with promo code MONARCHVIP).

• Premium Net Worth Tracking Tool For Complex Scenarios: Kubera. Kubera has quickly become one of my favorite net worth trackers. It helps me break down my entire net worth in all the ways I want. Designed to help high-net-worth individuals track their overall finances.

-Andre

ps, I read every reply to these emails

2026 Bi-Weekly Cheat Sheet

2026 Meta Cheat Sheet

Other 2026 Cheat Sheets

Let’s walk through a few of the sections, so we are all starting 2026 on the same page! There are also additional items below that are not included in the cheat sheet that I personally wanted in one place to reference!

Bi-Weekly Pay Schedule for most FAANG

All of FAANG seems to be on the same bi-weekly pay schedule. This typically results in 26 pay periods with two months featuring three pay checks!

One quirk is that there is occasional years with 27 pay periods. Here is a more detailed breakdown of 2026 for Meta employees that features the unique 27 pay period year they are having:

FAANG Triple Paycheck Months 2026: January and July (+ December for Meta)

A bi-weekly pay schedule results in 26 pay periods per year. This means that there are typically 2 months per year where a FAANG employee will receive 3 paychecks! Since humans are creators of habit, we tend to mentally budget based off two pay checks per month. So the “Triple Paycheck Months” can sometimes make it easier to save those “extra” paychecks.

If your first paycheck of 2026 is 1/9/2026, then your triple paycheck months would be May & October.

401k 2026 Contribution Limits

• $24,500 Employee Contribution Limit (Roth or Pre-Tax)

• $72,000 Maximum Contribution Limit (Pre-Tax/Roth + Employer Match + After-Tax)

Example of the 2026 changes for a Meta Employee:

401k 2026 Catch-Up Contributions

• If you are 50+ you may contribute an additional $8,000 Roth ONLY (New for 2026 for high earners)

• If you are between 60 and 63 there is an odd extra $3,250 catch up bringing the total for this age group to $11,250 Roth ONLY (New for 2026 for high earners)

Past Posts for Reference:

• 401k Strategies

• Mega Backdoor Roth and Understanding your True Up

Backdoor Roth IRA 2026 Limits

If you earn more than $153k filing as single or $242k married filing jointly your ability to contribute directly to a Roth IRA is phased out. You would still be eligible to contribute to a backdoor Roth IRA.

• $7,500 ( If you are over 50 you can add an additional $1,100 catch-up)

Federal Marginal Tax Rates

For tax year 2026, the top tax rate remains 37% for individual single taxpayers with incomes greater than $640,600 ($768,701 for married couples filing jointly). The other rates are:

• 35% for incomes over $256,225 ($512,450 for married couples filing jointly).

• 32% for incomes over $201,775 ($403,550 for married couples filing jointly).

• 24% for incomes over $105,700 ($211,400 for married couples filing jointly).

• 22% for incomes over $50,400 ($100,800 for married couples filing jointly).

• 12% for incomes over $12,400 ($24,800 for married couples filing jointly).

• 10% for incomes $12,400 or less ($24,800 or less for married couples filing jointly).

Standard Deduction

The majority of tax filers take the standard deduction when they file their taxes. This is essentially the amount of income that isn’t subject to federal taxes by default.

• $16,100 if Single and $32,200 for Married Filing Jointly

Long Term Capital Gains Tax Rates for 2026

Long term capital gains typically apply to realized gains on assets that were held for more than 1 year. LTCG also apply to qualified dividends.

• 15% for incomes over $49,450 ($98,900 for married couples filing jointly).

• 20% for incomes over $545,500 ($613,700 for married couples filing jointly).

Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT)

This NIIT surtax applies to investment income above the specified thresholds, impacting capital gains, dividends, and rental income.

• 3.8% above $200k Single, $250k Married

Medicare Tax Rate

All employees contribute 1.45% of their payroll income to fund Medicare, with no upper wage limit for this portion of the tax.

• 1.45% of payroll income

Medicare Surcharge

In addition to the 1.45% Medicare Tax, if you earn more than $200k in wages you would be subject to an additional 0.9% surcharge.

• .9% of additional Medicare Tax for income above $200k Single, $250k Married

Social Security Wage Base

Only the first $184,500 of wages is subject to the 6.2% Social Security tax, though self-employed individuals pay both the employee and employer portions.

• The first $184,500 of wages are subject to a 6.2% Social Security Tax (double if self-employed)

HSA 2026 Contribution Limits

Additional Reading: HSAs are 🔥 for FIRE.

• $4,400 for individual coverage, $8,750 if your family is covered by a HDHP.

FSA 2026 Contribution Limits

Unlike the HSA, the FSA is a use it or lose it account. Any amount remaining above the $680 carry over limit will be forfeited!

• $3,400 with up to $680 allowed to be carried over into 2027

Annual Gift Tax Exclusion Limits: $19,000

For 2026 you can gift $19,000 per individual without needing to cut into your lifetime exception ($15M in 2026).

This is useful to know since it can impact things like 529 contributions.

Looking to accelerate your 2026 Financial Goals?

Accelerate your financial goals by partnering with me 1:1 to identify your FIRE goals and create an action plan on how to achieve it.

Each coaching plan is personalized, confidential, and the best way to get my thoughts on the specifics of your situation.

From on-going accountability, setting up a path to fire, and one-off deep dives. All from a fellow tech worker who has been there.

Book 1:1 Coaching

FAANG FIRE w/ Extra Guac

If you want to kickstart 2026 with access to some of the financial tools I actually use, that’s what the Extra Guac subscription tier is for.

For $200 annually, Extra Guac members get access to the following tools free (new users):

• 1 year free of ProjectionLab Premium financial projections ($129 value)

• 1 year free of Sequence’s financial automation ($119 value)

• 1 year free of Mezzi Plus AI advisor ($499 value)

• 1 year free of Silvia AI Pro CFO ($240 value)

• 1 year free of Lunch Money personal finance tracker ($100 value)

• 30 Minutes free 1:1 FIRE Coaching with Andre ($200 value)

Subscribe now

Offers available for first time customers of the tools, you can upgrade to the Extra Guac tier and to claim your codes which will be delivered within 2 days.

Other Financial Tools I Use from my Partners

• Top Free Tool: Empower. If you are looking for a free alternative to track your overall net worth Empower (formerly Personal Capital) is my recommendation.

• Top All-In-One Paid Tool: Monarch. If you care about strong categorization of your spending, goal setting, smart automation, good design, and are willing to pay Monarch is an easy option to recommend ($99 normally but available 50% off with promo code MONARCHVIP).

• Premium Net Worth Tracking Tool For Complex Scenarios: Kubera. Kubera has quickly become one of my favorite net worth trackers. It helps me break down my entire net worth in all the ways I want. Designed to help high-net-worth individuals track their overall finances.

-Andre

ps, I read every reply to these emails

I just finished wrapping up an 80 degree Texas Christmas at my in-laws and thought it would be a good time to reflect back on the year.

2025 by the numbers

It has been another good year for the financial markets. We are closing the year near all-time highs for the overall US markets (VTI up 17% YTD) as well as international markets (VXUS up 29% YTD). While all FAANG companies reached all-time highs during 2025, many hit the high water mark earlier in the year, while others who were lagging early in the year found their stride later in the year (looking at Google and Apple).

2025 by the vibes

The year didn’t feel as positive as the numbers suggest. It felt more like being a passenger in an Uber XL with a driver who has yet to master the gas pedal, the brake, or the concept of cruise control. There was clearly forward momentum, but the constant lurching was enough to churn even an iron stomach.

Yet here we are. The seemingly imaginary numbers on the net worth trackers are once again at all-time highs.

Growth vs Principal Milestone

Standing at these all-time highs makes it easy to forget the long, slow grind where market returns felt nonexistent and I constantly found myself asking: “Why isn’t it compounding?? Isn’t compounding supposed to be the eighth wonder of the world??”

It took me a few years to grasp the idea that compounding early on in your FIRE journey is drastically overrated. This is especially true for FAANG workers who have the ability to save significant amounts each year.

Like most FAANG workers, the primary driver of my net worth was simply how much I was able to invest. My contributions were all that mattered.

This is why I was surprised by a milestone I just hit. A milestone that has taken more than 16 years for my dual income tech household to hit.

2025 Milestone: More than 50% of my FIRE portfolio balance is currently coming from growth.

I never actually set a goal to hit this 50% growth mark.

That is primarily an output of the market, not something I can control. It’s simply an interesting data point I stumbled upon while updating my spreadsheets. The only reason I noticed it is because I was busy tracking the one number I do track religiously: my contributions.

Contribution Goals

Contributions is one of my favorite personal finance goal metrics. Most people gravitate to percent based goals, like “saving 50% of my income” or “net worth reached $500,000. I really hate percent based metrics and total volume metrics leave you at the whims of the market. For me a good financial goal should ladder up to my “Enough Number”, be motivating to track, be mostly in my control, and encourage the right long term behaviors. That is how I landed on total annual contributions for my primary yearly goal.

It is because I focused my goals on contributions that I started tracking my contributions on a regular basis.

So if you are looking for a good 2026 financial goal, my vote is on making it a contribution goal.

Now, contribution goals are not without flaws. The biggest one is that if you get compensated with a more variable income source like RSUs or bonuses then it can make hitting your goal not achievable due to no fault of your own. That is when you simply re-goal… who doesn’t love a good re-goaling exercise. This is your personal goal, nobody is going to give you a hard time about it other than yourself.

Financial Goals

Since we are heading into the new year and many of you are thinking about new year’s resolutions, I would encourage you to shift away from resolutions and focus on actual numeric goals.

My annual goals would typically look like:

“Contribute $200,000 into my FIRE accounts”.

This could be further broken down for 2026 (based on cash-flow waterfall):

• $72k into my 401k

• $72k into my partner’s 401k

• $15,000 into our backdoor roths ($7.5k each)

• $41,000 into our taxable brokerage

How I tracked contributions.

Another downside is that I have not yet found a good way to track this automatically. Instead, I relied on a Google Sheet I have been updating manually.

• I only include contributions into “FIRE” accounts.

  • Only includes accounts that I based my Enough Number on.

    • Taxable Brokerage, Pre-Tax Accounts, and Roth Accounts (including HSAs)

  • Doesn’t Include Vested Company RSUs

    • This added an extra mental incentive to sell on vest and diversify, because otherwise it wouldn’t count towards my goal.

  • Doesn’t include 529s, uninvested cash, emergency funds, UTMAs.

• I track taxable, pre-tax, and Roth contributions separately

• Dividends automatically roll into Growth.

• Company 401k matches should be included in contributions.

FAANG FIRE w/ Extra Guac

If you want to kickstart 2026 with access to some of the financial tools I actually use, that’s what the Extra Guac subscription tier is for.

For $200 annually, Extra Guac members get access to the following tools free (new users):

• 1 year free of ProjectionLab Premium to model your FIRE plans

• 1 year free of Lunch Money to add logging into your financial life

• 1 year free of Mezzi to get an AI driven insights into your portfolio

• 30 minutes of 1:1 FIRE coaching with me to help bring it all together

Subscribe now

Offers available for first time customers of the tools, you can upgrade to the Extra Guac tier and to claim your codes which will be delivered within 2 days.

Other Financial Tools I Use from my Partners

• Top Free Tool: Empower. If you are looking for a free alternative to track your overall net worth Empower (formerly Personal Capital) is my recommendation.

• Top All-In-One Paid Tool: Monarch. If you care about strong categorization of your spending, goal setting, smart automation, good design, and are willing to pay Monarch is an easy option to recommend ($99 normally but available 50% off with promo code MONARCHVIP).

• Premium Net Worth Tracking Tool For Complex Scenarios: Kubera. Kubera has quickly become one of my favorite net worth trackers. It helps me break down my entire net worth in all the ways I want. Designed to help high-net-worth individuals track their overall finances.

-Andre

ps, I read every reply to these emails

Based on a backtest of the past 15 years of S&P 500 returns, maxing out your 401k within the first four months of the year would have resulted in a final balance 3.2% higher than an equal monthly contribution strategy.

In this analysis, I modeled 401k contribution strategies that front load an entire year’s contributions over 1 to 11 months and compared them with an equal monthly contribution strategy.

Here are the per-year results:

• Front loading within the first four months of the year outperformed equal monthly contributions in 13 of the last 15 years.

• Over the full 15-year period, this translated into an additional $23,852 compared to splitting contributions evenly throughout the year.

Subscribe now

When previously discussing 401(k) contribution strategies, I leaned on academic literature that consistently found lump sum investing outperforming dollar cost averaging, which helped justify why I front-loaded my own 401(k) while working at Meta.

I still wanted to understand the real world difference between aggressive front loading, which can require extreme budgeting early in the year, and simply spreading out contributions evenly over the year.

In this analysis, I modeled a range of 401k contribution strategies that front load an entire year’s contributions over 1 through 11 months and compared each of them against an equal monthly contribution strategy.

The chart below shows a single comparison: front loading contributions over the first four months of the year versus spreading contributions evenly across all twelve months. This allows us to compare how the two strategies performed in each individual year.

Each row represents a calendar year, with the dots showing the annual return achieved under each contribution strategy.

Note: This analysis is based on a 100% S&P 500 portfolio using total returns calculated from Shiller’s published historical data. Data was from 2010 to 2024. Based on prior Vanguard research, default target date funds would be expected to show a similar pattern, simply reduced in magnitude.

The results of this analysis are consistent with prior academic literature on lump sum investing, which finds higher median returns from earlier investment timing, alongside lower volatility for evenly split contributions.

Distribution of Returns Across Strategies

The chart below shows the distribution of annual returns across the twelve contribution strategies. The more aggressively you front load, the higher the median return tends to be, but with a much wider range of outcomes. Evenly split contributions cluster more tightly, which reduces volatility, at the cost of lower returns.

Overall the results seemed consistently to say that the sooner you’re able to contribute, the better. Every month you pulled contributions forward added a little more return.

Perhaps it is not as surprising when the past 15 years looked like this:

Now let’s take a look at what the dollar impact would be for someone who consistently stuck to one of these strategies starting in January 2010 through the end of 2024.

The red line represents front-loading the entire year’s pre-tax 401k contributions up to the annual limit, and it finished as the leading strategy over the full period. The dashed blue line, representing the underlying S&P 500 total returns, is graphed on the right axis to help contextualize the market conditions over the period.

Over the full 15-year period, front-loading contributions within the first four months resulted in a 3.2% higher final portfolio value compared to an equal monthly contribution strategy.

In dollar terms, that meant $23,852 more in the account for someone who front-loaded their 401k contributions compared to someone who split contributions evenly throughout the year.

For those curious how this scales at higher contribution levels, using full limits including match and mega backdoor contributions, the four-month front-loading strategy ended $76,484 ahead of equal monthly contributions after 15 years, based on $903k in total contributions.

Should You Actually Do This?

Now let’s dig into when this strategy makes sense in practice, and when it doesn’t, in the next section.

Should You Front Load Your 401k in 2026?

In 2026 the full 401k limit for those under 50 with access to a plan with a Mega Backdoor Roth IRA is $72,000.

Should You Front Load Your 401k?

The real answer has more nuance. There’s a subtle fallacy in this analysis that’s easy to miss, especially when looking at the more aggressive front loading options.

No, it isn’t an income issue. Many in FAANG make more than enough income to pull off front loading within the first four months. I personally did it nearly every year while at Meta. Six or more pay periods plus a healthy annual bonus landing in Q1 made it completely doable.

My primary issue with this analysis is that you still need to fund your life while nearly 100% of your paycheck is going into your 401k. That usually means either building a cash buffer in Q4 of the prior year or planning to live off upcoming RSU vests.

In the first case, this data actually reinforces that you would have been better off investing those funds in your taxable brokerage as they became available. In the second case, assuming your spending isn’t changing, if you simply invested your RSU proceeds as they became available, the gains from front loading would be greatly diminished.

Plan and Personal Nuance Can Change the Answer

It is also important to understand the specifics of your individual 401(k) and to factor in your plans for the new year.

If your employer matches on a per-paycheck basis, front loading could result in missing out on your 401k match (aka free money). The lost match will typically dominate any expected benefit from investing earlier in the market.

If you anticipate switching employers, the strategy changes. You may be able to double-dip on Mega Backdoor Roth contributions, while also leaving enough room in your employee contributions to maximize the match from both employers.

Example Scenario: You’re a current Meta employee planning to move to Google after your 2026 bonus lands. Here’s what I would focus on:

While at Meta:

1. Contributing to your pre-tax 401k up to $12,250 which will unlock the full Meta match of $12,250. Then stop your pre-tax contributions!

2. Beyond reaching the full match you want to contribute to the Mega backdoor as much as the plan allows which I believe is $35,250.

While at Google:

1. Thankfully you will have $12,250 of employee contributions available. This will allow you to get $6,125 of Google’s employee match (50%).

2. You can also contribute as much as possible to Google’s Mega Backdoor. If their limits match Meta’s, that would allow at least $35,250.

This is a clear case where front loading would result in being able to contribute less into your 401k overall.

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What Will Be My Personal Approach in 2026?

I’ll be approaching 2026 with two very different 401k setups.

On my end, I’ll be able to contribute $72,000 into a Solo 401k using Carry. My partner, on the other hand, will be contributing through Uber’s 401k, which comes with an $8,000 company match and very specific matching mechanics.

Let’s start with my partner’s Uber 401k. The overall 401k contribution limit in 2026 is $72,000 and Uber provides an $8,000 company match. Match contributions are applied per paycheck, if there is a contribution, otherwise the match will be trued up in the following year for the missed match, if you left room for it.

To be continued, I’ll share all my plans in a future newsletter!

Can you believe it is nearly 2026 already! How are you setting up your 401k contributions going into 2026?

I dove into this concept back in early 2022 in a post titled “FIRE = TIME”, where I created my own version of Tim’s visual. A lot has changed since then, even though it’s only three more rows of squares filled in. I felt a fresh look was in order.

My Life in Weeks (so far)

Each week is represented by an avocado. Each row is 52 avocados, or one year. I highlighted a few of my recent milestones. Looking back is fun, but it’s the view into the future that brings the holiday existentialism I’m aiming for.

My Future Life in Weeks

This starts to hit harder.

Between her birth and when she starts college is ~18.5 rows of avocados. Roughly 45% of those avocados are already in the past.

It reminds me that I have 10 more Thanksgivings and 10 more Christmases before my daughter is in college.

Will she come home during the break to visit us? I hope so. Although, I don’t think I always made the Thanksgiving trek home.

Will she be off traveling with friends instead? Need the time to finish a paper or project? Choose to spend it with another family?

I am thankful that I get to see my own mother ~2 weeks per year.

Which brings up further thoughts I don’t want to contemplate too deeply.

But it does remind me to close my laptop now, and more deeply appreciate the time I have, and be thankful for those around me.

All those future avocados are far from guaranteed.

-Andre

I highly recommend WaitbutWhy’s “Tail End” which is the source and inspiration behind this.

Earlier this week I went live with to talk about end of year planning! I apologize for the video stuttering. No clue what I broke this time. The audio is still solid, you can catch the episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. More of a reader? I have the breakdown along with relevant FAANGFIRE articles linked for each topic.

Episode Summary

Brent walked through his three pillars of year end planning: tax loss harvesting, income planning, and giving. The usual suspects. Then we added the tech worker version, which is basically the same game but with a few gotchas to be aware of.

Tax Loss Harvesting and Wash Sales

Most people think loss harvesting is a December thing. It is not. If you are sitting on losing lots, either from RSUs or regular index fund buys, this is a great time to clean those up.

The headache comes from wash sales. And this is where tech workers can run into issues since vesting counts as a purchase.

Quarterly vesting gives you room to harvest losses if you also sell the new vest.

Monthly vesting traps you in a permanent wash sale loop. Uber and Google folks know exactly what I mean.

Relevant FAANG FIRE Articles:

• Tax Loss Harvesting

• Tax Loss Harvesting via Direct Indexing

• RSU Vesting and Wash Sales

Safe Harbor and Under Withholding

The classic April surprise comes from RSUs being withheld at 22 percent. If you are in the 24 percent bracket or higher, you are under withheld from day one.

Now is the time to run your actual numbers. Add up your pay stub, RSU income, dividends, interest, and any side income so you are not guessing.

Safe harbor often protects you from penalties, but the surprise still sucks.

Relevant FAANG FIRE Articles:

• Explainer on Supplemental Withholding Causing Tax Bills

• Avoiding Under Withholding in the Future

• The Three Most Common Tax Mistakes

Backdoor Roth Refresher

If you are over the Roth income limits, the backdoor Roth IRA is still one of the strongest levers we have to get an additional $7,000 into a Roth IRA.

One rule matters more than anything: do not end the year with money in a traditional or rollover IRA. That triggers the prorata rule and wrecks the whole strategy. Roll old IRAs into your 401k first, then do the backdoor.

Relevant FAANG FIRE Articles:

• Pro-Rata Rule for Roth IRAs Explained

• Backdoor Roth IRA Walkthrough

Mega Backdoor and Job Switching

The overall seventy thousand dollar 401k limit is per plan, not per person.

So if you switch jobs midyear, you may be able to double dip on after tax contributions and employer match.

Relevant FAANG FIRE Articles:

• Optimizing Your 401k for a Mid-Year Job Switch

Charitable Giving and Donating Shares

If you have appreciated stock you want to unload, donating shares in kind is one of the most tax efficient moves available. Even if you do not itemize.

The annoying part is that donating shares often feels like traveling back in time. Some brokers let you do it online. Others make you print forms or fax things. Yes, fax.

If you want the deduction now but are undecided on the charity, a donor advised fund gives you breathing room. Fidelity and Daffy are good low fee donor advised funds.

Relevant FAANG FIRE Articles:

• I don’t have on yet!

Other Year End Checks

• Confirm your FSA and dependent care balances.

• Look at last year’s capital gains and loss carryforwards.

• Remember that California and New Jersey tax HSA gains.

• If you want tax help next year, call CPAs now. The good ones close their doors by January.

• And yes, this is also when everyone orders their annual VSP sunglasses.

• See End of Year Tasks breakdown for 2024

That is the rundown from this week’s episode. Hope it helps you get your own year end dialed in.

-Andre