Here’s how a Meta PM went from RSU rollercoaster to FIRE at 45.

How Maya turned RSU chaos, tax shocks, and 60% META concentration into a clear path to FIRE at 45 with smarter tax planning, diversification, and steady income.

Scene 0 - Riding the RSU rollercoaster at Meta

Meet Maya R., 36, single, and a Staff PM at Meta in the Bay Area. With a $2.6M net worth heavily concentrated in META stock and quarterly RSU vesting, her wealth looked strong but felt unstable.

On vest days, Maya felt rich and broke at the same time. The numbers on E*TRADE were huge; the W-2 withholdings were huger. Every quarter, taxes yanked cash she hadn’t planned to spend, and the portfolio graph looked like a heartbeat monitor tied to META’s price. She wanted independence, not adrenaline.

Scene 1 - The vest-day autopsy

We spread out paystubs and grant schedules. RSU withholding was technically working, but the default rate meant excess shares were being sold on vest days, even when she would have preferred to hold them. Together, we adjusted her withholding percentage and set up quarterly tax estimates to true up any remaining liability. The result: Maya kept more stock in hand without giving the IRS an interest-free loan, and avoided any penalties.

Scene 2 - RSU-aware W-4: stop the forced selling

We rebuilt her W-4 around vest cadence so she wasn’t forced to dump shares just to plug tax holes. The effect was visible within a quarter: ~30% fewer forced RSU sales, and a calmer cash account that didn’t spike and crater with every vest.

Scene 3 - Cutting the single-stock cliff

Maya’s portfolio was more than 60% META. Together, we set a 25% cap and staged sells outside blackout windows. Gains were paired with tax-loss harvesting. The goal was simple: keep Meta’s growth story intact while reducing the overall portfolio risk that came from overconcentration.

‍Scene 4 - Income that behaves

Idle cash was earning little after taxes. We built a liquid bond sleeve sized to her spending plan (short duration, tax-aware, easy to rebalance around vests). Her after-tax income from the cash received a boost by 60%.

Scene 5 - The quiet superpower: mega backdoor Roth

Maya’s plan supported after-tax 401(k) contributions + in-plan conversions. We mapped pay periods and contribution rates so she hit limits without starving liquidity. It didn’t change Tuesday—but it changed every future Tuesday: projected $30k+ in long-term tax savings yearly and more tax-free growth compounding toward FIRE.

Scene 6 - Seeing the runway

We built a simple, unsexy, glorious table: “Net earnings after taxes and must-saves, by quarter.” It included vest cadence, expected sells (to maintain the 25% cap), investment allocations to support her goal and fixed bond income. Now her FIRE date wasn’t a vibe; it was a line on a calendar.

The outcome

Most importantly: she could see her FIRE number arrive on schedule.
Taxes stopped dictating trades (≈30% fewer forced RSU sells).
Portfolio volatility fell ~20% with a diversified core + META capped at 25%.
A bond sleeve turned cash into higher, stable, tax-aware income.
Mega Backdoor Roth created a tax advantageous compounding edge.

Behind the scenes (our toolkit)

TRSU-aware tax projection & W-4 optimizer • Vest-calendar rebalancing • TLH engine • Concentration cap policy with staged sells • Tax-aware bond sleeve • Mega Backdoor Roth workflow • Quarterly “net-earnings” view

💡 This case study is based on a real client story. Names and some details have been changed to protect privacy.