Beyond the Vest A Practical Guide to Equity Compensation and Financial Planning Format: Trade Paperback

Most employees who receive equity compensation know it could be valuable. Far fewer know what to actually do with it.

Beyond the Vest is a comprehensive, plain-English guide to understanding and managing equity compensation as part of a broader financial plan. Written by a CFP(R) professional specializing in equity-based pay, it breaks down the mechanics, tax implications, and planning strategies behind every major award type: Incentive Stock Options, Non-Qualified Stock Options, Restricted Stock Units, Restricted Stock Awards, and Employee Stock Purchase Plans.

Each chapter stands on its own, making this a reference you can return to as your career and equity situation evolve. Whether you are new to equity compensation or years into managing complex grants, you will find actionable guidance on the decisions that matter most.

Topics covered include:
How vesting schedules work and what happens when employment ends
How each award type is taxed and when obligations arise
Strategies for exercising stock options with intention
Managing concentration risk and building a diversified portfolio
Planning around job changes, retirement, disability, and death
How equity compensation works differently at private and pre-IPO companies
The mechanics of 83(b) elections, early exercise, and Qualified Small Business Stock
Using 10b5-1 plans to bring structure to selling decisions
Real-world case studies across different career stages and award types

This book connects equity compensation to something larger: the life you are trying to build. Understanding what you have, managing the risk, and making informed decisions at the right moments can turn equity from a source of confusion into a meaningful part of your financial future.

Ideal for any professional who receives equity as part of their compensation and wants to move from confusion to confidence.

Giovanni Tiso, CFP(R), is a financial planner with deep expertise in equity compensation and a career built around helping professionals turn complex financial decisions into clear, confident action. His work sits at the intersection of equity planning and holistic financial planning, focused not just on what someone has, but on how it fits into everything they are building.

Giovanni's focus on equity compensation grew out of a pattern he saw repeatedly early in his career. Intelligent, accomplished professionals were receiving stock options, RSUs, and ESPPs as part of their compensation and feeling anxious, confused, and uncertain about what to do next. The same questions kept coming up. The same avoidable mistakes kept being made. Grants were vesting without a plan. Decisions were being deferred until it was too late to optimize them. And the cost of that confusion was real: setbacks to financial plans, missed opportunities, and goals that were harder to reach than they needed to be.

That pattern became a mission.

Having worked across traditional RIA firms and high-growth startups, and having navigated his own equity decisions firsthand, Giovanni understands how instrumental equity compensation can be when approached with clarity and intention, and how costly it can be when it is not.

His approach to financial planning is rooted in three principles.

First, an informed client makes better decisions. Education is not a preamble to planning; it is the foundation of it. When someone truly understands what they have, what it costs, and what it means for their future, they stop reacting and start deciding with confidence.

Second, the numbers only matter because the goals do. A financial plan is not a document. It is a reflection of what someone is working toward: the life they want to live, the security they want to feel, and the future they want to build for the people they love. Every recommendation has to be evaluated against each person's individual goals, needs, and circumstances.

Third, great planning is proactive. The most consequential decisions rarely feel urgent until it is too late to optimize them. The best outcomes come from getting ahead of those moments, understanding the trade-offs clearly, and building a strategy that is ready when it needs to be.

Beyond the Vest was written for the professional who has equity in their company and feels confused, overwhelmed, or anxious about what to do with it. Giovanni believes no one should leave a job, change roles, or make a major financial decision having left money on the table simply because no one took the time to explain what they had. This book is his answer to that problem.

Outside of work, Giovanni is a husband, a father, and a son. He lives on Long Island with his family. He wrote this book for everyone who has ever stared at an equity award and wondered what it actually means for their future. The answer is in here.