Who We Serve
- You are in your mid-30s to late-40s
- Single or married with families
- Household income >= $150,000
- Well educated (Most of our clients have graduate degrees.)
- Moved to the U.S. for higher education &/or career growth
- Your values:
- You are intentional about spending quality time with family.
- You are keen on your children’s well-rounded development.
- You have open and honest communication with family.
- You believe that financial decision-making is not the head of household’s opinion but a collaborative process among spouses/partners.
- Outside of your work, you have some hobbies or passions that you like to pursue with intent—it helps you live a balanced and happy life rather than being materialistic and anxious about your finances.
first-generation immigrants
We love working with first-generation immigrants to help them build their long-term wealth and ideal life. Founded by a first-generation immigrant from India, our firm understands the unique challenges that come with familiarizing with the financial system in a new country, when you first start working after completing your higher education. Sometimes you wish you had better awareness at that time about how to use employee benefits to the fullest or how to think about optimizing taxes and making wise investment decisions. By partnering with us, you can trust you are receiving the highest level of service and expertise. We take pride in empowering first-generation immigrants to leverage the many financial opportunities available in the U.S. and build a brighter future for themselves and their loved ones.
We help first-generation immigrants answer questions like:
- How do I think about budgeting and managing my expenses?
- How can I save for my children’s education?
- What are the tax implications of having income and assets in the United States as well as my home country?
- How do I file my taxes and keep from overpaying?
- What are the best ways to invest my money?
- What are the different types of retirement accounts available in the United States, and how do I best utilize them?
- How do I buy a house or invest in real estate?
- What types of insurance do I need? Do I have enough coverage?
- Should I keep my overseas assets as is or bring them to the United States? What is the optimal way to do it?
Mid-Career Professionals
As a mid-career professional, you are well educated, successful in your career, and likely caring for a young family. Though you are on an upward trajectory, you have questions about how to optimize your finances and confidently pursue your personal and professional aspirations. At PWA, we understand your needs because we have been there ourselves. We are honored to be your trusted partner on this journey, and look forward to helping you work toward the financial success and prosperity you deserve.
We help mid-career professionals answer questions like:
- How much money do I need to save for retirement, and what retirement savings vehicles should I use?
- How can I create a financial plan that balances my current lifestyle and future goals?
- What investment strategies can I use to grow my wealth?
- How can I reduce my tax liability and maximize my savings?
- How can I create a plan to pay off my debts, such as student loans and mortgages?
- What types of insurance do I need to shield my assets and provide for my family?
- How can I plan for unexpected expenses, such as a medical emergency or job loss?
- How can I create a plan to fund my children’s education?
- What should I consider when buying a house or other real estate?
- How can I distribute my estate according to my wishes?
John and Kathy both hold graduate degrees, have been working in their respective jobs for several years, and are now in mid-level roles in their career, with an annual household income around $200,000. They have young kids, ages 7 and 5.
Being open and honest in communication about finances is very important to John and Kathy. They both participate and listen to each other while making major financial decisions.
They’re passionate about traveling with intent to create valuable life experiences and want to inculcate the importance of nurturing some hobbies in their kids as well. The couple strives for well-rounded development of their kids and want to be financially stable while being able to live their ideal life.
While John and Kathy are diligent about their savings, they were unsure if they were maximizing the employee benefits available to them. In addition, they lacked confidence in their ability to choose the right investments for their savings. Sometimes they felt they lack the necessary know-how to optimally organize their finances. They owned a primary home and had been renting out their prior home for a couple of years. However, they were not too keen to remain invested in real estate. Dealing with property managers and/or managing tenants and multiple properties concurrently was derailing their priorities. Besides, having two mortgages was weighing on them and making them anxious about higher levels of debt. They preferred having more quality time to spend with family, pursue their hobbies, and travel without having to worry about their financial future.
Through our initial discussions, we narrowed down what was most important to John and Kathy: lower dependence on debt, being present for their kids during developmental years, preparing financially for their education, and implementing investment strategies for longer-term goals like retirement with clarity and confidence.
We developed a plan to sell the rental home while John and Kathy can benefit from the exemption of capital gains from the sale. It got rid of their second mortgage, substantially reducing the debt burden. Most of the net proceeds were invested in 529 plans, giving them a solid foundation of tax-advantaged funding for their kids’ education. The rest of the proceeds were invested in a taxable account. The investment portfolio was designed to align with the household’s risk tolerance and incorporates globally diversified, tax-efficient asset allocations.
In addition, we assessed the day-to-day cash-flow needs to come up with a plan to maximize contributions to employee benefits, such as a 401(k) and HSA, leading to tax optimization. We helped implement the planned actions and now monitor the progress periodically to adjust any future actions as life changes.
With reduced debt levels, a well-diversified investment portfolio, education savings for kids on track, and availability of our guidance to depend on as needed, John and Kathy are not anxious and overwhelmed about their finances anymore and feel confident about their financial future.
Disclosure: These stories are not testimonials. They are based on hypothetical clients and not actual client interactions. However, they showcase similar clients and situations with which PWA has experience helping. The outcomes are not a guarantee of similar results as actual client experience will depend on their own specific circumstances, effort, and discipline.
Asha came to the U.S. in her mid-20s for graduate studies. She has been working in the technology industry after graduation for several years now and is currently in a senior role with an annual income exceeding $250,000. Her parents and a sibling are back in India, and she travels home annually to spend time with family and friends.Outside of work, Asha enjoys being involved in a local charity. She is keen to pursue her hobbies and learns and practices the Indian classical dance form of kathak on weekends.
Asha has great employee benefits from her employer, including a significant match for her own contributions to a 401(k) and annual award of equity compensation in the form of restricted stock units (RSUs). She was not sure if she was maximizing the employee benefits. Also, she was curious about how the RSUs would fit in the context of her overall investment strategy and what would be the tax consequences of any potential sale of the RSUs. In addition, Asha wanted to assess if her financial assets in India would impact her taxes in the U.S. in any way.
As we explored Asha’s current assets and employee benefits package, we realized her employer’s 401(k) plan allows contributions to an after-tax and Roth 401(k) as well. Availability of these options can be used to channel contributions above and beyond the annual limits of traditional 401(k) contributions. We developed a plan to use those options and add $25,000 to $30,000 toward Asha’s Roth IRA. The strategy is often called a mega backdoor Roth. In the gamut of various retirement accounts, Roth type of accounts typically have the most tax benefit. In addition to the benefit of tax-deferred growth, qualified withdrawals from Roth accounts are tax-free. With implementation of a mega backdoor Roth, Asha’s tax-free bucket of retirement funds began building significantly.
Regarding her investments through RSUs, we educated Asha about all the rules associated with managing such compensation and the concentration risk it would eventually build in her portfolio due to periodic vesting of her employer stock over the years. We implemented a plan to sell some of these RSUs in a staggered way to minimize its tax impact while mitigating the concentration risk of the portfolio.
As a U.S. tax resident, Asha has tax liability on her global income and was unaware of the IRS reporting requirements related to her assets in India. We collaborated with Asha’s CPA to comply with IRS rules such as filing Form FBAR and Form 8938, etc.
Now that Asha’s tax affairs are in compliance, her retirement planning is bolstered and her taxable portfolio is more diversified than before. She has the peace and confidence to pursue her passions and get involved in her favorite charity to make a difference.
Disclosure: These stories are not testimonials. They are based on hypothetical clients and not actual client interactions. However, they showcase similar clients and situations with which PWA has experience helping. The outcomes are not a guarantee of similar results as actual client experience will depend on their own specific circumstances, effort, and discipline.
Deepak and Rupali both came to the U.S. for graduate studies in their early 20s. Deepak works as an engineering manager in the energy sector, while Rupali is currently not working but has experience in the healthcare sector and plans to resume her career in a couple of years. Their current annual household income is around $180,000, however, it is expected to grow to $350,000 to $400,000 in two to three years once Rupali starts working again and Deepak receives his expected promotion.
They have a son, Aarav, age 5. Deepak and Rupali have their own hobbies: Deepak enjoys Indian music and learns a classical instrument outside of his work hours. Rupali is passionate about art and paintings and loves to visit museums to learn more about different art, and she sometimes indulges herself in painting.
Deepak and Rupali already started a 529 plan for Aarav’s education savings but wanted guidance on assessing the expected funding need and choosing the right mix of investments. They sometimes feel a lack of direction or long-term strategy about how to align their finances to their values and goals. They were wondering if they had sufficient amounts and the right kind of insurance coverage to protect their family from unforeseen circumstances.
Recently, Deepak’s father passed away in India, and Deepak inherited a large investment account in India. He was unsure of how it would impact him in the U.S. from a tax perspective and was debating whether to keep that account as is in India or sell the investments and repatriate the proceeds to the U.S.
Plan:We began our analysis by focusing on the household’s cash flow (income and expenses) in detail to identify any excess cash being saved regularly. Using this projection, we were able to direct those savings to a carefully designed investment portfolio on a periodic basis. Simultaneously, we looked at the investment choices they had in employer 401(k)s, as well as in the 529 education savings plan, to implement a well-diversified long-term investment strategy.
While assessing their existing accounts, we realized they had traditional IRA accounts with a reasonable balance. Since Rupali was not working at the moment, they were in a lower tax bracket compared to the future expected tax bracket when their household income was set to rise in the next two to three years. We decided to exploit the situation for effective tax planning and initiated a three-year Roth conversion schedule. It helped us get most of the traditional IRA balance to the Roth IRA account (which is potentially tax-free in future for qualified withdrawals) by paying minimal taxes.
Deepak’s inherited investment account in India had very few concentrated stock positions. As step-up in basis is not allowed in India for inherited assets, the investments had a large capital gain built into it. Also, historically, the Indian rupee depreciates against the U.S. dollar at an annualized rate of ~ 4 to 5%, exposing those assets to a significant foreign exchange risk. We developed a plan to stagger the sale of Indian stocks and bring the money to the U.S. over three to four years. This ensured minimizing the capital gains tax impact in any one year and reduced forex risk eventually.
In collaboration with insurance and estate professionals, we implemented a right-size insurance plan and created documents like a will and powers of attorney to shield the family in case of unfortunate incidents.
With a comprehensive plan in place, Deepak and Rupali now have a sense of control and confidence about their financial future.
Disclosure: These stories are not testimonials. They are based on hypothetical clients and not actual client interactions. However, they showcase similar clients and situations with which PWA has experience helping. The outcomes are not a guarantee of similar results as actual client experience will depend on their own specific circumstances, effort, and discipline.
