A $4M household, coordinated.
A couple in their 50s. A concentrated equity position from a sale. Two trusts that were
never funded. A Roth they'd forgotten they had. Nothing was broken. Coordinated, the same
holdings keep an estimated ~$40k/yr more after tax — and three decisions that had sat open for
years finally closed.
The situation
On paper, a successful household. The pieces were all good; they had simply never been
held to one plan:
- $4M taxable, with a low-cost basis equity block from a founder exit — the single largest tax lever in the household.
- Two trusts, never funded — the estate plan existed on paper but owned nothing, so the estate and the portfolio had quietly diverged.
- A Roth, forgotten — opened years earlier, unused, and absent from every other decision.
- Loss carryforwards sitting idle, with no schedule to put them to work.
What coordination changed
Before
- The concentrated block is sold in one year, a large gain hits at the top bracket.
- The trusts are reviewed, again, but never funded — the estate plan stays theoretical.
- The Roth sits empty; the loss carryforwards expire unused.
- Each professional does excellent work that no one sequences.
Coordinated
- Gain is realized against the loss carryforwards and spread across years, not one.
- The trusts are funded from the proceeds before they're reinvested — estate and portfolio realigned.
- The Roth is converted on a planned schedule; the empty account becomes part of the plan.
- Every open matter moves to one register with an owner and a date.
Same holdings. A materially different after-tax result — and three decisions that had been open for years, closed.
In the room, sequenced by Driftwood: the investment plan, the CPA, and the
estate attorney, working from one calendar. The household's open matters now live in a standing
Opportunity Register.
Financial decisions should not surprise one another.
See the ripple on your own numbers.
The Tax Diagnostic starts with your state and bracket and shows what a coordinated approach
could be worth for you, in about two minutes.
Run the Tax Diagnostic →