TAX, PLANNING & ADVISORY SERVICES 
 
Assisting individuals & high-Income earners, physicians, business owners - entrepreneurs, businesses & private practices strategically minimize taxes, file accurate and efficient tax returns, plan for their financial future and acheive what matters most.

Physicians and Healthcare Professionals
Frequently Asked Questions

​Why does physician income require different tax planning than other high earners?​

Physician income is often high, layered, and payroll-driven—base comp plus call pay, productivity bonuses, stipends, signing/retention bonuses, and sometimes multiple employers—so withholding rarely matches true liability. Many physicians also have “lumpy” additions like moonlighting (1099), partnership/K-1 income, ASC/surgery center investments, or a spouse’s equity compensation, which creates timing problems that normal W-2 planning doesn’t solve. The result is predictable underpayment risk and cash-flow surprises unless you run a projection and build a payment plan around when income hits, not just how much. Physicians also face career-stage transitions that change tax structure overnight—resident to attending, W-2 to partner, employee to owner—where the wrong first move can lock in penalties, poor entity choices, or missed retirement opportunities for years. Finally, California physicians are hit by a uniquely high combined marginal stack, so decisions that feel “small” elsewhere can create five-figure differences here, especially when surtaxes and itemizing limitations interact.

How do you help physicians who are W-2 only?

We treat W-2 physicians as planning clients because high W-2 income still creates predictable failure points—bonus withholding, multi-job withholding, spouse income interactions, and surtax thresholds—so the first deliverable is a full-year projection that includes all household income, not just your paycheck. Next, we convert the projection into an implementation plan: adjust W-4 withholding (often the cleanest solution), add targeted estimated payments when needed, and build a calendar that matches tax payments to bonus and vesting dates so April is not a surprise. We then optimize within what W-2 allows: retirement contributions and sequencing, charitable strategy (including bunching/appreciated asset giving when appropriate), and investment tax coordination to avoid accidental surtax spikes. We also manage “hidden complexity” that still hits W-2 physicians—multi-state issues, moving mid-year, backdoor Roth execution errors, HSA eligibility mistakes, RSUs via spouse, or investment K-1s—so the return is accurate and the plan is coherent.