Thimbleberry Financial

How Do I Recover the AMT Credit After Exercising ISOs?

If you exercised incentive stock options, held the shares, and got a tax bill that did not match anything you actually saw in your bank account, you probably had that nagging feeling that some credit should be out there somewhere.

It is. And recovering it takes planning, not just filing.

Amy Walls, CFP® walks through exactly how the AMT credit works, what the 2026 rule changes mean for tech professionals with ISOs, and how to avoid leaving money stranded with the IRS.

We discuss:

Why you can owe AMT on shares you never sold and never got cash from
What the bargain element is and how it creates phantom income
How the Big Beautiful Bill changed AMT thresholds in 2026 and why more people are now affected
What a qualifying disposition is and why it is the cleanest path to recovering your credit
Why a drop in stock price after exercise can leave your credit stranded for years
What multi-year ISO planning actually looks like in practice
Why your CPA and your financial planner both need to be in this conversation

The AMT bill is not the end of the story. It is the start of a credit you have to actively manage to get back.

🎧 Listen here: https://thimbleberryu.simplecast.com/episodes/how-do-i-recover-the-amt-credit-after-exercising-isos

Working in tech can come with incredible opportunities, but it can also come with a lot of financial complexity.

For Rachael and Bernerd, higher income, RSUs, changing benefits, and the uncertainty of the tech industry made it hard to know what to do next. They knew they should be making decisions, but they didn’t want to make the wrong ones.

In this client story, they share how Thimbleberry Financial helped them turn that complexity into a plan, understand the opportunities available to them, and feel more confident making bigger life decisions.

What part of tech compensation or career uncertainty feels hardest to plan around?

If you’re ready to have this conversation or know someone who could use our advice, connect with me.

Working in tech can come with incredible opportunities, but it can also come with a lot of financial complexity.

For Berecka and Bernerd, higher income, RSUs, changing benefits, and the uncertainty of the tech industry made it hard to know what to do next. They knew they should be making decisions, but they didn’t want to make the wrong ones.

In this client story, they share how Thimbleberry Financial helped them turn that complexity into a plan, understand the opportunities available to them, and feel more confident making bigger life decisions.

What part of tech compensation or career uncertainty feels hardest to plan around?

If you’re ready to have this conversation or know someone who could use our advice, connect with me.

Do I Need a Financial Advisor If I Already Have a CPA?

If you are in healthcare or academia, you have probably wondered whether your CPA already has this covered. The answer matters more than most people realize, especially when your retirement picture is spread across multiple institutions and account types.

Amy Walls, CFP® breaks down exactly what each professional does, where the gaps show up, and what it actually looks like when both are working together.

We discuss:

The critical difference between tax preparation and tax planning
Why your CPA is looking backward while your planner should be looking forward
How the 457 plan early access advantage often goes unnoticed without a planner
What Roth conversions have to do with rollovers your CPA might not know about
How a pension lump sum vs. monthly income decision falls squarely in planning territory
Why the question is not "does my CPA do planning" but "will my CPA work with my planner"
What coordinated planning actually looks like for busy healthcare professionals

You are not paying two people to do the same job. You are building a team so that nothing falls through the cracks.

🎧 Listen here:
https://thimbleberryu.simplecast.com/episodes/do-i-need-a-financial-advisor-if-i-already-have-a-cpa

ICYMI: Safeguarding Senior Finances and How to Talk to Your Parents About Money

The statistics on financial exploitation of seniors are significant. And in most cases, it could have been caught earlier if the right conversations had already been happening.

Amy Walls, CFP® walks through what financial exploitation actually looks like, how adult children can approach these conversations without creating conflict, and what seniors can do to protect themselves.

We discuss:

The warning signs of financial exploitation that are easy to miss or explain away
Why starting these conversations early matters more than most families realize
How to approach a parent from a place of care rather than control
What regular financial check ins actually look like in practice
How to organize documents, set agreements, and use technology to monitor accounts
When to bring in a financial advisor or attorney as a neutral third party
What seniors themselves can do to make sure their wishes are clearly communicated and honored

You do not have to wait for something to feel wrong. The best protection is a conversation that has already happened.

🎧 Listen here:
[https://thimbleberryfinancial.com/safeguarding-senior-finances/

Should I Pay Off My Mortgage or Invest When Interest Rates Are High?

For a long time this felt like a settled question. Higher rates changed that. Now it is one of the most common conversations happening in financial planning, especially for tech professionals with RSUs, bonuses, and income that lands in chunks.

Amy Walls, CFP® breaks down how to actually make this call once, so you stop relitigating it every time money hits your account.

We discuss:

Why higher mortgage rates genuinely changed the math on this decision
What most people get wrong when they try to work this out on their own
Why your 401(k) match is not the right comparison for your mortgage
How RSUs and bonuses change this from a monthly question to a lump sum decision
Why paying off a mortgage with a windfall can make concentration risk worse
When the psychology of peace of mind outweighs the math
Why you do not have to go all or nothing and what a split strategy actually looks like

Pick a lane on purpose. Stop carrying the argument. That is what intentional financial planning looks like.

🎧 Listen here: https://thimbleberryu.simplecast.com/episodes/should-i-pay-off-my-mortgage-or-invest-when-interest-rates-are-high

When life is busy, it’s easy for financial decisions to slide to the bottom of the list.

Benefit elections, estate updates, Roth conversions. They matter, but they don’t always feel urgent when work, family, and day-to-day demands take over.

The challenge is that waiting can quietly change your options. What once felt like a harmless delay can turn into fewer years for progress and bigger decisions later.

Progress doesn’t usually come from one big move. It happens between shifts. In small, intentional steps over time.

This is why having a plan, and someone to help you adjust it as life changes, matters.

Watch the video to see how staying engaged, even a little at a time, can make a meaningful difference.

Can I Actually Retire? What Healthcare and Academic Medicine Professionals Need to Know

The uncertainty most people feel about retirement is not about running out of money. It is about not being able to see how everything works together.

Amy Walls, CFP® breaks down what retirement planning really looks like for professionals navigating pensions, 403(b)s, 457 plans, and Social Security — and why clarity changes everything.

We discuss:

Why retirement stress is usually a visibility problem, not a money problem
Why starting with a "magic number" is the wrong approach
How to build a retirement plan around actual life costs, not assumptions
The irreversible pension decision most people underestimate
What most people get wrong about 457 plans — and why it changes your sequence
How stress testing turns "Am I ready?" into "I am ready"
Why a retirement plan needs regular rhythm, not a one-time snapshot

Nothing may need to change financially. What often needs to change is your relationship to the information you already have.

🎧 Listen here: https://thimbleberryu.simplecast.com/episodes/when-can-i-retire-academic-healthcare-professionals

ICYMI — Teaching Kids Financial Responsibility, Part 1

Most parents want to teach their kids about money. The hard part is knowing where to actually start.

Amy Walls, CFP® shares the practical strategies her own family uses — and the real moments that taught her kids more than any planned lesson could.

We discuss:

Why tying every chore to an allowance can backfire
How to distinguish between family responsibility and earning opportunities
Why cash teaches kids what cards never will
Age-appropriate ways to make money tangible and real
The save, spend, and share jar system that actually works
What a food drive shopping trip taught one kid about stretching a budget
When to introduce savings accounts and how to handle the inevitable mistakes

Every family is different. The goal is not a perfect system. It is an intentional one.

🎧 Listen here:
https://thimbleberryu.simplecast.com/episodes/teaching-kids-financial-responsibility-part-1

A set it and forget it approach sounds like peace of mind. For tech professionals, it can quietly become one of the biggest financial risks you are carrying.

Amy Walls, CFP® breaks down the difference between intentional simplicity and an unattended portfolio — and why it matters especially when your income, equity, and investments are all tied to the same industry.

We discuss:

Why tech workers are especially vulnerable to concentration risk
How success itself can quietly build overexposure without any bad decisions
The difference between a target date fund and a portfolio that has just been ignored
Why rebalancing is about managing risk, not predicting the market
The emotional attachment many people have to company stock — and a question that reframes it
What calm, simple, and intentional investing actually looks like in practice

Your portfolio does not need constant attention. But it does need periodic review.
🎧 Listen here:

https://thimbleberryu.simplecast.com/episodes/simple-investing-vs-ignoring-your-portfolio