Chris Brindle is a financial planner who works specifically with sales professionals on commission, bonus, and equity income. Every plan starts from your comp plan (base, variable, accelerators, draws, clawbacks, RSUs) because a plan built for a steady salary breaks the first time you have a slow quarter.
Who I work with
Sales reps in their late twenties and thirties who earn well, get paid unevenly, and want the money to add up to something.
Tech and SaaS sales. Full-cycle AEs, enterprise reps, and sales engineers with a strong OTE, quarterly accelerators, and RSUs or ISOs on top.
Medical device and pharma sales. Reps whose commission can match or pass their base, often with a car allowance, a territory that changes, and a big W-2 that gets under-withheld.
Sales leaders. Managers and directors paid on overrides and team bonuses, who now have more income and less control over when it shows up.
Reps planning their exit. People who know they may not stay in sales forever and want their money ready for leadership, a career change, or their own business.
Your plan uses your base salary plus 50% of your variable as the working income. It's conservative on purpose, and every dollar you earn above that goes straight to your goals.
Commission lands in a single high-yield savings reserve, and you pay yourself a steady amount from it each month. A slow quarter stops being an emergency.
Employers usually withhold commission at a flat 22%. Setting aside an extra 10% of every check covers the gap for most reps, and your withholding gets checked after every big payout.
RSU vesting, ISO exercise timing, ESPP, and what happens to unvested shares when you change jobs, planned alongside your commission instead of in a separate silo.
I started my career at a large insurance firm and left because I wanted every plan built around the person first. Then I spent over three years as a full-cycle tech sales rep, hit my number, and lived the part nobody warns you about: a great quarter followed by a slow one, a comp plan that changes in January, and a W-2 that looks bigger than your bank account feels. Now I plan through Valor Investments and Planning, an independent RIA whose founders left the big insurance firms for the same reasons I did.
Road Mapping call. We go through your comp plan, where your money sits today, and what you want it to do.
Optional second call. If you want to see how it works first, I walk you through a real case study and the planning tools.
Sign and onboard. You get a secure portal to link accounts and upload documents. No spreadsheets to fill out.
Financial Kickoff. We walk through the plan: cash flow on variable pay, taxes, investing, and equity.
Quarterly reviews. The plan updates when your comp plan, role, or goals change.
Where every dollar of a $20,000 commission check goes, and whether you get it back.
TaxesThe 10% rule, W-4 changes, and the safe harbor rules that protect you from penalties.
Variable IncomeRoute variable pay into a reserve first, then pay yourself a steady monthly amount.
Variable IncomeHow big it should be and how to fund it from commission checks.
Equity CompensationTax treatment, upfront cost, and risk for the two most common equity grants.
CareerHow to get your money ready before you change roles or leave sales entirely.
Not always. A rep with a steady salary and simple finances can often manage alone. Once variable pay is a big share of your income, or you have RSUs or ISOs, the problems change: withholding gaps, uneven cash flow, and equity decisions with real tax consequences. That's when a planner who understands comp plans is worth talking to.
Complexity matters more than the number. The usual signals are variable pay making up a third or more of your total comp, owing money at tax time, holding RSUs or ISOs, or finishing a big year without a clear plan for the money.
Brindle Financial offers a one-time Limited Engagement for $3,000 to $7,500, ongoing Advice-Only Planning for $5,000 to $12,000 a year, and Comprehensive Wealth Management with a $5,000 all-in annual minimum. The fee depends on complexity, and exact advisory fees are confirmed on a call.
No. Chris works specifically with sales professionals, including tech and SaaS, medical device, pharma, and other B2B sales roles. What they share is commission or bonus income that a standard financial plan doesn't account for.
Sets a planning income you can count on (base plus 50% of variable), builds a reserve that smooths uneven pay into a steady monthly amount, closes the gap between 22% withholding and your real tax bill, and coordinates retirement savings and equity comp around when your commission actually lands.
No. The Limited Engagement and Advice-Only Planning don't include investment management, so your accounts stay where they are. Comprehensive Wealth Management adds investment management through Valor Investments and Planning.
Book a free 30-minute call. Bring your comp plan and we'll look at it together.