Cedar Park, Texas
Planning for Cedar Park households, where two careers carry the plan.
Cedar Park’s median resident is 37.7, its median household income is $129,545, and 25.8% of its households earn $200,000 or more, well above Austin’s 18.8%. That profile often describes two careers with equity pay, a $513,600 home in Leander ISD, children who will need college funded, and twenty-plus years of decisions still ahead.
The situation
A commuter city with its own rocket company
Cedar Park sits northwest of Austin, mostly in Williamson County with a portion in Travis County, and most of the city is zoned to Leander ISD, a district of more than 42,000 students on 49 campuses. Part of the city falls in Round Rock ISD instead, and the difference between the two districts’ 2025 rates is large enough to change a household budget. The commute runs to Apple’s 133-acre North Austin campus, announced in 2018 with room for up to 15,000 employees, to Dell’s Round Rock headquarters, and increasingly to jobs inside the city: Firefly Aerospace keeps its principal offices in Cedar Park and went public in August 2025.
The typical balance sheet is early and busy rather than large and settled: two 401(k)s, restricted stock from one or both employers, a mortgage from the 2020s, 529 accounts that are behind where the parents want them, and life-insurance and guardianship questions that have not been written down. The planning is mostly about sequence: which dollar goes where first.
Why it’s complex
Five Cedar Park decisions that compound
Two incomes, two vesting schedules
When both spouses receive restricted stock, the household can end up with a third of its net worth in two employers without ever deciding to. We set a rule for each grant at vest, cover the withholding shortfall, and count the 401(k) company-stock fund and any ESPP shares in the same total.
Leander ISD or Round Rock ISD: about $724 a year apart
Leander ISD’s 2025 rate is $1.0869 per $100; Round Rock ISD’s is $0.8931. On a median Cedar Park home after the $140,000 exemption, that gap is roughly $724 a year, every year. Which district a house sits in is on the appraisal notice, not the city limits map.
The city’s own exemption: 1%, and a freeze at 65
Cedar Park adopted its first homestead exemption in 2018: 1% of appraised value with a $5,000 floor, so homes under $500,000 get the flat $5,000. Homeowners 65 or older get $30,000 off and a freeze on city taxes; disabled homeowners get $20,000 and the same freeze. The city’s 2025 rate is $0.36 per $100.
College savings without a state deduction
Texas offers a direct-sold 529 plan, an adviser-sold one, and a prepaid Tuition Promise Fund that sells units of Texas public-college tuition. With no state income tax there is no state deduction to chase, which frees the choice to rest on costs, investment options, and whether prepaid units fit the family. Federal tax-free growth applies either way.
A public company in your own zip code
Firefly Aerospace priced its IPO at $45 a share on August 6, 2025 and, in May 2026, expanded its Cedar Park spacecraft campus to 144,000 square feet. For employees, going public turns paper equity into decisions: option exercise timing, the alternative minimum tax on incentive options, lock-up calendars, and how much to keep once shares can be sold.
Capital gains after a liquidity eventSources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates; City of Cedar Park, homestead exemption; Travis Central Appraisal District, 2026 exemption listing by taxing unit; Leander ISD, about the district; Texas Comptroller 2025 city and ISD rate reports; Firefly Aerospace Form 10-Q; Apple newsroom, November 2019.
Our approach
One plan that puts the dollars in order
With two incomes and a long horizon, the order of contributions matters more than any single product. We start with the fixed costs, and in Cedar Park the school tax is the largest. A worked example on a home at the city’s median value of $513,600: the $140,000 state exemption lowers the school-taxable value to $373,600, which at Leander ISD’s 2025 rate is about $4,061 a year for the school portion ($373,600 × $1.0869 / $100). The city exempts 1%, or $5,136 on this home, leaving $508,464 taxed at $0.36: about $1,830. The same house in the Round Rock ISD part of the city would owe about $3,337 to the school district instead.
Protect the two incomes first
Term life sized to the years until the children are independent, disability coverage on both earners, guardianship and beneficiary designations written down, and a cash reserve that covers a vesting gap or a layoff.
Fill accounts in sequence
Both 401(k)s to the match, then health savings accounts, then Roth or backdoor Roth contributions, then the 529s at a funding rate matched to the actual tuition target, then a taxable account that does not hold more employer stock.
Convert equity into diversification
A standing sell-or-hold rule for restricted stock, exercise planning for options with the alternative minimum tax modeled, and a capital-gains budget so that reducing a position does not produce a surprise in April.
The work
What you’ll work through with us
- A written vesting policy for restricted stock at two employers
- Option exercise and alternative-minimum-tax planning after an IPO
- 529 plan selection and funding rates tied to a real tuition target
- Term life, disability, and guardianship review for young families
- Backdoor Roth contributions above the income limits
- Homestead filing and the school-district check on your appraisal notice
- Mortgage payoff versus investing, decided with actual numbers
- Investment management built around after-tax outcomes
Planning is led by Theo Halbardier, CFP®, CIMA®, CAIA®, the firm’s founder. We are fee-only: no commissions, no product sales. About Theo
Questions
Common questions from Cedar Park households
Do you have an office in Cedar Park?
We work with Cedar Park households by video and, by arrangement, in person. We do not maintain a public office location.
We both receive restricted stock. How much company stock is too much?
There is no single number, but a household whose paychecks, 401(k) match, and unvested grants all depend on two employers already carries a lot of that risk before it holds a single vested share. Most households we work with set a ceiling for each employer as a share of investable assets and sell down to it at each vest.
Should we use a Texas 529 plan if there is no state tax deduction?
The absence of a deduction means Texas residents can choose any state’s plan on its merits. The Texas plans are among the options; so is the prepaid Tuition Promise Fund, which locks in units of Texas public-college tuition. We compare costs and investment menus rather than assume the home-state plan.
What does the homestead exemption save on a Cedar Park home?
On a median-value home, the state’s $140,000 school exemption is worth about $1,522 a year at Leander ISD’s 2025 rate. The city’s 1% exemption is worth about $18. At 65, Leander ISD adds $63,000 more with a ceiling, and the city adds $30,000 with a freeze on the city portion.
Our house is in the Travis County part of Cedar Park. Does that change anything?
The county line and the appraisal district. Travis County levies $0.375845 per $100 with a 20% homestead exemption; Williamson County levies $0.413776. Your school district and the city’s exemptions do not change, but your homestead filing goes to whichever appraisal district holds the parcel.
We are in our late 30s. Is it too early to work with a firm like yours?
The decisions that matter most for a two-career household, vesting rules, insurance, account order, and the college target, are made in these years, not at retirement. We are fee-only, so the relationship is a planning fee rather than a product sale.
Reviewed by Theo Halbardier, CFP® · Updated September 2026 · Figures current for 2026
Tell us where you are.
The first conversation is 30 minutes, by video, around two work schedules. No preparation needed.
We work with individuals and families across Cedar Park and throughout Texas, meeting by video or in person by arrangement.
Meet with usWe do not maintain a public office at this location; Cedar Park is part of the area we serve. Figures reflect law and published rates as of September 2026 and may change.