Tom Davison
Once you have settled on a comfortable ownership percentage of company stock in your combined holdings, how do you decide which shares and options to hold and which to sell?
W.E.B. Bantling, with Bruce Brumberg
The biggest challenge I face when counseling my clients is convincing them to avoid owning too much of their company's stock. Tales about employees of Lehman Brothers or Enron who lost their entire net worth have shaken these clients to attention.
Michael Beriss
The stock markets will one day rise again. When they do, question the urge to exercise your options for quick profits as soon as possible: exercising too early can be a big mistake.
W.E.B. Bantling
Market declines rattle even the most experienced stock option veterans (and their advisors). If you are less than fully prepared to cope with the emotional toll caused by an uncertain market, consider these 10 topics.
Robert Gordon and Charlotte Lyman
Your company stock represents a large, concentrated portion of your wealth, making you nervous. You want to protect your gains and get your hands on some money.
Robert Gordon and Charlotte Lyman
After understanding hedging basics, you need to answer a few questions and decide whether your goals go beyond risk reduction to liquidity creation.
William Baldwin
Stock options are a major element of your long-term incentive compensation, offering tremendous potential to accumulate personal wealth. Given your stock options' complexity, it’s essential to develop a strategy to realize their full potential.
Tom Davison and Liam Hurley
UPDATED! The period just after the completion of your tax return is a great time to do your big-picture financial planning for 2010 and beyond. You can more accurately project your income and likely tax situation for the remainder of this year and the next, including AMT risk and capital-loss carry-forwards, to develop your strategy. At the end of the year, review your analysis and strategy again.
William Baldwin
Rather than providing you with a guarantee, today's benefit plans offer only an
opportunity to attain financial security. The decisions you must make will turn some of you into financial winners.
W.E.B. Bantling and Michael Beriss
The time for tax planning is
before the year ends; tax season is too late. For year-end 2009, learn about several ideas that apply to nonqualified stock options (NQSOs) and restricted stock/RSUs. Meanwhile, look ahead at the likelihood of tax rate changes under President Obama.
W.E.B. Bantling
I see too many smart people who have substantial gains in their stock options do dumb things, as I explained in my first article. Here are more of the rules I try to teach my clients, which can act as a guide for you, too.
W.E.B. Bantling
My clients want to exercise options shortly after they vest for a significant purchase, like a fancy boat or a sports car. The most expensive boat or car I can imagine is the one bought with your just-vested options. Tips I tell clients include not exercising too soon or waiting too long.
You want to defer gain on the sale of publicly traded securities, but they do not qualify as qualified small business (QSB) stock. Here's another way to defer tax on those holdings.
UPDATED! Finding legal techniques to minimize taxes is almost as popular in the US as stock options. Sophisticated techniques with founder's stock and options can defer or reduce taxes.
You are doing some year-end or year-beginning tax planning with your stock options and company stock. While investment objectives, not tax considerations, should generally drive your decisions, here are 10 ideas to review to prevent paying more taxes than necessary.
Michael Beriss
Managing your stock options is one of the most complex financial challenges you will face. These 10 rules will help you get the most out of your company's stock plan.
Professor Steven Huddart
It is tempting to exercise and sell your stock options when your company's stock price hits new highs or becomes worryingly volatile. However, this decision may not be in your best long-term financial interest. This article exames the psychological factors that can, along with economic motives, influence your stock option choices.
Susan Daley
After you die, taxes may be owed on the value of your property. One pillar of estate planning is to transfer assets that are likely to appreciate in value, such as stock options, out of your control long before you die.
Richard Friedman
Your company just gave you a stock option grant, or your existing options are underwater. You wonder: "What are my stock options worth? Are they worth anything at all?" Learn about different valuation methods, including Black-Scholes.
Kaye Thomas
A trap awaits those who, after selling shares from exercised ISOs to avoid AMT, want to buy back the stock.
Deborah Adamson
MarketWatch
Understand why options have long-term value and how they fit into an overall diversified portfolio and financial-planning strategy.
Russ Banham
Journal of Accountancy
Although stock options are no longer perceived as a quick path to riches, they still can be a powerful wealth-builder.
Maureen Nevin Duffy
Journal of Accountancy
Investors who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. Although this article is not devoted to stock options, it discusses the advantages of an exercise-and-hold approach and diversification in down markets.
Susan Scherreik
BusinessWeek
Stock options can provide a cushy retirement. The key is understanding tricky issues so that you can cash in your options while they still have value.
Bill Bischoff
SmartMoney.com
You've got options that are unvested, but you can exercise them. These immediately exercisable options are sweeping the pre-IPO world. Learn some of the basics and must-do steps, including the Section 83(b) election.
Jane Bryant Quinn
Washington Post Writers Group
If a significant chunk of your net worth is tied up in your company's stock and options, you might want to consider diversification strategies.
Martine Costello
CNN Money
Don't rely too heavily on the potential for stock option riches as part of your long-term retirement plan. This article gives some timeless warnings about the need to diversify and the dangers of getting too greedy.
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