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Life Events: Retirement

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Stockbrokers' Secrets (Part 6): What I Tell My Best Clients About Retirement Planning With Stock Compensation This is premium content

W.E.B. Bantling
NEW! Many of my clients use stock compensation to boost retirement savings and lifestyles. Yet I find many do not see it in the bigger picture of retirement savings and withdrawal plans. Considering net worth, age, and company stock plan, I present the client with eight core points about both their stock grants and their 401(k) plans.

Retirement Planning With Your Stock Options And Other Stock Compensation (Part 1: Pre-Retirement Planning)

Carol Cantrell
Your stock options and restricted stock are important for your retirement planning. Understand the related issues and explore strategies, whether you are planning for retirement now, are nearing retirement, or have retired already.

Retirement Planning With Your Stock Options And Other Stock Compensation (Part 2: Retirement Year) This is premium content

Carol Cantrell
Once you reach your retirement year, the decision landscape and timeframe change. To avoid unpleasant surprises, understand what will happen to your stock grants and other company benefits so that you can develop appropriate strategies.

Retirement Planning With Your Stock Options And Other Stock Compensation (Part 3: Post-Retirement Planning) This is premium content

Carol Cantrell
Tax planning for retirees can be more challenging that it was during their working years. You need to constantly monitor any options and company stock holdings as part of your overall portfolio. Part 3 looks at special issues that can arise after you retire, including Social Security; coordinating with required minimum distributions for IRAs and your 401(k); moving to another state; and the gifting of stock.

Switching From Offense To Defense

Eric Rasmussen
Financial Advisor
The five years before and after retirement are the "critical zone" for financial planning, including that related to your stock options.

Social Security: What's The Magic Age?

Kathryn Garnett
Journal of Accountancy
As you approach retirement, you'll need to make decisions about Social Security, so you'll also need to understand your choices. While this article is not specific to stock compensation, it may help you think through the choices and decide when to start taking benefits. The article also introduces the taxation of benefits.

Careful: Don't Blow Your Options

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.

The Stock Option Dream

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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After I retire, will my company let my stock options or restricted stock continue to vest, or will it accelerate the vesting? This is premium content

Most likely, retirement will cause your company to do neither. Retirement is a type of termination of employment under your stock plan. Only a small minority of companies either let the stock options continue to...

Do stock plans treat early retirement differently from ordinary retirement?

Early retirement may be treated less favorably. According to a survey by the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals...

UPDATED! What are the most common periods after termination during which stock options can be exercised? Does the reason (e.g., disability, early retirement) matter? This is premium content

Usually, you will have time after you leave the company to exercise your options. However, some companies...

If I leave my company to retire, will I have a longer period to exercise my vested options than I would if I left to take another job? This is premium content

Retirement is a termination of employment under your stock option plan. Under almost all stock option plans, after you terminate employment the plan specifies...

My post-retirement exercise period is longer than the remaining term of my stock options. Which term applies after I retire? This is premium content

The standard rule is that options are exercisable until the end of either their term or a post-termination period your plan gives you, whichever...

If I no longer work for my company because I retire, become a consultant, or leave to work for another company, will the procedure for exercising my options change? This is premium content

Though the overall exercise procedure probably will not change...

I worked in one state but have retired to another, where I plan to exercise my stock options. Will I be taxed by the state I worked in when I received the grant or by my new state? This is premium content

The outcome depends on the laws and tax policies of the state you worked in. States are not restrained...

I may leave my company to become a consultant, retire, or take another job. Will taxes still be withheld on my NQSOs, SARs, and/or restricted stock as they were when I was an employee? What if I live in another state when I exercise them? This is premium content

Most companies base withholding on your employment status at the time of grant, even if...

NEW! Why has my restricted stock grant been taxed when I am merely eligible for vesting acceleration at retirement but I have not actually retired? This is premium content

Uncertainty, and even inconsistency, surrounds this situation. For tax purposes it does not matter that you must actually retire to vest the shares. With restricted stock, taxation is triggered when the grant is...

How does my stock option exercise or restricted stock vesting affect the annual earnings limit of Social Security? This is premium content

When you start receiving Social Security before you reach the full retirement age, your benefits are reduced by a complicated formula. However, stock options received for services before retirement...

When should I start taking Social Security benefits?

No simple answer exists to the question of whether you should take benefits early, at the age you are considered at "full retirement" as defined by Social Security rules, or at a later date. Two useful...

I have started receiving Social Security retirement payments. If I exercise stock options or my restricted stock vests, must I still pay Social Security tax on the income? Can this cause my Social Security payments to be taxed too? This is premium content

You pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on all wage and self-employment earnings, regardless of...

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Featured FAQs
NEW! Why has my restricted stock grant been taxed when I am merely eligible for vesting acceleration at retirement but I have not actually retired? This is premium content
Uncertainty, and even inconsistency, surrounds this situation. For tax purposes it does not matter that you must actually retire to vest the shares. With restricted stock, taxation is triggered when the grant is...
When should I start taking Social Security benefits?
No simple answer exists to the question of whether you should take benefits early, at the age you are considered at "full retirement" as defined by Social Security rules, or at a later date. Two useful...
UPDATED! What are the most common periods after termination during which stock options can be exercised? Does the reason (e.g., disability, early retirement) matter? This is premium content
Usually, you will have time after you leave the company to exercise your options. However, some companies...