Life Events: Retirement Plans

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

Carol Cantrell
UPDATED FOR REVISED TAX LAW! 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.

ESPP Choices: Flip Or Hold? (Part 2)

Timothy A. Farmer and Gregory G. Geisler
You can build your employee stock purchase plan into your long-range savings and retirement strategy. This article compares buying company stock at a discount through your ESPP to putting the same money into your 401(k) or another retirement plan.

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

W.E.B. Bantling
Many of my clients do not see stock compensation in the bigger picture of retirement savings and withdrawal plans. Considering net worth, age, and company stock plan, I present the client with these core points about stock grants, 401(k) plans, nonqualified deferred compensation, and IRAs.

Return to top of this page

What is an "employee stock ownership plan"?

An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is a tax-qualified retirement plan designed to...

How do stock options, ESPPs, and restricted stock differ from the company stock fund or contribution offered under my 401(k) plan?

401(k) plans are a type of broad-based, tax-qualified retirement plan funded by pre-tax contributions, unlike...

Can stock options, restricted stock, or an ESPP affect my other employee benefits, such as 401(k) contributions?

With a few exceptions, the grant, vesting, or exercise of stock options, or the vesting of restricted stock, should not affect your other retirement-plan benefits. One notable exception...

Can I use company stock or cash in my 401(k) plan to exercise my stock options?

You cannot use shares of company stock in your 401(k) plan to exercise options, because...

UPDATED! How do stock grants affect Roth IRA contributions and conversions?

The grant itself has no impact. The compensation income generated from exercise or vesting can affect...

Can I use cash in my IRA account to exercise my options?

You can, but the tax consequences may make this unwise...

Can options be granted to my IRA instead of to me?

Perhaps, but this would be unwise, and the shares received at exercise may not be covered...

Can I sell my company stock to my IRA for cash or contribute my company stock to it?

The sale of property by an owner of an IRA to the IRA is prohibited by the federal tax code...

Can stock option income alone qualify me to establish an IRA?

According to the tax rules, to be eligible to make contributions you must have...

Does income from stock options affect my payments under disability policies or pension plans?

It may. Your payments are rooted in your pre-disability or pre-retirement earnings in some way. Courts have addressed this issue...

Does participating in an ESPP affect my ability to contribute to a 401(k) plan or IRA?

ESPPs are not tax-qualified retirement plans or profit-sharing plans, so participating in an ESPP has...

Can a consultant use the proceeds from an NQSO exercise or restricted stock vesting to fund a Keogh or SEP?

As long as the NQSOs and restricted stock generate ordinary income, you can...

Can I commit insider trading by buying or selling company stock in my 401(k) when I know important, confidential information?

Whether you trade your company stock in your regular brokerage account or in...

Are senior executives and directors banned from trading company stock during a 401(k) blackout period?

Starting on January 26, 2003, during any 401(k) blackout period directors and executive officers...

Return to top of page