How to choose the right ISO exercise strategy for you
Understand your 5 strategic options and select the best one for your financial plan. Incentive stock options (ISOs) are one of several types of equity compensation you may receive as a tech employee. Intended to retain key talent, incentive stock options give employees of a given company the right to buy company shares at a […]
Private Company Tender Offer: What To Do When Your Company Announces One
Learn what employee tender offers are, whether you should sell, and how to handle the taxes. While the post-2021 IPO slump didn’t last forever, its ripple effects are present even today. The halt in IPOs led to an increase in valuable, private tech companies flushed with cash and interest from investors. Though the trend of […]
How to Avoid the IRS Tax Trap on Stock Options
You could be overpaying your stock options tax without knowing it — even if you have a tax preparer. Here’s how to dodge this costly tax trap. Exercising your employee stock options is a good thing. After all, it usually means you’re becoming wealthier and smarter about your long-term finances. But, like it or not, […]
RSUs vs stock options: Key differences in an IPO
Understand the pros and cons of these equity types, their tax implications, and how to handle them. Your company’s IPO announcement can get the wheels in your head turning about what exact equity you have and how you think about these assets. I’ve noticed a lot of my clients refer to equity compensation or employee […]
Avoiding AMT on ISO stock options if your company’s stock drops
If the value of your company’s stock declined significantly after you exercised Incentive Stock Options (ISO), you may have a tax problem. Here is a strategy for avoiding AMT on ISO stock options when the stock price falls. Did you exercise and hold? A common strategy with incentive stock options is to exercise and hold […]
Everything You Need to Know About Non-Qualified Stock Options in San Francisco
Non qualified stock options (NSO) are one of three types of stock options commonly received by tech employees in San Francisco. Incentive stock options (ISO) and restricted stock units (RSU) are the others. None of the three are taxable when granted, but that’s where the similarities end. There is no decision to be made with […]
Did you hold onto your stock through the 2022 dip? Here’s how to make your money back.
How to devise a smart selling plan and see real tech IPO examples you can learn from. WIth its 2021 rise and 2022 crash, the stock market has been quite a roller coaster these past couple of years. If your employer went public around 2020, you know firsthand just how unpredictable the market can be. […]
Exercise Stock Options After Leaving: the 90-Day Limit
Maybe you’ve gotten a job elsewhere, been laid off, or are taking that long-awaited sabbatical. Unfortunately, you’ve just realized that moving on to the next thing wasn’t as easy as sending goodbye messages to your work buddies on Slack and turning in the company laptop. Unbeknownst to you, your financial life just got a lot […]
Leaving Your Company? By Hire or Fire – Here Are Your Top 3 Tax Considerations
We’re all seeing it: It feels like every other week there’s another LinkedIn announcement of one company or another downsizing its workforce, especially in the tech industry. Which means a lot of people have already had to switch their jobs this year, and because of the public nature of these layoffs, a lot more are […]