Incentive Stock Options Basics: Everything You Need to Know About ISO, Tax, & Selling
Incentive Stock Options Basics One of the biggest benefits of being a startup tech employee is stock options. It makes sense: the better the company does, the more opportunity you have to grow your personal wealth. As someone helping to grow the company, you have skin in the game, so you, the company’s founders, and […]
Get More For Your Money: Exercising Stock Options in a Private Company
Last month, we talked about the risk factors of the five types of equity available to employees in a private / pre-IPO company. As a review, those five things are: Qualified small business stock Long-term capital gains shares Unexercised ISO Unexercised NSO Restricted Stock Units (RSU) Each one carries its own unique cost, investment, and […]
When Stock Prices Fall: Selling ISO Exercised in January
Sometimes, stock prices fall. Yes, even after you exercised them at the beginning of the year with 100% confidence that the price would go up and you’d make a lot of money. ???? So when your investment plan with your stock options is going to poo ⬇️ ????, what do you do? When you exercised […]
Stock Options When You Quit: What Do You Do? How Do You Cash In?
So, you want to change jobs, eh? Career development is a noble quest, but a lot of tech and startup employees can feel stuck in their current companies. Especially when they’ve got stock options in a place that hasn’t been acquired or gone through an IPO yet. Because what are they supposed to do? Just […]
IPO: When to Sell RSU Based on Share Price
When people are granted stock options, it’s the same BIG question, every time: Buy? Or sell? And when it comes to RSU (or restricted stock units), we almost always tell our clients to sell, and to sell them ASAP. Like, don’t even hesitate, wait, or take time to “think about it.” Just sell. ???? Reason […]
Going Into an IPO With No Stock Options Exercised
So…. your company just announced an IPO. What WHAAAAT! Time to celebrate! ???? ???? Right? Well…. truth be told… you haven’t done anything with your stock options yet, so you don’t even know where to start. (And, you maybe feel kinda remorseful that you didn’t have your stuff together before this.) But honestly, as a […]
Should You Borrow Money to Exercise Incentive Stock Options?
Our financial system is built on loans. This money helps us pay for education, a car, a house, and other personal needs. Now, we can add exercising stock options to the long list of things you can borrow money for. This new facet of lending came about through the growth of private valuations and […]
3 Reasons January is the Best Month to Exercise ISO
Every December, the KB Advisors team is inevitably flooded with calls from people who are rushing to exercise incentive stock options (ISO) before December 31st. They want to make sure they exercise what they can in the current year without triggering the alternative minimum tax (AMT). This influx of calls is always exciting for […]
How to Think About Stock Price vs Future Tax Savings
“I know that if I hold for one year I get to pay a lower tax.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that as a financial planner working with tech professionals. When it comes to stock options or RSUs, people often get stuck focusing on taxes. It’s true that holding shares […]