The place where we share our thoughts on financial planning for equity compensation, retirement planning and other issues that impact tactical planning for corporate executive's wealth, pay and benefits.
Friday, May 15, 2026
Learn how stock options may be divided in community property states, including timing, vesting, time-rule formulas, and key planning steps.
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Thursday, May 14, 2026
A practical framework to evaluate vested stock options: exercise & hold, exercise & sell, or wait—plus key tax, risk, and planning trade-offs.
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Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Learn which stock option and RSU terms may be negotiable at hire, what to ask HR, and how to evaluate equity offers in your plan.
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Monday, May 11, 2026
RSUs vesting soon? Learn key factors to decide whether to sell or hold—taxes, concentration risk, goals, and a practical “sell some, hold some” approach.
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Friday, May 8, 2026
Learn how to manage RSUs, stock options, and ESPPs with a clear plan for taxes, diversification, vesting timelines, and long-term goals.
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A step-by-step guide for senior executives. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Deciphering the complexity of your financial world is a full-time job.
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Thursday, October 30, 2025
ISOs are quite often exercised with the intention of holding the stock to qualify for long-term capital gains treatment on the full gain over the exercise price. Year-end planning and review is a must.
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The critical time for tax planning is at year-end. Of course, you should be thinking about tax planning all year, but year-end is when you can adjust any portion of your strategy that may have gotten off track due to market movements.
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Get ready for a roller-coaster ride! With your IPO company's stock price, you want to hope for the best but plan for the worst. Be serious about this new-found wealth. It's no longer pie-in-the-sky money.
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Market volatility and sharp declines rattle even the most experienced holders of stock compensation. Sooner or later, market volatility will probably force you to make decisions that affect your financial future and long-term wealth.
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Does you Advisor Understand Your Equity Compensation Well Enough to Help you Plan it?
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While many recipients of equity compensation intend to use it to boost their savings and lifestyles, I find that many of them do not see it in the bigger picture of retirement savings.
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I see too many smart people with substantial gains in stock options who do dumb things. A disciplined stock option exercise strategy can prevent some big mistakes and significantly increase the value of your option grants.
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SEC Rule 10b5-1 had a significant impact on how directors, officers and other employees who are subject to “blackout” periods diversify their company stock holdings.
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Restricted and performance shares have continued to accelerate in popularity over other equity compensation alternatives, so it shouldn't surprise employees that their company is now granting them in place of stock options.
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If you are one of the fortunate employees of the almost 10,000 public company employers in the US who receive a portion of your compensation in company stock, you should think seriously about the advice you get.
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At some point with your company stock, too much of a good thing can cause you to worry, lose sleep, and become too focused and frustrated about its performance.
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Many Baby Boomers might not be ready for retirement, but younger workers have a chance to do better – if they make the most of their 401(k)s. The return and principal value of stocks fluctuate with changes in market conditions. Shares when
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Divorce can be a major disruption to a family’s financial plans. Surprisingly, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Congress have actually worked to make a difficult proceeding less overwhelming and burdened with taxation.
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