Equity Compensation Archives

What to Know About Your Post-Termination Exercise Window for Equity Compensation

by Daniel Zajac, CFP®, EA | Last updated May 26, 2025 | Employee Stock Options

Equity compensation is an effective tool for attracting and retaining highly qualified employees. But if you’re like most Americans, it’s unlikely you’ll remain with your current employer all the way...

How are performance shares taxed?

by Daniel Zajac, CFP®, EA | Last updated May 13, 2025 | FAQ

There is no taxable event when performance shares are granted. A taxable event occurs once you meet a performance metric and shares are delivered. This often occurs after the board...

What might a Performance Award/Grant look like?

by Daniel Zajac, CFP®, EA | Last updated May 13, 2025 | FAQ

A performance award is generally issued with a target number of shares, an achievement timeline, its metric(s), and a minimum and maximum award. Minimum/maximum awards are typically based on how...

Why Do Companies Use Performance Awards?

by Daniel Zajac, CFP®, EA | Last updated May 13, 2025 | FAQ

Performance Stock Awards (PSAs or PSUs), are meant to reward executives based on their contributions to a company’s objectives and overall progress measurably and harmoniously. The more deliberately a company...

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Simplifying the Equity Compensation Complexities: Keep it, Spend it, or Save it

by Daniel Zajac, CFP®, EA | Last updated May 27, 2025 | Equity Compensation

If you’re wondering how to maximize the value of your incentive stock options (ISOs), non-qualified stock options (NQSOs), restricted stock units (RSUs), or other forms of equity compensation, you’re not...

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What Equity Compensation Shares Are the Best to Contribute to a Donor Advised Fund? Part 2

by Daniel Zajac, CFP®, EA | Last updated May 19, 2025 | Donor Advised Fund, Equity Compensation

To achieve this win-win ideal, it’s important to be deliberate about which equity compensation share lots you donate, as well as whether you donate them as post-sale cash proceeds, or...

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What Equity Compensation Shares Are the Best to Contribute to a Donor Advised Fund? Part 1

by Daniel Zajac, CFP®, EA | Last updated May 19, 2025 | Considerations When You Have Significant Equity Compensation, Donor Advised Fund

If there’s such a thing as a match made in philanthropic heaven, it may be the ability to donate a portion of your equity compensation shares to a Donor Advised...

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How Incentive Stock Options May Be Taxed: And Some Caveats About Seeking A Qualified Disposition

by Daniel Zajac, CFP®, EA | Last updated May 27, 2025 | Incentive Stock Options

Who doesn’t love a great tax break? You and I can’t personally reverse a bear market or revise Federal regulations. But we do get to decide when and how to...

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How to Coordinate a Donor Advised Fund and Your Equity Compensation

by Daniel Zajac, CFP®, EA | Last updated May 27, 2025 | Considerations When You Have Significant Equity Compensation, Donor Advised Fund

If you have equity compensation and are in an abnormally high-income tax year, it often makes sense to consider how you may be able to offset that pending tax liability.

What to Expect When Your Company IPOs and How to Prepare for a Liquidity Event

by Daniel Zajac, CFP®, EA | Last updated May 27, 2025 | Considerations When You Have Significant Equity Compensation, Equity Compensation, Pre-IPO / Private Stock

Being part of an initial public offering, or IPO, is an exciting time. This is when a private company goes through the process of getting listed on a publicly-traded exchange....

What You Need to Know about Double-Trigger Restricted Stock Units

by Daniel Zajac, CFP®, EA | Last updated May 27, 2025 | Restricted Stock

If you work for a private company and receive restricted stock units as part of your compensation package, that equity compensation may have a double-trigger provision. While not all restricted...

What to Do When Your Equity Compensation Is Granted and Vested

by Daniel Zajac, CFP®, EA | Last updated May 19, 2025 | Equity Compensation, Strategies for Maximizing Equity Compensation

If you are on the receiving end of an equity compensation award, you may be overwhelmed by the amount of new information, jargon, and rules coming your way. You might...