What's it like getting equity grants for a publicly-traded company?
Looking at switching jobs to a public company with quarterly equity grants. Current offer is ~70k in equity. What is it like to receive publicly-traded, liquid equity grants? How do companies typically set blackout dates? How do folks maximize savings via equity? Sell bit by bit, all at once, or hold on and hope it goes to the moon? How do taxes typically work? I know every company is different, and it depends on the individual's situation! Please share your experiences with me; I'm hoping to understand whether it's worth giving up my unvested RSU stake. Current TC: 227k #finance #equity
* trading is only allowed for 15-30 days day after earnings call * there are 2 types of vest plans - sell all, sell to cover. under sell all taxes are withheld and you are free to invest/withdraw rest. under sell to cover just enough shares would be sold to cover minimum tax withholding * which you pick is up to you. often RSUs appreciates in value but sometimes they depreciate too * if you decide to hold and stock appreciates you have to pay capital gains on profits. eg: RSU vested at $100, you sold them for 115 then you owe tax on 15
Our price drops every trading window but liquid equity is so much better than illiquid
Sell your shares right away always and diversify or spend it. It’s taxed as a bonus … same as a cash bonus. The faster your stock goes up, the faster it comes down. PayPal was a best performing stock of 2021. Look at us now. lol
It’s like getting stacks of cash thrown at your face.
At Google, blackout dates are: L1-7 - 3 weeks blacked out - 9 weeks open. Blackout starts at the first trading day after quarter end, up to the third trading day after earnings. And earnings are normally announced 3 weeks after quarter end. L8+ roughly the opposite (9 on, 3 off).
lol idk either
I select the option to sell all on vest. This pays taxes on it and puts the rest in my account. I divvy it up over the period until the next vest and pay myself a bit at a time. With this excess cash, I can then invest a lot more in the backdoor Roth (which must be paid from my paycheck).
At MSFT I just have shares show up in my fidelity account on the monthly anniversary of each award (so basically every week at this point). From there it’s just like I have a brokerage account with 100 shares of Microsoft in it.
Blackout dates are typically from around quarter end until after earnings are announced. Most folks sell on vest and diversify their portfolio. You are taxed at vest as income. Then taxed on any capital gains between vest and sale.