Consider Your Options 2007 - Softcover

Kaye A. Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 096749818X ISBN 13: 9780967498188

Publisher: Fairmark Press Inc., 2006

Synopsis

For people who receive stock or options from the company where they work, this book makes it easy to understand the economic benefits and tax rules, and reveals strategies for maximizing value and minimizing taxes. It covers stock grants, nonqualified stock options, incentive stock options and employee stock purchase plans. You'll learn how to determine whether an option is ripe for harvesting, and get plain language explanations of tricky tax rules like the section 83b election and alternative minimum tax (AMT). This is an update (covering developments to September 30, 2006) of a book that has sold over 50,000 copies.

About this title

Review

Just about everyone has heard a story about a corporate secretary or twentysomething Microsoft employee who retired early--as a millionaire--not because of winning the lottery, but because she exercised the stock options granted by her company. The fact is, many, many working Americans have access to stock and option plans in the workplace, and although it is a bit of a stretch to assume that such plans are a guaranteed ticket to riches, equity compensation can be an intelligent means for building wealth. The trick, according to Kaye A. Thomas, is understanding and handling it properly, and this is where Consider Your Options comes in.

Thomas, a veteran tax lawyer, has written a straightforward, no-nonsense, plain-language guide to getting the maximum value from your equity compensation. He begins with the basics--what stock is and how to buy and sell it, stock grants and purchases, options in general--and proceeds with clear examinations of nonqualified and incentive stock options. From there, he leads the reader through the ins and outs of exercising stock options, vesting, and employee stock-purchase plans, with an emphasis on tax implications and financial planning (an entire section of the book, for example, deals with the Alternative Minimum Tax).

"There are certain things about stock, options, and taxes that are almost never explained because every idiot knows them," Thomas writes. "Unfortunately, there are many normal, intelligent, educated adults who don't know these things--because hardly anyone ever bothers to explain them." Now that Thomas has bothered, novices and experts alike can avoid the common mistakes and poor planning that jeopardize the highest return from these benefits. --Svenja Soldovieri

About the Author

Kaye A. Thomas is author of several plain language books explaining taxes and investing, and maintains a highly regarded web site covering those topics. A tax lawyer for over 20 years, he graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1980.

Edition details

• Publisher: Fairmark Press Inc.
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 096749818X
• ISBN 13: 9780967498188
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 278