Tell me about tracking employee stock plans
Many companies provide employee stock options as an incentive, a form of compensation, or both. When tracking employee stock options in Quicken, keep these points in mind:
- There are two types of employee stock options. ESPPs (employee stock purchase plans) allow you to purchase company stock at a discount, while ESOGs (employee stock option grants) are stock grants that don't require you to invest your own money.
- There are some special tax considerations for ESPP (employee stock purchase plan) shares.
- Before creating an employee stock option grant in Quicken, be sure to set up a separate account to track your options.
- When you receive an ESOG (employee stock option grant), you generally can't exercise it right away (this is where the incentive comes in; the idea is that you'll stay with the company and share in it's future success). The length of time you need to wait prior to exercising is called a vesting schedule.