Deferred-equity

This book is good in that it covers all the basic mechanics of stock options -- Incentive and Non-Qualified, and ESPP plans. However, this basic information can easily be found on the web or from your employer.

What is sadly lacking from this book is advice on strategy on how to manage options, e.g., ideas on when to exercise and sell. Because of this, the book is quite disappointing to me and not very useful.

Reading this book may not provide you with all the answers, but it will help you ask all the right questions of your CPA.

A few hours spent reading this title will give you a solid understanding of the fundamentals of options: stock, options, grants, exercise, strike price, employee stock purchase plans, AMT, and so on. More importantly, it will give you a good understanding of the complex tax issues that options may expose you to. And most importantly, it will make very clear the questions you need to ask in interviewing a prospective accountant, and in working with an accountant or financial planner.

The average reader is not likely to garner enough information to fully plan their option liquidation by themselves (multiyear strategies for minimizing AMT, for example, are beyond the scope of this book), but at least you'll know what sorts of things your accountant should be working out for you.

I bought this book after checking out the reviews on Bob Pastorie's book on Stock Options and after visiting the author's web site. I wanted a thorough understanding of stock awards, stock options, and option strategies.

I'm glad I bought this book. It's packed with facts and how to-do-it information that takes the mystery out of stock options and pre-IPO stock.

This is a complicated subject and the book does justice to everything. I especially liked the first couple of chapters that reviews the basics of taxes and terminology before launching into stock awards and stock options. Despite plenty of examples and clearly written material, this is not a book that you'll read once, and retain everything. The IRS has made sure of that. I will have it close by to refer to. Besides the book, the author's web site is very helpful. He promptly responded to my specific questions. Wish I could say that about others!

There's a great potential to make some serious and costly mistakes when it comes to stock options. Yes, you'll need help from lawyers and tax professionals, but without this book, you won't understand anything they're talking about. In fact, I think you'll spend more than the cost of the book in legal and professional fees if time has to be taken out to educate you about the basics.

I read the book at light speed the first time around. I initially thought that things were confusing and unorganized. I realized that this was a mistake on my part. The subject matter is complex, especially on the various kinds of options and when they vest.

I read the book a second time to get prepared to see my lawyer, tax, and estate planner. The book gave me the knowledge to fashion some specific strategies on my stock grant and also how to exercise my options. The benefits of the book's organization have now become more obvious to me. Is there a negative aspect of the book? Sure. It didn't get into estate planning or suggest ways of sheltering the potential wealth that could accrue from stock and options from firms going to an IPO. I also wish it would have talked more from the perspective of a firm getting ready to do an IPO, although there were some examples of this. I was also only interested in Nonqualified Options and not the exhaustive coverage on Incentive Stock Options that employees usually receive. However, this was no reason to give it less than 5 stars. I think the estate planning aspect is a great subject for Mr. Thomas' next book or something that the web can handle.

Bottom line here: the book is well worth the price and your time. Read it once, twice, and keep it handy. You'll definitely refer to it today and in the years ahead.

Now in an fully updated third edition, The Entrepreneur's Guide To Equity Compensation from the Foundation for Enterprise Development provides an excellent and highly recommended introduction to the hows, whys, and wherefores of employee ownership, as well as how empowered employees can help build a cutting-edge, proactive organization. Individual chapters address both individual-based and company-wide stock plans, savings plans that can hold employer stocks, crucial issues that can interfere with success, and much, much more. A recommended primer for any employer, for The Entrepreneur's Guide To Equity Compensation costs far less than what an unwise stock options decision would impose upon a corporate bottom line!

This excellent and clear explanation of approaches to equity plans, provides a guide to creating an employee ownership strategy. The book covers: stock grants; direct stock purchase programs; stock option plans; qualified employee stock purchase programs (ESPPs); employee stock ownership programs (ESOPs); 401(k) and other qualified retirement plans; nonqualified deferred compensation plans; stock appreciation rights and phantom plans; stock programs for American companies operating abroad; and the most suitable equity arrangement for various types of legal forms of companies. Explains the concept, pros and cons, and tax and cost implications. Viewing this work as a compensation consultant, I find it to be an outstanding reference, providing highly accessible explanations. Very highly recommended.

I have used the Entrepreneur's Guide for several years. It is an excellent tool - comprehensive yet easy to understand and logically organized. It presents a very complex area in a clear fashion that goes a long way to helping the interested person decide on a general approach to equity compensation that will fit their needs and help reach their goals for a very reasonable cost. I recommend it to anyone considering exploring an equity compensation strategy of any kind.