Stock Options for Dummies

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 336 pages
• Published by: For Dummies
• Edition: 1st Edition July 15, 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 076455364X
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0764553646
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 1.1 pounds

Product Description
If you’re like the majority of the estimated 12 million employees in the U.S. who have stock options as a key component to their compensation packages, you have a vague notion, at best, of how options work and what they can mean to your financial well being. What’s the vesting schedule for your shares and how will their strike price be set? What type of stock option grant will you receive, an ISO (incentive stock option) or an NQSO (non-qualified stock option)? What tax rules apply to your option program? Your financial future could depend on your knowing the answers to these and other questions regarding your company’s stock option plan.

Confused by all the brouhaha surrounding stock options? Let expert Alan Simon demystify this often-confusing investment vehicle for you. Featuring clear explanations of how your stock options might make you money—or not—this friendly guide fills you in on what you need to know to:

• Understand different types of stock options
• Read and find traps in your stock option agreement
• Evaluate the pros and cons of company investment vehicles
• Assess vesting schedules and tax laws
• Tap Web resources

Simon demystifies the jargon, rules, and tax consequences of stock options. He provides a realistic picture of what to expect from your options, and he helps you see past the hype to understand what your employer is really offering. Important topics covered include:

• What you need to know before accepting a compensation package that includes options
• Developing a stock option philosophy and clear-cut goals
• Knowing whether you’re being treated fairly by your company
• Making sense of the language of stock options agreements
• Getting a handle on key restrictions on how you exercise your options
• Stock option valuation
• Tax rules and how they apply to different types of options
• How stock options can be affected by changes at your company

Stock Options For Dummies is the only guide you’ll need to get the most out of this important investment vehicle.

Book Info
Friendly guide to investing in stock options, for the financially-challenged. Features plain English explanations of complicated topics, showing how to find traps in stock option agreements, assess vesting schedules and tax laws, and other information. Softcover.

Reader Reviews
I was looking for a "dummies" book on options trading (puts, calls, volatility, etc.) so I ordered it. What I got was a comprehensive review of the ramifications of owning stock options issued by the company that employs you. In short, I felt like a dummy for not researching further before purchase. Don't make the same mistake I did. There is a silver lining, though. I promptly repackaged the book in the shipping box that I received it in and sold it through Amazon, recouping almost all of my original cost. If you have any books you don't need or want, I wholeheartedly endorse Amazon's used book marketplace. I gave it 5 stars because of this experience, and the fact that it is another top-notch example from the excellent Dummies series, just not what I was looking for. Incidentally, if you're looking for what I was looking for originally, you can't go wrong with anything Larry McMillan has written.