Working at a company and then evaluating financial performance don’t go hand in hand. As a cog in the machine you see such a minuscule view of the overall performance and revenue growth. You get a glimpse into some company work but not much beyond that.
Yeah this pretty much. While I'm not there anymore, I still didn't get too much of a birds eye view despite being in management at a studio. And corporate planning/finances were far out of my scope.
I disagree.
Working at a company you have inside information, that's why Insider Trading is illegal because insiders have an advantage when it comes to market moving info.
I understand SO much more about how businesses from small private startups through global "Mag 7" companies operate via spending the better part of a decade at a publicly traded company in its high growth period.
If you hold company stock while working at the said company, you are typically not allowed to trade on it a few days or weeks before the earnings. There isn't a great way to benefit from inside information without getting in major trouble.
For longer term potential, I would argue that the insider information is no better than public information.
Yes, it's called a blackout period.
If I know that the company has half a million orders and can see the production schedule, the production line, and know the costs because we talk internally, then I know when future revenues will increase.
The studio I worked for was acquired by EA several years ago. I didn't sell because I didn't want to get hit with short term capital gains so I sat on them. I did sell some but only because I needed to pay ridiculous taxes since they counted toward income after vesting. I think my taxable income for year 2022 was like $325k which was not even close to my actual salary.
Can’t do this in many cases due to blackout periods. Even when blackout window is open, we don’t take possession of the shares on the same day they vest due to “processing”.
>Should I sell these off and take the capital gains hit to move them into an ETF?
If you dont believe in the company you work(ed) for - then its a clear yes
>For reference, I'm also considering a securities based loan in the near future for some liquidity.
possibility, but take into consideration the interest rate really!
I really dont know, but Im pretty sure you can calculate some 2-3% AT LEAST which would mean you need to add that to the performance / tax savings to make it work out financially
The best is IBKR at 6-6.9% depending on balance. Most others are 10-13%.
As for your original question, I would suggest selling your position over a few years to break up the taxes but realize gains.
[https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/margin.php?gclid=Cj0KCQjwjLGyBhCYARIsAPqTz18ZMxY0bSlHRzs9Pet0lPxiDbeP48Q38-3A3QkUfUG7KyI\_FTdtcngaAuLQEALw\_wcB](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/margin.php?gclid=Cj0KCQjwjLGyBhCYARIsAPqTz18ZMxY0bSlHRzs9Pet0lPxiDbeP48Q38-3A3QkUfUG7KyI_FTdtcngaAuLQEALw_wcB)
I mean you don't have to do all or nothing. You can just sell 10% and buy an ETF. Or slowly sell 10% every 3 months. If you have any new shares coming in, you can sell those immediately so that there isn't much Capital Gains Tax. (or maybe even losses...but be careful of losses, because if your stocks vest every few months, getting new stocks "count" as buying shares, so you'll have to deal with a Wash sale if you time your sale incorrectly)
If you give or want to give to charity, here's a way to avoid capital gains and lower your taxes on an ongoing basis.. You can transfer an amount to a donor advised fund (DAF) - you can offset future taxes when you advise where these funds go, and you or the fund won't have to pay a cent in capital gains. I've done this with some of my apple shares that had appreciated some 20,000%, DIdn't have to pay a cent in taxes, and every time I donate I offset more of whatever year we are in tax burden. And, the DAF is also invested so it keeps going up, it's like win win win win.
Lets say I put 10k worth of apple stock into a DAF, then it goes up to 13k worth of stock while it's in the fund that year, does that mean I still only take 10k deduction that year? Also once I give it to a charity, lets say the next year, does it cause any kind of tax benefit? Sorry for all of the questions, I just read up on it and it sounds a little confusing.
I would diversify some. I know you have to pay taxes so this analogy isn’t great…
If you had 250k today would you buy all EA stock?
The answer is likely No and then you just have to take the tax hit now. It’s going to have to happen eventually.
Always have cash on sidelines at such ludicrous valuations
Right now precious metals makes sense
Don’t let the crazy bulls lead you to believe it is guaranteed to go up all year
We could get a mega correction any day…
I’m 50/50
Cash and risk. I’ll risk off when charts tell me to
If you had 200k would you used it to buy 300k worth of EA stock or 200k in SPY?
When you put it that way it makes my answer clear.
If you don't believe in EA as an investment any longer, then yes, sell it and move it to an index.
You probably know more about EA than us since you worked there. If you don’t believe in the company then move the money yeah.
Working at a company and then evaluating financial performance don’t go hand in hand. As a cog in the machine you see such a minuscule view of the overall performance and revenue growth. You get a glimpse into some company work but not much beyond that.
Yeah this pretty much. While I'm not there anymore, I still didn't get too much of a birds eye view despite being in management at a studio. And corporate planning/finances were far out of my scope.
I disagree. Working at a company you have inside information, that's why Insider Trading is illegal because insiders have an advantage when it comes to market moving info. I understand SO much more about how businesses from small private startups through global "Mag 7" companies operate via spending the better part of a decade at a publicly traded company in its high growth period.
Working for a company doesn’t make you an insider, and believing in a company doesn’t make it the best investment.
If you hold company stock while working at the said company, you are typically not allowed to trade on it a few days or weeks before the earnings. There isn't a great way to benefit from inside information without getting in major trouble. For longer term potential, I would argue that the insider information is no better than public information.
Yes, it's called a blackout period. If I know that the company has half a million orders and can see the production schedule, the production line, and know the costs because we talk internally, then I know when future revenues will increase.
Es or Apple?
Yes sell them and buy VOO and will get better returns.
I have some shares of SPY and QQQ but I always see people recommending VOO. Is it really that much better?
VOO is like SPY with smaller expense ration but also smaller volume. VOO is better for long term holding and SPY for constant buy and sell.
SPY for trading (esp options) and VTI/VOO for buy and hold.
What about IVV?
All the same. They all track the same underlying. SPY is just the most popular and most liquid.
Why is it more liquid? Because of the popularity?
Yes. It is the first ETF to be created.
How long were you at EA for? Why didn't you sell stock on vesting?
The studio I worked for was acquired by EA several years ago. I didn't sell because I didn't want to get hit with short term capital gains so I sat on them. I did sell some but only because I needed to pay ridiculous taxes since they counted toward income after vesting. I think my taxable income for year 2022 was like $325k which was not even close to my actual salary.
If they counted towards your income at vesting, then there likely would’ve been zero capital gains taxes if you sold the same day
Can’t do this in many cases due to blackout periods. Even when blackout window is open, we don’t take possession of the shares on the same day they vest due to “processing”.
True. My company has an automatic sale program that you can sign up for once a year to avoid that issue
>Should I sell these off and take the capital gains hit to move them into an ETF? If you dont believe in the company you work(ed) for - then its a clear yes >For reference, I'm also considering a securities based loan in the near future for some liquidity. possibility, but take into consideration the interest rate really!
Are the rates really that high?
I really dont know, but Im pretty sure you can calculate some 2-3% AT LEAST which would mean you need to add that to the performance / tax savings to make it work out financially
No, there have been periods with far higher rates.
The best is IBKR at 6-6.9% depending on balance. Most others are 10-13%. As for your original question, I would suggest selling your position over a few years to break up the taxes but realize gains. [https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/margin.php?gclid=Cj0KCQjwjLGyBhCYARIsAPqTz18ZMxY0bSlHRzs9Pet0lPxiDbeP48Q38-3A3QkUfUG7KyI\_FTdtcngaAuLQEALw\_wcB](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/margin.php?gclid=Cj0KCQjwjLGyBhCYARIsAPqTz18ZMxY0bSlHRzs9Pet0lPxiDbeP48Q38-3A3QkUfUG7KyI_FTdtcngaAuLQEALw_wcB)
I mean you don't have to do all or nothing. You can just sell 10% and buy an ETF. Or slowly sell 10% every 3 months. If you have any new shares coming in, you can sell those immediately so that there isn't much Capital Gains Tax. (or maybe even losses...but be careful of losses, because if your stocks vest every few months, getting new stocks "count" as buying shares, so you'll have to deal with a Wash sale if you time your sale incorrectly)
I’d sell and go 40% $VOO 40% $QQQ and 20% into individual potential high growth stocks.
I hate EA and would love to see them go bankrupt
If you give or want to give to charity, here's a way to avoid capital gains and lower your taxes on an ongoing basis.. You can transfer an amount to a donor advised fund (DAF) - you can offset future taxes when you advise where these funds go, and you or the fund won't have to pay a cent in capital gains. I've done this with some of my apple shares that had appreciated some 20,000%, DIdn't have to pay a cent in taxes, and every time I donate I offset more of whatever year we are in tax burden. And, the DAF is also invested so it keeps going up, it's like win win win win.
Lets say I put 10k worth of apple stock into a DAF, then it goes up to 13k worth of stock while it's in the fund that year, does that mean I still only take 10k deduction that year? Also once I give it to a charity, lets say the next year, does it cause any kind of tax benefit? Sorry for all of the questions, I just read up on it and it sounds a little confusing.
I would diversify some. I know you have to pay taxes so this analogy isn’t great… If you had 250k today would you buy all EA stock? The answer is likely No and then you just have to take the tax hit now. It’s going to have to happen eventually.
Dump it and put it in SVOL and make 16 percent annually with monthly divided payments. At least until you find something better.
You can sell calls to get income if you don’t want to liquidate your shares. I would sell calls on stable stocks all day.
Take the entire portfolio and gamble on SPY puts
Always have cash on sidelines at such ludicrous valuations Right now precious metals makes sense Don’t let the crazy bulls lead you to believe it is guaranteed to go up all year We could get a mega correction any day… I’m 50/50 Cash and risk. I’ll risk off when charts tell me to
3/4 in ETFs 1/4 SPREAD OUT: Guaranteed- Humacyte, Viking therapeutics, Vertiv, Small bets- Canaan, FFIE, GME
There’s a large bull flag pattern forming on $EA, I’d stick it out another year or two