Your Employee Stock Options

Here's what the national financial press is saying about the book!

"As options have spread, so have similar titles. This one, with a host of worksheets and a companion Web site, is the best I've seen." - Robert Barker, "Titles Worth Your Summer Time," Business Week, August 13, 2001. Click to read entire article.

". . . more than 10 million Americans hold stock options in all kinds of businesses, and the number is growing. . . . most option-owners are confused by the complexities of options and unaware of their risks. Your Employee Stock Options, by Alan Ungar and Mark Sakanashi, is a useful guide to understanding both." - Stanley W. Angrist, "Things to Think About Before Cashing In," The Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2001. Click to read entire article.

Click Here to Buy the Book!

Your Employee Stock Options (HarperCollins, 2001), was written by the creators of this website and is designed to work hand-in-hand with it. While we have provided brief explanations of the principles and strategies behind the powerful tools provided here, we don't think a website is the best way to gain the more in-depth understanding most people need. If you're like us, you find it difficult to spend hour after hour reading a computer screen or frustrating trying to print out web pages so you can sit down somewhere more comfortable and read them. We find it much easier to sit down and read a book, especially one that's as entertaining and easy to read as ours!

Along with a complete explanation of what options are and how they work, the book makes extensive use of case studies, stories about people like you, to illustrate how important the concepts are and how to apply them to achieving your goals.

Here's an excerpt from the book's introduction:

Congratulations! Your employer has given you stock options, one of the most powerful wealth creation vehicles that exist in our economy. Now the work you do to build the value of your company may also be rewarded with the building of your own personal wealth!

But stock options won't automatically make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. They can also bring greater heartache than you can imagine. Not only are options great wealth creators, they are also among the riskiest and most complicated investments you can own. If you make good decisions about what to do with your options, they can be the key to making your financial dreams come true. But if you make poor ones, you may spend the rest of your life regretting what could have been.

Your stock option decisions are not just important, they are very difficult. Difficult because stock options are complicated and making good decisions about them requires knowledge and experience most people don't have. As Certified Financial Planners, we have more than 40 years of combined experience helping clients reach their financial goals. For the last ten years, we've specialized in working with people, like you, who have employee stock options. Along the way we've discovered some basic principles and developed some easy, practical tools that have helped our clients make their tough and important stock option decisions. We use case studies to explain these principles and show how you can use these tools.

This book is not designed to make you an expert on employee stock options, but to make you an expert on your stock options and what to do with them. As you work your way through the book, you'll find answers to those critical questions of:

• When should I exercise my options?
• When should I sell the stock after I exercise?
• What will the tax consequences be?
• How can I minimize the taxes I have to pay?
• What can I do to manage the inherent risks of my options?
• In short, how can I make the most of my options?

We know how confusing options and financial issues can be and have worked hard to make this a practical, easy to read and easy to understand guide. Unfortunately we cannot avoid all of the vocabulary peculiar to stock options, but we have minimized the legalese and tax jargon.

We've organized the book as follows: The first chapter uses three case studies to explore the Stock Option Dilemma and introduce you to Critical Capital™, the key to delivering you from the dilemma. After Chapter One, there are two major parts. Part I covers what you need to know about your options. Part II gives practical help in making the decisions about what to do with your options.

If you hate workbook exercises, simply ignore them and read the case studies and conclusions. These will give you an understanding of your options and provide a foundation for working with any professional. On the other hand, if you want to develop your own strategy and don't mind the discipline of working through the worksheets, follow the instructions you'll find throughout the book. Completing the worksheets will enable you to analyze your situation and your options. Do you dread the tedium of manual calculations? We also give you instructions about how to use the companion web site, myCriticalCapital.com, to do the calculations for you! Either way, your reward will be a complete analysis of your stock options. When you're finished you'll know:

• What they are and how they work.
• What they're worth now and may be worth in the future.
• How to manage the risks of your options.
• What the tax bite will be when you exercise.
• How to plan your option exercise strategy.
• How to use your options to reach your financial goals.
• And much more!

These are the things you need to know to make good decisions and harness the incredible, wealth building opportunity your stock options offer!
Good luck and good reading.

©2001 Alan B. Ungar and Mark T. Sakanashi, used by permission.

HOME / ABOUT Critical Capital Management, Inc. / SECURITY STATEMENT / PRIVACY STATEMENT