Boost Your Equity Comp Literacy With The myStockOptions Glossary App
10 May 2023
When you receive stock options, restricted stock units, or other types of equity compensation from your company, you are plunged into a new world of technical terms and jargon. To make the most of your equity comp and avoid costly mistakes, you need to understand the terminology in your stock plan, grant agreements, company communications, and other documents relating to your awards. It's a matter of "financial literacy" in its most literal form!
Ever since myStockOptions.com went live in 2000, the goal of our website has been to provide education on equity comp for employees, their advisors, and stock plan professionals seeking to further their knowledge. With clear explanations and independent, unbiased expertise, we seek to make you smarter about the basics, financial planning, taxation, and legal issues.
Now the practical expertise of our website has a handy extension in the form of our free app for Apple and Android smartphones: Stock Compensation Glossary. Available from the App Store (for Apple devices) and from Google Play (for Android devices), it's the first and only smartphone app devoted to the often confusing terminology of equity comp and executive comp.
Based on the popular glossary at myStockOptions.com, this searchable reference guide defines almost 1,000 words, phrases, and abbreviations in the areas of equity compensation and executive compensation, along with the related taxation, financial planning, corporate accounting, and securities law.
Clearly written in plain English with a navigation that's easy to use, the app covers terms relating to all types of equity awards, including stock options, restricted stock, RSUs, and ESPPs. In addition:
- The "Term Of The Day" helps users improve their technical vocabulary.
- Recent searches can be quickly recalled.
- Users can test their knowledge with a quiz game right in the app.
Our app is just one of the many innovative multimedia ways in which myStockOptions.com delivers stock plan education for employees who want more than traditional written content:
- Our videos serve as helpful gateways into the website’s detailed educational materials on equity compensation.
- Engaging podcasts cover many topics in equity compensation.
- 18 fun, interactive quizzes let users test their knowledge about all aspects of equity compensation, including restricted stock and restricted stock units, employee stock purchase plans, the rules against insider trading, financial planning, and the impacts of job and life events on equity awards.
- Modeling tools, calculators, and a stock compensation portfolio tracker help stock plan participants and/or their advisors manage equity comp financial planning.
All of the content on myStockOptions.com is ideally suited for licensing by companies and stock plan providers for their stock plan participants.
ICYMI: Test Your Knowledge Of Stock Comp Abbreviations
As if texting shorthand wasn’t confusing enough (IKR?), equity comp comes with an alphabet soup of initialisms and acronyms that can make you go WTF. Do you know NQSOs from ISOs? Your AMT from your FICA and your NIIT? What’s the FMV at option exercise? What’s the deal with RSUs, PSUs, ESPPs, and SARs?
Now you can test your knowledge with our fun interactive quiz on stock comp abbreviations. With a little practice it’s easy to become proficient in them—and BTW, given how long and cumbersome some of the underlying terms are, you’ll soon learn to appreciate them. Moreover, learning these abbreviations is a good way to become familiar some of the key facts and concepts of stock compensation.
WEBINAR: Restricted Stock & RSU Financial Planning: Insights From Leading Advisors (May 18)
The next webinar at the myStockOptions Webinar Channel is coming up on May 18:
Restricted Stock & RSU Financial Planning: Insights From Leading Advisors
1pm to 2:40pm ET, 10am to 11:40am PT
In 100 minutes, the webinar will feature insights from a panel of three leading financial advisors, including real-world case studies, to provide practical info, guidance, and expertise for restricted stock/RSUs in both public and private companies. They will delve into financial and tax planning to effectively build wealth and prevent expensive mistakes. Volatile stock markets and widespread layoffs in the tech industry make the need for effective guidance even more important, as this webinar will cover.
The webinar offers 2.0 CE credits for CFP, CPWA/CIMA, CEP, CPE (live webinar only), and EA (live webinar only).
After the live webinar, the webinar recording will be available in on-demand format both to registered webinar attendees and to those who later purchase streaming access.