136: Taxes on Stock Options

Published: Dec. 12, 2019, 7:30 a.m.

There are non-qualified stock options and incentive stock options. They are each taxed very differently. A listener joined a startup and was offered shares of stock in the company. If his company is acquired by a larger company he wanted to know who those stock options are taxed. Are all the taxes paid at the time of acquisition? Is it in the capital tax bracket? Is there a way to mitigate these taxes in any special way? In this episode we talk about the two different stock options and how they are taxed. You can see the full show notes and transcription here https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/classic-blog/. It gets complicated. In non-qualified stock options you have to pay your full ordinary income tax rate on the difference between the two prices and pay payroll taxes. For the incentive stock option it depends on whether you are subject to the alternative minimum tax. Most doctors don't deal with stock options very often but if this situation applies to you, you will find the answers to how you are tax on those stocks in this episode.

For everyone else I still answer lots of listener and reader questions in this episode too. If you are considering medical school I discuss the choice of where to go to school. If you are trying to understand the mega backdoor Roth IRA better, we address that in this episode, as well as deferred compensation, paying tithing, and refinancing student loans in residency.

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This podcast sponsored by Bob Bhayani at drdisabilityquotes.com. They are an independent provider of disability insurance planning solutions to the medical community in every state and a long-time white coat investor sponsor. They specialize in working with residents and fellows early in their careers to set up sound financial and insurance strategies. He is very responsive to me and to readers having any sort of an issue, so it is no surprise that I get great feedback about him from our readers and listeners. If you need to review your disability insurance coverage to make sure it meets your needs or if you just haven’t gotten around to getting this critical insurance in place, contact Bob at drdisabilityquotes.com today by email info@drdisabilityquotes.com or by calling (973) 771-9100. Just get it done!