RSU strategies built just for you
See how employees across tech use Candor to optimize their taxes, plan for the long-term and get a better price for their RSUs
See how Candor helps employees in various situations
Scenario 1: over-concentrated position
“I hold too much company stock.”
Problem:
An employee has accumulated a lot of RSUs between his salary and refreshers. His shares now make up the majority of his net worth. This person is worried about having an overconcentrated position, especially since the stock has been volatile lately and he lost some value since the beginning of the year. He wants to reduce risk of further losses by building a diversified portfolio but doesn’t know where to start.
Solution:
In this scenario, recommendations would include a trading plan that automatically swaps his RSUs for a Blackrock institutional portfolio weekly. He is in a high tax bracket so he also has portfolio tax optimization and long term capital gains settings turned on.
Settings selected:
Institutional-grade portfolios helps you earn more over the long-term
Read more →Scenario 2: stock has lost value
“I’ve lost too much value in my stock. I only want to sell if it goes back up. ”
Problem:
An employee receiving RSUs has been anxiously watching the stock price fall. The person has decided that if the price ever goes back again, she wants to sell immediately to recoup as much of her losses as she can. Because of trading window restrictions, this employee can’t sell immediately when the price goes up. She also wants to get as much of her money back as possible and a limit order is risky - the price may go even higher after she trades and she wants to get all the upside she can.
Solution:
This person sets up a Candor plan with a trigger limit - the plan can trade immediately, even outside trading windows. Since she really cares about getting the most out of her stock, she turns on the “upswing limit” setting. This allows her to sell each grant in 20 micro transactions, taking advantage of upside pricing of the stock and getting a much better average price compared to selling it all at once.
Settings selected:
Price tracking helps you get more per share for your RSUs
Read more →Scenario 3: managing liquidity
“I want to get cash out to pay bills.”
Problem:
At this person's company, RSUs vest in progressively larger increments year-over-year, starting at 5% in the first year and graduating to 40% in the last year. In year 3, she will get much less cash as part of her pay, making it hard to afford her monthly bills. She’s never sold RSUs before. She’s anxious about her savings.
Solution:
This person uses Candor to sets up a recurring monthly sale of 10% of her RSUs- just enough to cover her bills. She can optimize what price she gets for her shares with a pre-set trading plan. And, she can transfer as much cash as she needs into her checking account.
Settings selected:
Trading plans helps you sell weekly and avoid trading windows
Read more →Scenario 4: Tax optimization
“I want to pay less in taxes than last year.”
Problem:
This person sold some RSUs last year but did not anticipate how high his tax bill would be. He recently learned he can optimize his sales by waiting for long term capital gains. He wants to make sure he automatically gets a tax break without having to time trades himself.
Solution:
This person sets up a trading plan focused on his taxes. His recommendation include long term capital gains for both his current and future RSUs. In case the stock declines, he also has wash sales on. He picked a 25% liquidation preference across all his grants and swaps the proceeds to a tax-free portfolio.
Settings selected:
Saves on taxes to grow your wealth faster
Read more →Use an RSU trading algorithm.
Think us like a hedge fund in your pocket.
Automatically time trades to save on taxes, reduce losses and earn more per share.
Frequent questions
How does Candor save me money on taxes?
Candor works by selling the right shares on the right dates to maximize tax write-offs. Candor includes the tax mitigation strategies offered by top specialized wealth managers and CPAs:
- Vest Tax Optimizer: sell the best shares first to minimize taxes.
- Wash sale scheduler: selling too close to a vest date can be bad for taxes, Candor can automatically time trades avoid wash sales (only available for companies with quarterly vesting)
- Long-term capital gains: hold new RSUs for 1 year after vest to pay a lower tax rate.
- Tax-free rebalancing: re-invest your proceeds in a tax efficient way.
Not all optimizations are right for everyone. The first step is to see what we recommend for your specific situation: get your recommendations here.