Grant Date
- On this date, your employer specifies the theoretical price of your stock options
- This is when your 'vesting' usually begins
- This is also known as the sticker price
Vest Date
- Employers want to incentivize you to stay around longer, so they deliver your shares over a vesting schedule rather than giving them all up-front
- A typical vesting schedule is four years long
Exercise Date
- When you exercise shares, this means that you have paid for ownership of them
- You may or may not be able to 'sell' your shares when you exercise them depending if a liquidation event (such as an IPO) has occurred
Expiration Date
- Usually this is no longer than 10 years from the grant date or 90 days after you leave the company
Sell Date
- This can happen if there has been a qualifying liquidation event such as an IPO
- The timing of when you decide to sell impacts whether or not you pay ordinary income tax or long-term capital gains tax
- In order to pay long-term capital gains tax, you must sell at least one year after the exercise date and two years after the grant date