Comments on: Sold My ESPP Shares, Nice Profit, More Tax Owed

By: Flexo

Flexo — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:06:34 +0000

Yes, but the $25 is the fee regardless of the number of shares… so if this hypothetical investor received 200 shares of this $100-priced stock, the $25 fee to sell wouldn’t result in a loss. Coder didn’t say how many shares, just that the price of a share was $100. That’s the way I interpreted the comment, anyway, and granted, it wasn’t clear.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 13:48:06 +0000

@ Coder

While your numbers are correct they aren’t “real”. ETrade’s commission to sell shares is $25. So technically, you’d be losing money in your example. Sorry to hem and haw, but a 17.6% return is much different than a $10 loss.

By: Coder

Coder — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:48:59 +0000

@KMC: It's actually a 17.6% return before taxes and fees instantly.

Example: You receive $100 of stock for $85.00. If you were able to sell immediately you'd make $15.00 which is a 17.65% realized return.

This might seem pedantic, but investors hem and haw over every percent.

By: KMC

KMC — Fri, 11 May 2007 14:04:50 +0000

I think ESPPs are great. You got a 15% return (before taxes and fees) for doing nothing really. If we had one, I’d participate for sure. My wife’s old company had one and I loved it. We always did what you did – sold the day we could.

By: Lazy Man and Money

Lazy Man and Money — Fri, 11 May 2007 01:15:01 +0000

I used be in a plan with the same parameters. Unforutnately it was in 1999 when I bought and I had to wait until 2003 before I could sell at break even. I think you were smart to take the profits that were there.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Thu, 10 May 2007 15:23:29 +0000

My company offers a lousy 5% discount on our stock. As the stock is quite volatile, this basically makes it a worthless benefit. But 15% isn’t bad.