Talking stocks, trading, and investing in general

[Piobaire]

For the qualitative stuff, I like the business model canvas to organize your thoughts: https://www.businessmodelsinc.com/about-bmi/tools/business-model-canvas/

Thanks. Just printed off the worksheet.

 

[brokencycle]

Has anyone ever been charged to roll over a 401k? My wife's old plan wants >$100 to roll it over, or $25 to mail her a check (which would mean doing an IRA). There is no way to get it out of her 401k plan without paying unless you roll it into one of their IRA funds (presumably they charge the same amount to move from one IRA to another).

I thought ERISA prevented most of that, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[venividivicibj]

I’ve been charged mailing costs (something negligible like $3-5) but nothing like $100

 

[gettoasty]

Certain employers can pass TPA and record keeping fees to participants.

How big is the wife’s company?

 

[brokencycle]

Certain employers can pass TPA and record keeping fees to participants.

How big is the wife’s company?

Old one is tiny.

 

[Piobaire]

S or C Corp for a small business? The pass through aspect of a C-corp sort of jiggers me for some reason.

 

[concealed]

@Piobaire

 

[brokencycle]

S or C Corp for a small business? The pass through aspect of a C-corp sort of jiggers me for some reason.

It depends, but everyone I've looked at small business formation the answer was always S.

 

[gettoasty]

Old one is tiny.

For tiny plans the shared plan cost seems to be more ubiquitous. Employers when they learn that participants can help offset some of the fees may opt for that. More so, when there is safe harbor and profit sharing. Part of the thinking too is ‘why should I pay for the cost of distribution/rollover when the employee decided to terminate at their own discretion?’

That said I don’t know if I’ve ever seen $100 TPA/record keeping charge to process a rollover although $25 to $50 seems more pervasive.

With 401k plans it’s about scale. The smaller the plan and if the owner also wants to maximize their own contributions, the cost can become prohibitive. Wouldn’t surprise me if the advisor behind the scenes is looking out for the employer sponsoring the retirement plan since they are the key person (client), making compromises sometimes not favorable to other participants.

Perhaps you want to check with your spouse what is the $100 actually for and if there is a breakdown or that is indeed a flat charge. It is certainly would be on the higher end.

Btw, your wife should be able to consolidate old 401k money with new 401k or other employer sponsored plan even if she receives a check. Just make sure the current custodian makes the check payable to new custodian. You’ll have 60 days to deposit into current plan, unless you actually want to rollover to IRA.

It would also be worth asking whether the $25 is just the processing charge or includes expedited mail.

 

[UnFacconable]

So my job search has turned quite interesting. I have an offer in hand and perhaps 3 more to follow very quickly.

The offer I have is probably my favorite opportunity (one of the ones I referred to previously in this thread) but we are far apart on equity. 3 of the 4 are private companies with potential to scale well.

The 4th is a very well known public company and my role would be cool but the equity likely couldn’t compete with the early stage companies because I don’t foresee a ton of medium-term appreciation. On the other hand, would have great resume value and could set me up better down the line.

In each case, if it were my only offer I would probably have been happy with the job so I feel fortunate to have it come together like this. That said, it’s not like I can use the competition to create a bidding war because each business is pretty focused on market comp data.

One thing is clear, no matter which opportunity I choose, one of the other ones will be wildly successful such that I will regret my decision. Life is funny like that.

 

[brokencycle]

So my job search has turned quite interesting. I have an offer in hand and perhaps 3 more to follow very quickly.

The offer I have is probably my favorite opportunity (one of the ones I referred to previously in this thread) but we are far apart on equity. 3 of the 4 are private companies with potential to scale well.

The 4th is a very well known public company and my role would be cool but the equity likely couldn’t compete with the early stage companies because I don’t foresee a ton of medium-term appreciation. On the other hand, would have great resume value and could set me up better down the line.

In each case, if it were my only offer I would probably have been happy with the job so I feel fortunate to have it come together like this. That said, it’s not like I can use the competition to create a bidding war because each business is pretty focused on market comp data.

One thing is clear, no matter which opportunity I choose, one of the other ones will be wildly successful such that I will regret my decision. Life is funny like that.

There's only one thing to do: accept none of the jobs. That way you won't kick yourself for choosing wrong.

 

[jbarwick]

UnF - I think you are Bay Area? When given options, are they $0 options so anything is upside or is there a price associated with them? Bay Area people seem to think the market is okay with losing money constantly. How happy are Lyft employees going to be as they watch their stock price decrease then shoot down again when the lockup period ends?

Yea everyone points to AMZN as a company that doesn't show profits but they could flip a switch and turn profits. A lot of these early companies have no defined plan to ever be profitable. I guess I am just confused but again I am in the Southeast and have never had options. My wife did when she worked at a job in California and she lost money on the deal. The company was profitable but not nearly as much as Wall St. wanted.

 

[lawyerdad]

UnF - I think you are Bay Area? When given options, are they $0 options so anything is upside or is there a price associated with them? Bay Area people seem to think the market is okay with losing money constantly. How happy are Lyft employees going to be as they watch their stock price decrease then shoot down again when the lockup period ends?

Yea everyone points to AMZN as a company that doesn't show profits but they could flip a switch and turn profits. A lot of these early companies have no defined plan to ever be profitable. I guess I am just confused but again I am in the Southeast and have never had options. My wife did when she worked at a job in California and she lost money on the deal. The company was profitable but not nearly as much as Wall St. wanted.

Not 100% certain what you mean by $0 options. Options can work various ways but typically if you are given stick options by an employer will typically have a strike or base price. That’s the price at which you have the “option” to purchase the underlying stock during the term of the option. A $0 option isn’t really an option, it’s a stock grant or just a cash payout.

 

[jbarwick]

Not 100% certain what you mean by $0 options. Options can work various ways but typically if you are given stick options by an employer will typically have a strike or base price. That’s the price at which you have the “option” to purchase the underlying stock during the term of the option. A $0 option isn’t really an option, it’s a stock grant or just a cash payout.

Stock grant would be the right term.

 

[UnFacconable]

All of the businesses I am looking are profitable or are expected to be profitable (eg solid business model). Two will require significant further financing.

The options for the smaller companies would have relatively low strike prices and at least one would allow me to exercise early so I could benefit from capital gains (and possibly QSBS which is even better). One of the contenders does benefit from what I consider irrational exuberance by the investor market which could help or hurt depending on how long it endures. That company arguably has the highest chance to be a large ($5-10B+) business in the long run.

The equity value is one of the main factors I’m evaluating and I am pretty well suited to do so given my professional background. That said, of course things don’t always go to plan and the biggest unknown factor is each company’s ability to executed on its business plan.