CALABASAS, CA Sep 18, 2000 Cashing in stock options without having a concrete game plan for achieving financial independence can be shortsighted and ill-conceived, say two leading financial planning experts. That is why they have developed a website designed specifically to enable option owners to secure their financial freedom by first defining their Critical Capital(TM) (the amount they need). Then working backwards, they can use the practical and powerful tools the site offers to determine how to best use their options.
Officially launching on September 25, myCriticalCapital.com is the brainchild of veteran Certified Financial Planners Alan B. Ungar and Mark Sakanashi of Calabasas, CA. "Few people, including professionals, understand the complexities of stock options and usually make the wrong decisions about them," said Ungar. "Most commonly, they exercise their options to maximize profit and minimize taxes--which can actually be contrary to the right strategy for securing financial freedom."
Ungar and his partner specialize exclusively in clients who have stock options. Their 42 years of accumulated knowledge is accessible immediately to users of the website and will be available in an expanded book, Employee Stock Options: Your Guide to Using Them, Spending Them and Avoiding Expensive Mistakes, to be released by Harper Collins early next year.
MyCriticalCapital.com enables stock option owners to plug in personalized information which will provide specific guidance on:
a. When to exercise their options b. How to use their options to help reach Critical Capital c. How to create a strategy for taking advantage of the upside potential of their options while protecting against the downside d. How to evaluate the risk of their options e. How to evaluate the profitability of their options f. What the total value of their vested options is g. What the total future value of their unvested options will be
The website's mission is to help users define their goals and make decisions that will ensure achievement of those goals. MyCriticalCapital.com will provide a compendium of basic knowledge for the option owner, everything from the distinction between Incentive Stock Options and Non-Qualified Options to more complicated explanations of tax ramifications. The initial free service lets users calculate their Critical Capital needs and store the data for two months. A resource guide also provides a localized directory of financial planners who counsel stock option clients.
An expanded subscription service provides added benefits. Option owners may store their data permanently, with the value of their options updated on an as needed basis. They may perform a limitless number of "what if" scenarios as their financial position or job changes. Alerts will be sent to subscribers to remind them of key trigger dates--when some of their options vest or when vesting privileges are expiring. Subscribers will be apprised daily of the value of their vested options and the potential value of non-vested options. The cost of subscribing is $5.95 per month or $59.95 a year.
"Our site is unique because it focuses on giving option holders a chance to have their cake and eat it, too. Using Critical Capital as a decision focal point will help people avoid--what we call the tax/max syndrome," says Ungar. "This occurs when clients and financial advisers start and end with trying to save taxes and maximize profits. The danger of this strategy is that it ignores the inherent risk of options and does not zero in on helping people use their options to reach their financial goals."
In the frenetic scrambling for qualified staff in the dot.com and technology world, as well as for all other companies in the current business climate, myCriticalCapital.com can become an employee benefit. Smart firms can sign on as "Participating Companies," offering the stock option planning services of myCriticalCapital.com for all of their staff. Employees who subscribe receive a reduced rate of $4.75 per month or $49.95 a year. There is no cost or obligation to participating companies.
"This is a boon for companies who find their employees in need of useful information on stock options, but are not in a position to provide that counsel or to recommend other professionals due to liability issues. myCriticalCapital.com provides guidance without liability. There is no hidden agenda. The information is completely unbiased," notes Ungar.
MyCriticalCapital.com was developed under the direction of Alan B. Ungar CFP and Mark Sakanashi, CFP, through their company Financial Counsel Inc. in Calabasas CA. They can be reached at (818) 222-4773 or by email through myCriticalCapital.com.
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