What to do with company stock? Leave alone or invest elsewhere?

Question

I don't want to have an "Enron" experience. Don't want to have all of my eggs in one bucket!

Answer 1

You are absolutely correct not to want to have all of your eggs in one basket. In fact no more that 10% of your eggs should be in one basket. If you have all of your money invested in company stock, you are just asking for trouble. I do not care if the company has a AAA bond rating. It is too risky. It is risky enough to be working for the company and have your livelyhood dependent on the well being of the company, but to also have all of your investments in that company you could not only loose your job but also a significant portion of your assets.

Don't wait a minute longer. Start diversifying. Of course once you do that the stock of your company will probably double or triple in price. But at least you will be able to sleep a little better at night.

Answer 2

While it's true that diversifying your stock holdings is a key to good investment, it's also important to avoid taxes. If you have company stock that was purchased through an employee stock purchase plan or awarded as a compensation or bonus, the best way to manage the money is to wait one year from the stock purchase and then sell the stock. Stock sold within one year of purchase is taxed as a short-term capital gain, effectively as normal income - as much as 45% - while stocks sold after one year are long-term capital gains and are taxed at 15%.

Answer 3

If you only have one company then you should sell 75% of your portfolio and buy 3 more companies at the very least.

Even the richest man in the World has other investments besides Microsoft.

Answer 4

You said it yourself... "Don't want to have all of my eggs in one bucket." I suggest you keep some shares ONLY if you think the stock has potential. Keep any where between 10-50% of you shares depending on how much you like this stock...

Answer 5

Get rid of most of it. You don't want to be dependent on the same company for a living and the state of your retirement savings.

Answer 6

Sell most of it, buy 2-4 mutual funds. Keep some shares just to 'show you're on board'.

Answer 7

That totally depends on what you have shares in... If its oil i think its on a down trend for another month. if it's retail it's proabably on a seasonal up trend if its in medicine who knows with Wal Mart rocking the boat...

Answer 8

Give it to me(-;