Thread regarding Fiserv Inc. layoffs

ESPP are fine, if you believe the stock price will be increasing, or if you think the company will still be around in a few years.

Otherwise just invest in a successful company instead. Maybe a company that has a plan.

Consider these two important concepts of an ESPP:

(1) When the plan buys stock for you, it applies the discount to a specific price. How is that price determined? Is it the market price of a single day (usually the last trading day of the quarter) or does it use the concept of a "lookback period"?

(2) When is the stock available for resale? Immediately? Some plans don't release the shares for resale for up to a week or even longer. A lot can happen to a share price in a week. Some plans offer the ability to automatically sell right after the purchase.

When all is said and done, the gain from an ESPP is the percentage of a percentage of a percentage. Take a salary of $100K. Invest 10%, on which you can make 5% (if you can sell it right away), which is subject to a short-term cap gains tax of 22% (assuming an income of 100K). End result? $390. For the YEAR. Even if Fiserv increased the discount to 15%, we're not talking a windfall ($1170).

In short, if your goal is some quick cash, certain ESPPs are probably not the best option. In those cases, it might be best to invest a little bit of money in the plan and just let it sit.

One last point - I imagine most companies want their ESPPs to be a way in which employees feel more involved in the business. Nothing wrong with that. If that's attractive to you, great. If not, put your money elsewhere.

Interesting OP's is using a layoff board as a recruiting tool desperate. Is anyone listening to this? Comments from outside the US are welcomed as well.

Yep. Used to be 15. Another Frank idea. Greedy.

That is a pretty lame discount. Maybe it should go back to 15%.