RSU dilemma, tweeted
CFP® Cooper Bradfish posted a common early‑career crossroad: two years in with $15K in RSUs vesting versus jumping to a higher‑base role to reduce burnout — framing the tradeoff between short‑term equity and salary stability. (x.com)
Cooper Bradfish lists the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® designation on firm pages and is profiled as a paraplanner / client-service specialist on his employer’s team page. (wenadvisory.com) The original post was published on X at the URL shown in the card. (x.com) The compensation tradeoff Bradfish raised sits against a market shift: Levels.fyi data reported by news outlets shows median base-salary offers for software engineers at VC-backed U.S. startups climbed about 25% to roughly $200,000 since 2022, while total compensation rose only ~18%. (techmeme.com) By contrast, new-hire and refresh RSU awards at large tech firms commonly measure in the tens-to-hundreds of thousands of dollars of grant value (examples and level breakdowns available on Levels.fyi and firm RSU guides such as Microsoft’s), making a $15,000 vest relatively small versus typical big‑tech equity packages. (levels.fyi) RSUs are treated as ordinary wage income at vesting for tax purposes, and employers typically withhold at vesting, so a $15,000 RSU vest will be reported and taxed in the vest year rather than only when shares are sold. (turbotax.intuit.com) Longitudinal startup‑compensation reports from Carta and data aggregators like Levels.fyi document the same pattern Bradfish’s post highlights: firms have been shifting mix toward higher guaranteed cash and smaller equity grants, creating a concrete negotiating tradeoff between near‑term take‑home pay and potential upside from future stock appreciation. (carta.com)
