Painful award

Can anyone explain the stock award that the company sent to associates? I’m so confused by the stock world. And I’d call the advisers, but I don’t even know what to tell them I need or why I’m calling. I keep getting emails saying I need to transfer it to a brokerage account which I don’t think I have one so I tried to set one up through flagscape/the Merrill site and it’s so confusing plus, the links just keep taking me in circles and some links don’t even work right.

Also, is this real money or just some investment game where we’ll lose all the value? I’m just not convinced it’s even worth the time to try and figure it all out and educate myself because I’m so busy -and the value is pretty pitiful anyways. It’s so stupid that the company gives us an award where we have to make phone calls to financial advisors to figure out what the he-l it is. They are super out of touch if they think the working class single mothers are all wrapped up in this investment world and know what to do with this stupid award.

Comment! It's anonymous!

6 replies (most recent on top)

should the brokerage account be with BOA

When did you get this email?

How did you get a job at the bank? What department do you work?

yes, it is a bit confusing and overwhelming, but consider it free money. Once you get it in the right brokerage account, you can just let it sit there until it fully vests. You wont need to do anything after that other than look at the quarterly statements. Yes, the value changes, but one day you will sell it and it will be a nice chunk of change that you get to spend. That's how I'm looking at it. I'm not selling it until I exit this company and get to play with their money. I'm not counting these chickens until they're hatched.

@ypa+1hPf7S1g
Thank you for taking the time to send a detailed response! I promise I’m resourceful and educated… just haven’t ever had an interest in learning about stocks/investments because it’s so complicated when it comes to predicting what’s going to pan out.
Now I just need the links and set up process to work so I can accept this award.

Again, thank you!

If you have a stock award, then that is BoA stock that own free and clear right now, and is yours to keep or sell.
If you were awarded a restricted stock unit, that means the stock will become yours over time. Many companies will have a vesting schedule over time. This means that the stock units will become yours as they vest.
For example, assume you have 100 restricted stock units, and 50 vest on January 1, 2023 and 50 vest on January 1, 2024. You don't own any of these stock units yet. As they vest, you become the outright owner of them, and can keep them or sell them for cash. As long as you are still employed, this means that 50 units become fully owned by you on Jan 1, 2023, and then the other 50 stock units become yours on Jan 1 2024.
So, let's assume 50 stock units vest on Jan 1, 2023, and the BoA stock is worth $40 per share. Those 50 stock units that become your 50 shares are worth $2,000: 50 shares * $40 per share = $2,000.
For the other 50 stock units that vest on Jan 1 2024, they will be worth whatever the stock price is on that day.
(There is a bit more to the story concerning taxes, but don't worry about that. You need to understand how these work first.)
It is worth your time to set up an account at Merril (or elsewhere) because the stock is worth money to you. Note that if you quit before a vesting date, you will lose your stock units.
Hope this helps you.

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