Sell Costco (COST) stock to fund a goal
Calculator · free · no signup · COSTNeed cash for a goal? Plan the minimum-tax schedule to sell your vested Costco (COST) shares and net a target amount by a target date, across tax years.
Beta · invite-only · AlphaLatitude Inc. · Free Tools
Inputs
Your equity
One stack per ticker (current-employer RSUs, prior-employer holdings, index fund, etc.). Each stack has its own current price, growth assumption, and cost-basis lots.
Drives chance-of-shortfall · default 30%
Lots
Plan
Estimates only. Not financial advice.
Lock-in-now is deterministic (0%). Plans that wait depend on future prices; risk is near-zero when inventory comfortably exceeds the goal. Volatility: each stack's option-implied vol if a ticker is set, otherwise 30%. Lognormal model; real markets have fatter tails.
| Tax | $109,597 | $111,639 | $111,883 | $118,769 |
| Wealth @ target | $719,068 | $716,894 | $714,464 | $712,031 |
| Chance of shortfall | <0.1% | 0% | 1.9% | 3.4% |
Feasible
$400,071 net by 08/01/27
Total tax: $109,597 (federal $58,819, state $36,048, NIIT $14,729)
Schedule · Recommended
| Sale date | Shares | Tax | Net | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08/17/26 | 4,085 | $351,104 | $360,043 | |
| 03/31/27 | 4 | $360 | $360,406 | |
| 04/30/27 | 32 | $2,896 | $363,321 | |
| 05/31/27 | 100 | $9,103 | $372,466 | |
| 06/30/27 | 100 | $9,157 | $381,644 | |
| 07/31/27 | 100 | $9,212 | $390,857 | |
| 08/01/27 | 100 | $9,215 | $400,071 |
Risk vs wealth
Each dot is a possible plan. Right is riskier, up is more wealth left over.
Trajectory of cash netted
Solid line = expected. Shaded band = 10th–90th percentile under price uncertainty.
After the plan
You keep 3,479 shares worth $411,873 at the projected target-date price, invested for the next decision.
You solved for a cash target. The beta optimizes your full portfolio across multiple goals and market scenarios, not just one funding need.
Request beta access →Related calculators: RSU Lot Order Calculator · Stock Concentration Calculator · RSU Sell-vs-Hold Calculator
About Costco
Costco (COST) is a public Other company, incorporated in Washington and headquartered in Issaquah, WA.
Equity grants at Costco typically include restricted stock units (RSUs).
Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation that operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2025, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world, and as of August 2024, the world's largest retailer of beef, poultry, organic produce, and wine, with just under a third of American consumers regularly shopping at Costco warehouses. As of 2026, Costco is ranked 12th on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue, and is also ranked as the largest grocery retailer in Canada.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Jim Sinegal and Jeff Brotman opened the first Costco warehouse in Seattle in 1983, and the company merged with Price Club, the format's originator, in 1993. The economics are unusual: gross margin on goods is held deliberately low, roughly eleven percent, and membership fees supply the majority of operating profit, which aligns the company with members rather than suppliers. Kirkland Signature private label carries a large share of sales. Employee pay and retention run well above retail norms. Headquarters are in Issaquah, Washington.
Sources: costco.com · en.wikipedia.org
Equity comp at Costco
- RSUs use single-trigger vesting: shares become yours as each portion vests on schedule, and the value is taxed as ordinary income at that point. No IPO or acquisition is required.
Researched 2026-08-17.
OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Costco.
If you hold vested Costco (COST) shares and need a set amount of cash by a date (a house down payment, tuition, a sabbatical, a business buy-in), the question is which lots to sell and in which tax years to keep the most after tax. This calculator builds the minimum-tax sell schedule across your lots, accounting for federal long-term capital gains, the net investment income tax, and your state.
All Costco tools → · Use the generic Stock Sale Funding Calculator for any company.
Costco equity questions
- How much COST stock do I sell to fund a goal without overpaying tax?
- It depends on your cost basis, your target amount and date, and how the sale spreads across tax years. Selling vested COST shares triggers long-term capital-gains tax, plus the 3.8% net investment income tax and state tax above certain income, and bunching a large sale into one year can push the gain into a higher bracket. The calculator above builds the minimum-tax sell schedule across your lots to net your target amount by your date.
- Does Costco grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
- Equity compensation at Costco typically takes the form of restricted stock units (RSUs). Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest.
- Do Costco RSUs use double-trigger vesting?
- No. Costco restricted stock units (RSUs) use single-trigger vesting: each tranche becomes yours as it vests on schedule, taxed as ordinary income at that point, with no liquidity event required.
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One piece of the puzzle.
OptionsAhoy plans your Costco equity alongside hedging, vesting, and de-concentration, across bullish, neutral, and bearish market scenarios. Free during beta.