FactSet (FDS) RSU sell-vs-hold
Calculator · free · no signup · FDSSell at vest or hold? Compare after-tax payout from selling FactSet RSUs at vest vs. holding through the LTCG cliff at 12 months.
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Your vest
Tax inputs
Hold strategy
Best after-tax payout — at year 1 yr
$47,709
Sell + invest wins by $4,981 over Hold 1 yr.
Estimates only. Not financial advice.
Heads-up: under-withholding. Your employer withholds federal tax at the IRS supplemental rate (22.0% on this vest, ≈ $17,600). Your marginal federal rate on this vest is 32.7%, owing $26,171. Expect to settle the $8,571 gap at tax time.
The hidden purchase
Tax was paid at vest either way. Holding is mathematically equivalent to taking $44,509 in after-tax cash and buying $44,509 of FDS today.
Most diversification frameworks would advise against a purchase that size in a single name; the right answer depends on your conviction in FDS. Holding past one year converts the gain to LTCG.
Sell + invest
Best payout| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Federal | |
| State | |
| Medicare | −$1,160 |
| Additional Medicare | −$720 |
| Market gain over 1 yr at 10.0% | $4,451 |
| Cap-gain tax on diversified gain — LTCG (federal + state + NIIT) | −$1,251 |
| Net at year 1 yr | $47,709 |
Sell every share at vest; invest the after-tax cash at the market return for 1 yr, then liquidate. Diversified — no single-stock concentration risk.
Hold 1 yr
| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Vest tax (federal + state + FICA) | |
| Net at year 1 yr | $42,728 |
Sold 444 shares to cover vest tax (net-settled); kept 556 shares 1 yr to qualify for long-term capital gains.
Social Security + Medicare are payroll taxes (collectively called FICA) — they apply because you're still employed at vest.
Both columns are stated in year-1 yr dollars. The sell side compounds at the market return; the hold side compounds at your single-stock expected return after a 20% volatility drag.
Estimates only. Assumes net-settled (sell-to-cover) vesting; double-trigger and pre-IPO RSUs are out of scope. Excludes multi-state moves, AMT interactions on other equity, and 83(b) elections. Not financial advice.
You evaluated one RSU vest. The beta plans every vest of every grant across years, with concentration and AMT in the loop.
Request beta access →Related calculators: RSU Lot Order Calculator · Stock Concentration Calculator
About FactSet
FactSet (FDS) is a public Data company, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Norwalk, CT.
Last close: $266 per share (as of 2026-10-03).
Equity grants at FactSet typically include restricted stock units (RSUs).
FactSet Research Systems Inc., trading as FactSet, is an American financial data and software company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, United States. The company provides integrated data and software. For fiscal year 2024, FactSet's total ASV and professional services revenues were $2.2 billion. FactSet's total market value is approximately $17 billion.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Howard Wille and Charles Snyder started the company in 1978 to deliver financial data to analysts, and it sells a workstation and data feeds to investment banks, asset managers, and corporate finance teams. Subscriptions are annual and priced per user, so client headcount in the financial industry is close to a direct input into revenue. Competition with Bloomberg and larger data vendors is fought on content breadth and workflow integration rather than price. Retention rates in the high nineties reflect how deeply the data sits in client models. Headquarters are in Norwalk, Connecticut.
Sources: sec.gov · en.wikipedia.org
Equity comp at FactSet
- FactSet's broad-based annual RSU grants typically vest over five years (20% per year) rather than the four-year schedule common at most tech and finance companies, so time-to-full-vest calculators should not assume a 4-year default for FactSet grants. Separately, per FactSet's proxy statement disclosures, named executive officers' equity award agreements use double-trigger change-in-control protection: unvested options and RSUs accelerate to full vesting only if the executive is terminated without cause or resigns for good reason within two years following a change in control. Outside of a change in control, a qualifying termination without cause instead accelerates only the next vesting tranche for awards held at least one year.
- RSUs use double-trigger vesting. Two things must both happen before the shares are yours: (1) the normal time-based vesting completes, and (2) the company has a liquidity event (an IPO or an acquisition). Until both happen, you do not yet own the shares and you do not owe tax on them.
- Vesting schedule: FactSet's standard annual RSU grants historically vest 20% per year on each anniversary of the grant date, fully vesting after five years, rather than the more common four-year ratable schedule..
Sources: sec.gov · sec.gov · sec.gov
Researched 2026-08-23.
OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by FactSet.
FactSet (FDS) RSUs vest as ordinary income at the price on vest day. The decision is whether to sell at vest and reinvest, or hold the shares through the 12-month LTCG cliff. This calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare like-for-like.
Example: 500 FactSet (FDS) RSUs vesting at $266 per share is $133,000 of ordinary income on vest day. After roughly 32% combined federal + state + FICA (~$42,560), the post-tax share value is ~$90,440. Holding 12 months for long-term capital-gains treatment then only matters for the price change between vest and sale; the ordinary income at vest is already locked in. The calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math.
All FactSet tools → · Use the generic RSU Sell-vs-Hold Calculator for any company. Diversifying multiple RSU lots? See the lot-by-lot sell order →
FactSet equity questions
- Should I sell or hold my FactSet RSUs at vest?
- FactSet restricted stock units (RSUs) are taxed as ordinary income on their value at vest whether or not you sell. The only open decision is what to do with the shares afterward: sell at vest and reinvest, or hold past twelve months for long-term capital-gains treatment on any further gain. The calculator above runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare them directly.
- Does FactSet grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
- Equity compensation at FactSet typically takes the form of restricted stock units (RSUs). Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest.
- Do FactSet RSUs use double-trigger vesting?
- Yes. FactSet restricted stock units (RSUs) vest only when two things both happen: the time-based schedule completes, and the company has a liquidity event such as an initial public offering (IPO) or an acquisition. Until both occur you do not own the shares and owe no tax on them.
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