Kinder Morgan (KMI) RSU sell-vs-hold
Calculator · free · no signup · KMISell at vest or hold? Compare after-tax payout from selling Kinder Morgan 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 KMI today.
Most diversification frameworks would advise against a purchase that size in a single name; the right answer depends on your conviction in KMI. 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 Kinder Morgan
Kinder Morgan (KMI) is a public Energy company, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Houston, TX.
Last close: $31.07 per share (as of 2026-10-03).
Equity grants at Kinder Morgan typically include restricted stock units (RSUs).
Kinder Morgan, Inc. is an American energy infrastructure company. It specializes in owning and controlling oil and gas pipelines and terminals.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Richard Kinder left Enron in 1996 and built a pipeline company from assets others were selling, and it now moves a large share of the natural gas consumed in the United States. Pipelines earn fees for transportation under long-term contracts, so revenue depends on capacity booked rather than on commodity prices. Regulatory approval and right-of-way make new interstate pipelines extremely difficult to build, which protects existing routes. Data-center and liquefied natural gas demand has raised throughput expectations. Headquarters are in Houston.
Sources: sec.gov · en.wikipedia.org
Equity comp at Kinder Morgan
- Kinder Morgan's 2021 Stock Incentive Plan uses a double trigger for RSU acceleration: vesting speeds up only if a change in control occurs AND the employee is terminated without cause (or resigns for good reason) within 24 months after that change in control. The plan also sets a minimum vesting floor of 36 months for stock awards, with an exception allowing up to 10% of plan shares to vest in as little as 12 months.
- 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.
Researched 2026-08-24.
OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Kinder Morgan.
Kinder Morgan (KMI) 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 Kinder Morgan (KMI) RSUs vesting at $31.07 per share is $15,535 of ordinary income on vest day. After roughly 32% combined federal + state + FICA (~$4,971), the post-tax share value is ~$10,564. 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 Kinder Morgan tools → · Use the generic RSU Sell-vs-Hold Calculator for any company. Diversifying multiple RSU lots? See the lot-by-lot sell order →
Kinder Morgan equity questions
- Should I sell or hold my Kinder Morgan RSUs at vest?
- Kinder Morgan 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 Kinder Morgan grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
- Equity compensation at Kinder Morgan typically takes the form of restricted stock units (RSUs). Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest.
- Do Kinder Morgan RSUs use double-trigger vesting?
- Yes. Kinder Morgan 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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