My wife and I both work at a "small business" `DoD defense contractor that is 100% employee owned (or an ESOP if you are familiar with the term). As part of our retirement package, a number of company shares are given to us (always based on a % of our salary). This year, we have an opportunity to roll an amount of our choosing into the company ESOP plan. The last such opportunity was in 2011 (when I first started) so this doesn't happen often. Since my initial buy in back in 2011, I've watched the stock grow at a steady rate from $2.25 to this year's valuation at $39.20.
Our current retirement situation is:
| 401k | Company ESOP | |
|---|---|---|
| Me (Age: 36) | $261K | $417K |
| Wife (Age: 31) | $120K | $115K |
| Total | $381K | $532K |
The company is rapidly growing (currently around 1,500 employees) and is preparing to make the jump into the "large business" pool of DoD contractors within the next few years. The message we receive from upper brass is that they have no intention of selling despite offers coming in from time to time. If I were to look at our numbers objectively, I'd say that we are over-exposed to a single company and this would be a NO for us. However, the echo chamber of coworkers and the fact that the ESOP has out-performed the SP500 every year I've been there makes me at least consider it. I know, I know, "past performance doesn't..."
Anyone else ever been in a similar situation?
Submitted July 20, 2023 at 12:54AM by DrunkenReindeer https://ift.tt/4aVIUrf
