Employee Stock Purchase Plan Returns

Did you ever wonder if investing in your company's stock through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan is a good idea? The Early Riser did the math, but here's the companion tool to go along with the discussion at the Early Riser's blog. The numbers below are the Early Riser's default numbers:

Basic Investment Information
Input Data	Values
Your Annual Pay ($USD)
Percentage of Annual Pay to Be Invested (%)
Number of Contribution Periods per Year
Stock Purchase Plan Discount Rate (%)
Fixed Rate Commission on Selling Transactions ($USD)

Annualized Returns
Calculated Results	Values
Effective Annualized Rate of Return (%)

Words of Caution

The Early Riser notes a few words of caution:

• Each ESP plan is structured differently so read yours carefully
• The key to this being almost risk free is your ability to sell the stock immediately - if your plan restricts your selling, you have much more downside risk and this may not be for you
• The profit is taxed like regular income... make sure you save some of your profits to pay the tax man
• THIS IS NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE!!!