MoneyForged
Forging Wealth That Lasts
NUA CALCULATOR
Turn Employer Stock Into Real Wealth
Most people pay ordinary income tax on the entire value of their company stock. Smart capitalists use Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA) to pay capital gains rates instead. I’ve run the numbers — this one strategy alone has kept hundreds of thousands in my pocket.
who own employer stock never use NUA
Run the Numbers Yourself
YOUR NUA RESULTS
Enter your numbers above and hit calculate.
Real numbers, real freedom.
Pay ordinary tax on cost basis now + LTCG on appreciation later
Full FMV taxed as ordinary income today
less tax
This is money you keep to invest, compound, and build legacy — not send to Washington.
Why NUA Is One of My Favorite Capitalist Tax Weapons
I didn’t get rich by hoping the government would be kind to me. I got rich by learning every legal lever that exists — and pulling them hard.
Net Unrealized Appreciation is one of those levers. When you hold employer stock inside a 401(k), you have a choice most people never know about: take a lump-sum distribution and pay ordinary income tax on the entire current value, or elect NUA and pay ordinary tax only on the original cost basis. The rest? Long-term capital gains rates when you sell — even if you sell the very next day.
That single move can cut your tax bill by 40–60% on the appreciation.
I’ve watched high-earning doctors, engineers, and founders leave millions on the table because they rolled everything into an IRA and treated it like regular money. Don’t be that guy. Forge smarter. Use every advantage the free market gives you.
Tariffs, regulations, and taxes are tools the system uses to slow you down. NUA is how you speed up.