Employee stock options typically expire 10 years from their grant date. The clock keeps running whether you're employed, vested, on leave, or three years out from the company. On the expiration date, unexercised options revert to the company and disappear from your account. Here's how to find your exact date and stay ahead of it.
The IRS requires incentive stock options (ISOs) to have a maximum term of 10 years from the grant date to qualify for ISO tax treatment. Most companies set non-qualified stock option (NSO) grants to the same 10-year term for consistency. The grant date is usually the date your board approved the grant, not your start date or vesting cliff date.
No one else will warn you about your 10-year expiration. Set the reminder now.
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For most employees, the easiest place to start is the equity platform your company uses. Carta, Shareworks, Fidelity Stock Plan Services, and Morgan Stanley at Work all display the grant date, vest schedule, and expiration date for each grant. If your dashboard doesn't show it clearly, the underlying grant agreement is authoritative.
Log in to Carta, Shareworks, or whichever platform your company uses. Look for "Grant date" and "Expiration date" on each grant detail page. The expiration is typically exactly 10 years after grant.
This was the PDF or DocuSign document you signed when the options were granted. It explicitly states the grant date, vesting schedule, expiration term, and post-termination exercise window.
Companies are required to maintain records of every equity grant. Email HR, the stock administrator, or your finance team. They can re-issue your grant agreement and confirm the expiration date.
Once you have the date, a reminder set 90 days before is the gap between deciding deliberately and racing the clock. Exercise paperwork, cash transfers, and tax planning all take weeks.
The standard term is 10 years from grant, but a few situations alter the timeline.
At the close of the expiration date, any unexercised options on your grant disappear. The shares revert to the company option pool, where the board can reissue them to other employees. There is no notification, no severance for the lost value, no extension request process, and no insurance.
For employees still at the company, this most often happens with grants from early in a tenure that the holder forgot were nearing expiration. A grant issued in year one of employment expires in year eleven, even if the company hasn't gone public. If you don't exercise (or your company doesn't have a liquidity event you can sell into), the value evaporates.
For former employees, the 10-year clock matters most when the original company offered an extended post-termination exercise window. Some companies offer 1, 5, 7, or 10-year windows as a retention or goodwill perk. Even with an extended window, the underlying 10-year clock from the grant date is the absolute ceiling.
Your equity platform shows you the date. It does not alert on it. Your employer issued the grant and moved on. Your calendar doesn't know about it. The 10-year clock is one of the most predictable, least-reminded-about deadlines in personal finance.
See the full guide on stock options exercise reminders, and read the decision framework for when to exercise before you act on a date you've just discovered.
Most do, but not all. The IRS requires incentive stock options (ISOs) to have a maximum term of 10 years to retain ISO tax treatment. Non-qualified stock options (NSOs) can technically be granted with longer or shorter terms, though 10 years is by far the most common term in practice. Always check your specific grant agreement for the exact term.
They revert to the company option pool. The vested options simply disappear from your account on the expiration date, and the company can reissue them to other employees. There is no compensation, no warning email, and no recovery process. Whatever value you had on paper becomes zero.
In your grant agreement (the original document you signed when you received the options). The expiration date is also typically displayed in your equity platform (Carta, Shareworks, Fidelity Stock Plan Services, Morgan Stanley at Work, etc.). If you cannot find either, request a copy from your company's stock administrator or HR equity team.
Rarely, and almost always in your favor or in a structured event. An IPO, acquisition, or change-of-control can trigger accelerated vesting or alter exercise mechanics, but the original 10-year clock typically continues to run. Some companies have one-time extension programs, particularly for long-tenured former employees. The expiration date on your grant agreement is the default assumption.
Because nothing reminds you of it. Your employer issued the grant years ago, your equity platform shows the date but doesn't alert on it, and your personal calendar app doesn't know your equity exists. The 10-year horizon also feels infinite when you receive the grant, so you don't think to set a marker for it. Then year 9.5 arrives and the rest of the timeline is paperwork.
Acquisitions typically include explicit treatment of outstanding options: cash-out at the deal price, conversion to acquirer stock, or accelerated vesting. The acquirer's plan replaces the original timing in most cases. Read the merger agreement (or summary documents shared with employees) for the specific treatment. Your 10-year clock may be replaced by a much shorter post-close exercise window.
A free email reminder 90 days before your expiration. No account, no app, just one email per grant date.
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