[askafriend]

You’re right, thanks for jumping in and clarifying my hastily written comment!

Stock gain does account for a significant portion of comp the past couple of years though so it’s not a small thing.

Options (vs RSUs) also have slightly different mechanics.

[thedufer]

But the stock gain that accounts for a significant portion of comp is between grant and vest, and thus is still taxed at normal income tax rates.

Gains after vest can't really be counted as comp, since anyone else could have bought those same shares and made those same gains. That's just investment income; attributing it to your employer/employee relationship is silly.