[georgeecollins]

Financial advisors will advise you against the risk of having all your wealth in the company you work for for just the reason you describe. If you have a net worth of $10m and it is all in the company you work for you could in one moment loose your job and be broke. So you should diversify.

However, employees often have virtually no net worth (why else are they worried about paying taxes on share, except they can't take the risk of loss? I can say from experience that when I worked for a startup but had previous personal financial success I just absorbed the tax bill for exercising options knowing that the shares I paid taxes on could ultimately be worthless.).

So if all their net worth is in a company its not ideal but it is a risk you can take when you are young. I see the argument of avoiding taxes and not taking ownership until the shares are liquid-- good arguments, it is true-- as being used as ways to justify giving employees shares or options that are likely to be less valuable then the ones held by founders and investors.

[bluGill]

If you have almost no net worth than put it in a bank savings account. If you have more than almost nothing put it in 401k or IRA plans - a house is sometimes a good option too (but only if you will live there for a decade, and of course location location location). Only when you have the above in great shape should you thinking about anything else more risky.