[dj_axl]

> you won't see that money for 8-10 years

Amen. Not such a good notion to trade salary for options, when that extra salary could have been invested all that time. $10k in 2005 is equivalent to $17k in 2015, $21k if you consider dividends reinvested.

[pjc50]

The options are an investment. It's just that they're "out of the money" when issued. Modal payout is zero, the maximum possible has been tens or hundreds of millions; what is the expected value? Hard to say.