If you work at Ciena, you may be eligible to enroll in the employee stock purchase plan (ESPP). To help you make the most of this opportunity, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide to all the ins and outs of this program, from how it works to how you enroll.
If you’d like to learn more about how ESPPs work in general, be sure to read our blog about an overview of employee stock purchase plans.
Make More Money from your ESPP with Benny’s New Program
Benny 2.0 automatically manages your Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) to make you more money without disrupting your take-home pay.
Here’s a quick rundown of how Ciena’s ESPP works.
- You can buy Ciena stock at a 15% discount.
- You can enroll twice a year:
- May 15th
- Nov 14th
- You can contribute up to 10% of your salary with a maximum of $21,250 per year.
Should You Participate In Ciena’s ESPP?
When you enroll in Ciena’s ESPP, you have the opportunity to purchase shares of your company stock at a discounted price through automatic payroll deductions.
The benefits of participating in an ESPP are clear – you can make gains and build wealth. In fact, Ciena employees can gain $3,750 or even more annually through their ESPP.
Ciena’s ESPP Discount
Ciena offers employees an opportunity to buy Ciena stock at a 15% discount.
Ciena’s ESPP Enrollment Periods
You can enroll in Ciena’s ESPP twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. You can enroll by the following dates:
- May 15th
- Nov 14th
Ciena’s ESPP Contribution Limits
The first thing you need to do is decide how much you want to contribute. You can contribute up to 10% of your salary, with a limit of $21,250 per year.
Ciena’s ESPP Offering Period
The offering period is the time that employees can purchase the stock. Ciena’s employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) has two 6-month offering periods every year.
When you’re participating in Ciena’s ESPP, you set aside money from each paycheck from the beginning of a purchase period through the end. At the end of this purchase period, the money that has been set aside is used to purchase company stock at a discount.
If you are interested in Ciena’s ESPP, here are some key dates to keep in mind.
The offering periods are
- Jun 1st – Nov 30th
- Dec 1st – May 31st
The stock purchase dates are the last trading day before the end of each period.
Selling Your ESPP Shares
Once Ciena purchases the shares on your behalf, they will be deposited into your brokerage account. From there, you can do what you want with them…sell immediately (as long as it’s during the open trading windows), hold for a short time, hold for an extended time, etc.
How does Benny help me make the most of Ciena’s ESPP?
Benny makes it easy to participate in Ciena’s employee stock purchase plan by giving you cash to match your ESPP paycheck deduction so you can get the benefits of your ESPP without impacting your take-home pay.
For example, if you’re contributing $350 per paycheck to Ciena’s ESPP, Benny will deposit $350 in your bank account before each paycheck’s pay date.
Use our ESPP calculator to see how much you can earn with Ciena’s ESPP.
Make More Money from your ESPP with Benny’s New Program
Benny 2.0 automatically manages your Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) to make you more money without disrupting your take-home pay.