My experience has been that you never get enough influence over the company's success to make a significant difference, and the options don't pay off frequently

My experience has been that you never get enough influence over the company's success to make a significant difference, and the options don't pay off frequently enough to rely on. For my own part, I've been at this for over 20 years and I've never come close to making any significant amount of money from options. They have lost all incentive power. Pay me cash money now, and I'll invest it however I please.