You raise a good point about liquidity. The PDF linked by OP said "including cash bonuses and similar compensation", and the knee-jerk reaction was "it is a jo

You raise a good point about liquidity. The PDF linked by OP said "including cash bonuses and similar compensation", and the knee-jerk reaction was "it is a joke". Furthermore, it was explainted that "the value of private company stock can be hard to determine". I pointed out the 409A valuation as a response to this. I do not know if equity will be counted against income. But I think it is reasonable to count vested and exercised equity into the pay calculation. After all, IRS uses that to determine taxes.