What you're doing sounds fair. My reading of the upthread discussion was that someone who had asked for a bonus buyout should delay their departure until they c

What you're doing sounds fair. My reading of the upthread discussion was that someone who had asked for a bonus buyout should delay their departure until they could double-dip. That would be a huge red flag to me, if I were a new employer. But if it's all just part of comp, there's no specific issue. Of course, the new company can say "you get X signing bonus if you join this calendar year, and x/2 signing bonus if you join next calendar year, since time is of the essence".