Advisor Kristin McKenna Warns 2026 IPO Employees Against 3 Common Post-IPO Mistakes
Updated
Updated · Forbes · Jun 17
Advisor Kristin McKenna Warns 2026 IPO Employees Against 3 Common Post-IPO Mistakes
1 articles · Updated · Forbes · Jun 17
Summary
Three mistakes top McKenna’s list for employees facing first-time liquidity events: failing to plan before lockups end, selling without clear financial goals, and anchoring to IPO prices while underestimating risk.
SpaceX’s staggered seven-date share release schedule through December shows why early preparation matters, she said, because employees need cost-basis records, equity-type tax analysis, and cash planning before trading windows open.
Tax exposure can arrive even without a sale—double-trigger RSUs may create an IPO tax bill, while employer withholding often falls below an employee’s true marginal rate and can leave them short at tax time.
For portfolios from $2 million to $15 million, McKenna urges workers to set baseline spending and diversification targets around concrete goals such as housing, college, or family support rather than waiting for a preferred stock price.
Newly public stocks are often volatile and can also reappear inside index funds as companies enter benchmarks like the Nasdaq 100, increasing concentration risk just as many 2026 mega-IPO employees become newly wealthy.