There are a variety of ways that companies can attract and keep employees. Whether through leave options and other paid time-off perks, extensive health care coverage, or the ability to work remotely, companies have no shortage of benefits to offer to stand out from the crowd when attracting talent. For highly compensated employees or employees of startups, you may also be offered compensatory benefits like equity compensation.

Editor’s Note: This article was co-authored with D.L. Thomas. No one thought 2020 would be like this: a global health crisis, an economic contraction and millions of Americans out of work. The rest of us, now bound to our homes, are unable to live our lives as we normally would, while essential workers are risking their lives to keep us all safe. Then, before we get to the light at the end of the tunnel, civil unrest swept across our nation.

If you've been offered stock options as part of your compensation package, you probably have a lot of questions about if, when and how to exercise them. Stock options can be a powerful investment tool because they allow you to purchase stock in your company at a discounted rate.