---
title: "The 33% RSU Rule — As Featured in the AFR"
url: "https://deltafinancial.com.au/4/rsu-playbook/41/the-33-rsu-rule-as-featured-in-the-afr"
---

## 📣The 33% RSU Rule — As Featured in the Australian Financial Review

In March 2025, the [Australian Financial Review](https://www.afr.com/wealth/personal-finance/why-33-per-cent-may-be-the-magic-number-for-employees-paid-in-shares-20250217-p5lcq1?utm_source=afr-web&utm_medium=share_article&utm_campaign=wealth&utm_term=product_feature) published a feature on RSU wealth management. I was quoted on the number I’ve used with clients for years:

>“People say you don’t want to have more than 5 or 10 per cent of your stock in any one investment.

>But with a lot of these people having been given millions of dollars worth of shares, my long-term comfort level is about one-third.”

> — Mike Sikar, Delta Financial Group, Australian Financial Review


**The 33% Rule is not a number I pulled from a textbook.**


It’s the threshold I’ve arrived at after working with 250+ tech executives across 15 years of practice. It accounts for the fact that these clients are already exposed to their employer through their salary and career — so the equity position needs to reflect that existing concentration, not ignore it.

When RSUs vest, the question isn’t hold or sell. It’s: what percentage should I retain, and what happens to the rest?

👉 Retain up to 33% of vested shares if you have genuine conviction in the company’s long-term trajectory

👉 Sell the remaining 67% immediately and redirect into a diversified portfolio

👉 Never let a single stock exceed 33% of your total net worth


If in doubt, I advise clients to practise what I call **“regret minimisation”.**


>“Don’t hold all your eggs in one basket, sell some shares, pay some taxes, and maybe even pay down your mortgage.

>Simple stuff, but no one’s ever felt bad about paying down their mortgage.”

> — Mike Sikar, Delta Financial Group


**RSUs are compensation. Not a retirement strategy on their own.**

When handled with The 33% Rule, they become one.