Difference between IRR and ROR
There may be differences in different contexts, but here's my general understanding: Rate of Return (or Return on Investment) is the total gain or loss of an investment divided by the initial investment amount.  e.g. if you buy stock for $100 and later sell it for $120 you have a 20% Rate of Return.  You would have a 20% ROR regardless of if you sell it tomorrow or in a year. Internal Rate of Return is effectively annualized.  It is the annual rate at which each of a series of cashflows is discounted that would give you a net present value of 0.  Meaning if you spent $100 today and in exactly one year you received $120 back, you would have an IRR of 20%.  If you received the $120 back in 6 months, your IRR would be roughly 40%. An IRR calculation can include multiple cashflows at various times, while ROR is (in my mind) the total net gain or loss relative to the investment (irrespective of the time of the cash flows). IRR is more effective when comparing investments that have different time horizons.  Spending $100 to get $120 tomorrow is much better (from an IRR perspective) than getting $120 two years from now, since you could take that $20 gain and invest it for the rest of the two years.
Now assume these shares are vested, held for at least 1 year, and are   then sold for $5 each. Everything I've read implies that the grantee   now owes long-term capital gains taxes on the difference, which would   be 10k * ($5 - $1). No. That's exactly what the SO is NQ for. Read more on the differences between ISO and NQSO here. Now assume these shares are vested, held for at least 1 year, and are   then sold for $5 each. Everything I've read implies that the grantee   now owes long-term capital gains taxes on the difference, which would   be 10k * ($5 - $1). At this point you no longer have NQSO, you have RSU. If you filed 83(b) when  you exercised, then you pay capital gains tax when they vest. If you didn't - its ordinary income to you. NQSO is a red herring here since once exercised they no longer exist. If you didn't file 83(b), then when the stock vests the difference between the FMV at vest and the money you spent on it when exercising (if any) is considered wages and taxed as ordinary income (+FICA etc). From that point the RSU becomes a regular stock investment and the capital gains clock starts ticking. I would say that there are places where you are indeed a code monkey, and what you learn is easily transferred. i.e: If you know Java, or RoR, it's easy to get started at a new job where the apps are built with those languages.   However, if you're able to get some, Murex, Kondor+ or Calypso training or exposure under your belt, your skills are much more highly sought after, and can get you a much higher salary than an ordinary code monkey.   At the end of the day managing is managing, regardless of whether you're managing code monkeys or Murex developers. &gt;Then we will have to agree to disagree.  The important thing is that we didn't give any solid advice to the original question :)  &gt;The social discount rate isn't about borrowing it is about funding projects that would return a higher rate. To simply say the discount rate is the same as the borrowing rate (which is dirt cheap right now) isn't wise because different projects offer better social value. Think of it as your opportunity cost.  I agree with you that there may be better projects. But I am implying that as long as those other projects' IRR are above the borrowing rate, they also should be undertook. Basically keep on borrowing and going down the pecking order until the borrowing rate meets the IRR of projects not started. What every that equilibrium is should be the discount rate.  And while someone may say that borrowing takes away from private investment (and they are right), it is in the best interest of the country to ignore that. The market for government securities is global; the state could be taking more from foreign private investment than domestic.  However, this does ignore the manipulation on the rate that goes on from forced lending from citizens. Social Security by law has no choice but to invest in government securities. I don't know, I think I'm just rambling now. nowhere near enough information to really help you.  Price it to an IRR of about 25% in 4 years as your business has little to no history.  For small business in most sectors you can use a rule of thumb, 2x net + FFE.  For me personally, I wouldn't touch a business only 6 months old. Equal-weight ETFs remove the large cap bias found in most popular indexes. What results behaves very much like a small-cap or mid-cap index. Observe RSP vs IJR over a 5 year period: IJR (iShares S&P SmallCap 600 ETF) vs RSP (Rydex S&P Equal Weight ETF)  I'm not sure if equal-weighting is worth the reduced efficiency. Mid-cap and small-cap funds have lower expenses (%0.20 for IJR vs %0.40 for RSP) and appear to do better over the long run. We don't know if that pattern will continue, but expense is one of the strongest long-term predictors of performance. "It doesn't make a lot of sense to buy a house/condo and rent it out now. On the other hand, I think finishing your basement and then renting it out is an excellent idea.  The ROR is excellent as long as you can deal with the ""strangers"" in the basement, have the extra driveway space and negative association with renting out your basement. HTH" IRS has it spelled out Business or Hobby? Q1: Which is better option and provide good returns between FD and RD ?  There is no right or wrong answer here and depends on rates, convenience, exactness of duration, etc and other things. In general an FD would give you better return than RD. Q2: Am I liable to pay income tax on the interest earned ? If you have a NRE/NRO account you are not liable for tax on interest in India. Note you may still be liable to pay tax on this in the US