Stock market crashes and stock option exercise and holds don’t mix well

The Mercury News has a so-so article (Many running out of options) today on the problems of “little people” here in Santa Clara county who’ve run into big money problems after exercising, but not selling, options they were granted at work. Having this problem, though to a much lesser degree, myself, I can sympathize with the trouble. AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) was supposed to make sure the wealthy paid their fair share to Uncle Sam but the law was passed long before tech employees were getting options across the board.

Unfortunately, AMT doesn’t impact George W.’s pals, so no changes to it were included in the proposed tax reform bills under discussion in DC. Bummer.