[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hamlet It doesn't suprise me that many people didn't understand the risk they were taking with their options.

The risk was not the AMT, it was the possibility of the shares decreasing in value. If the shares had held steady or increased in value, the dotcom folks would have been richly rewarded for delaying selling the shares through lower taxes. But, the shares fell. A risk they completely understood and accepted.

I share your distain for the AMT. But, in the cases we're discussing, the risk was created by people's greed to lower their tax burden by holding the shares for one year to take advantage of the ISO provision of their options.

But please be clear, while I'm not sympathetic towards those exercising options who got greedy and accepted risk hoping to harvest greater rewards, I'm also not sympathetic towards the head-up-their-butt folks who are in trouble due to assuming ARM loans.