Cutting the Tax Bill on Company Stock

After putting in almost 30 years at a major railroad company, Mickie Wittig decided to accept an early retirement package. It wasn't an easy choice. "I loved what I did, and I loved the people I worked with," says Wittig, 54, of Jacksonville, Fla. "And I had to make the decision in a very short amount of time."

But she had another challenge after taking the buyout. Nearly half of her 401(k) assets were in company stock, which had grown in value by 300%. Rolling her entire into an IRA would cause about $400,000 in appreciation to be taxed at ordinary income tax rates, which climb as high as