Typical comp shape
Technical program manager (TPM)s usually earn rsu + refresh grants. Common employers include Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet. Amazon TPMs face the 5/15/20/60 back-loaded vesting schedule, which creates a massive year-four tax event without planning.
What Connecticut changes
In Connecticut, every RSU vest, NSO exercise, and ESPP purchase carries 6.99% state tax on top of federal. For a senior technical program manager (tpm) with $300k+ of equity income, the state layer routinely adds $25-45k to the annual bill.
Planning cadence
For a technical program manager (tpm) in Connecticut, the three planning windows are: after each RSU vest (withholding check and sell-vs-hold), before any ISO exercise (AMT model at federal only), and in Q4 (estimated tax top-up to clear the safe harbor).