So it’s the end of the year. One of the things I tell people to do is to take a look at where they stand in gains vs losses in their taxable account. Here are some things to remember and some ideas to make tax day easier next April.
- You need to see if you are showing gains. Did you sell an investment at a gain? Was that investment held for more than a year (long term capital gain) or less than a year (short term capital gain)?
- If you do, do you have losers in your portfolio that you can bear to get rid of?
- Remember you have to wait 30 days to buy the stock back or the loss is disallowed.
- Lastly, if you really can’t bear to not own the stock you just sold for a loss (for 30 days) because you think it’s about to make a big move, you can buy it in a retirement account and it’s not subject to the wash sale rule.