What Happens When You Sell For a Loss in an IRA?
Saving for retirement is a marathon, not a sprint; as such it is wise to avoid selling stocks held within an individual retirement account (IRA) for less than their original cost — also known as their basis – at any point during its process.
Losses from IRA investments are only tax deductible when all your tax-deferred accounts have been liquidated, and then subject to the 2% of adjusted gross income limit for miscellaneous itemized deductions.
Taxes
Remember, saving for retirement should be seen as a marathon rather than a sprint. Hastily selling investments at a loss may leave you without enough funds by the time they’re needed most.
Investment losses within an IRA generally do not count against capital gains taxes on withdrawals from the account; however, there may be certain important exceptions.
Example: If you sell shares at a loss in your taxable account and then purchase an identical investment within 30 days in an IRA account, the IRS applies wash sale rules and your loss won’t get deducted on your tax return.
If you use your IRA to invest in prohibited investments such as real estate or gold bullion, that transaction counts as a taxable distribution and you’ll owe income taxes on its proceeds. Consult a financial advisor in order to optimize your IRA portfolio and avoid unintended tax implications.
Distributions
Saving for retirement requires patience, not speed, and during that long process, the value of investments held within your IRA may fluctuate over time – though this shouldn’t necessarily be seen as bad news, it simply provides more opportunity to earn big returns should values rebound later on.
Keep in mind, however, that when withdrawing investment earnings from an IRA you will owe income taxes on them. Therefore it’s wise to maintain detailed records of both original cost and sale proceeds of investments held within an IRA.
At times, it can make financial sense to sell assets at a loss in an IRA if the losses can be offset against other tax deductions on your return. But before adopting this strategy, carefully consider your personal circumstances and investment objectives before consulting a financial advisor who can review both your tax status and portfolio portfolio to create a comprehensive strategy which maximizes investment benefits while decreasing tax liabilities.
Rebalancing your portfolio
Rebalancing is essential to keeping a portfolio aligned with its initial investment allocation plan. Rebalancing can be achieved either by selling investments that have grown too large for their respective asset class and using the proceeds to purchase more of underrepresented classes; or through new cash contributions aimed at strengthening weak asset classes. Both methods may carry tax implications depending on their nature and length of ownership, with mutual fund or retirement plan providers often offering automatic rebalancing services.
Life events often force us to review and reconsider our financial goals and risk tolerance, leading us to seek advice from financial professionals about altering asset allocation options. Rebalancing can provide an ideal opportunity to make changes that meet these criteria, or conversely discuss possible changes with them.
Other considerations
An IRA can be an excellent way to save for retirement while reaping tax advantages, yet as with all investments it may lose value over time. When this occurs you have two options available to you:
Loss deductions can help offset gains in taxable brokerage accounts and lower income taxes; however, losses from selling securities from your IRA cannot be deducted as deductions.
Due to trades that occur within an IRA triggering a wash sale in taxable accounts, any losses experienced can become nondeductible permanently. Therefore, it is imperative that you work with both a financial advisor and tax professional who are knowledgeable on IRA trading in order to implement strategies that maximize tax efficiency such as harvesting tax loss harvesting or switching over to Roth IRA. With their help you can minimize tax liabilities while maximizing potential for future investment growth.
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