Lately, it has been hard watching the markets. It seems as if we will never have an up day again. But there could be a hidden surprise in this downturn. I know that many of you watch your balances every day, a practice I do not recommend. when was the last time you really looked at your cost basis vs. the current market value? Do you have large long term gains that have made your portfolio off kilter? Many of my clients do but do not want to sell any of those gains and pay the associated tax. Now you have the opportunity to wipe out part of that capital gains tax.
Harvest some of your losses to offset the gains. If you have a few holdings that are in a capital loss position, you can sell the losses to off set the capital gains and rebalance your portfolio.
Remember to match long term gains to long term losses, and short term gains to short term losses.

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