We are officially less than two months away from 2019. Every year I ask myself, "How did we get to the end of the year so quickly?" I just never feel ready for it. In fact, I still haven't put away my patio furniture yet (those cushions are not in good shape!) – maybe it's denial on my part or maybe it's a bit of laziness. But regardless, one thing I can't afford to put off anymore is my end-of-year tax-planning strategies. Specifically, what last minute tips can I do to help off-set my income for the year? One common tax tip is "tax-loss selling", which refers to the strategy of triggering losses before December 31 to offset capital gains that you may be facing for 2018. So the real question is: "How do you trigger a loss?"
One easy way is to look at the stocks or other investments in your portfolio to see which are in a loss position (i.e. where the current market value is less than the cost to you). By selling such investments in a loss position, you can trigger a loss. Yes, it means that you aren't making any money off these sales, but it also means that the loss that results can be used to offset any gains you might have occurred earlier in the year, which at the end of the day translates into lowering your tax bill.
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