As financially concerned individuals, our focus shouldn’t only be on making money, but also on how to preserve it and keep as much of it as possible. That means managing your biggest cost on gains: taxes!
As an investor, one of the most important things to manage are your capital gains taxes. Whenever you make money on an investment (unless it is in a tax-advantaged/deferred account like a Roth IRA or a 401(k)), you have to pay a certain amount of that money back to the government. Lucky for us, in addition to of course maximizing the amount of money we put into retirement accounts, we also have opportunities to maximize our take-home by managing the types of investments we make and when we sell them.
In the USA, there are two different types of classifications: Short & Long-term Capital Gains.
Short-Term
These are investments classified as being held for less than a year. These investments, whether real estate, bonds or equities, will have gains taxed at the same rate as normal income. There are 7 different tax brackets in the USA (ranging from 10% to 37%), and this type of trading doesn’t allow you to take advantage of the lower capital gains brackets for longer holdings.
Common examples of these investments include: day trading, short-term catalyst based investments (where you are afraid of a substantial drop after a run-up), need-based sales…
Long-Term
Recently, the TCJA (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) changed the rules behind these long-term investments, drastically cutting the taxes. Previously much more aligned with the income brackets, there are now simply 3 options: 0%, 15% & 20%.
These rates are significantly lower than not only the short-term version, but every other type of income that you can receive at the top bracket. Additionally, even at the lower brackets, you could be in a position where you keep all of your money. For the highest net worth individuals, there is a 1700 basis point impact on your savings, meaning that even if you are worried about a position in the short-term, keeping it for the yearly threshold might still make sense, depending on how much downside you think there is. It is also a testament to just another advantage of longer term investing.
All in all, this article is a simple overview of the tax legislation associated with the different types of capital gains taxes, meant specifically for those who might be unfamiliar with the USA or the relatively recent legal changes dropping the tax requirement. Additionally, it is crucial, especially for readers of this website to consider this in the types of investments that they make - after this consideration, a short-term catalyst bet might be less appealing given the risks or costs associated with less preferential tax treatment.
Furthermore, it is also an interesting consideration that single individuals get a substantial benefit from not being married in terms of brackets. This might be something to consider if you are planning on getting married, waiting for a filing if you both have substantial gains might make sense.
Overall, I hope everyone got some info out of it! Stay tuned for the next articles!
By: Mateo Gjinali
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