If you’ve built or inherited an investment portfolio alongside the savings in your retirement accounts, you are likely to face some taxation every year on things like interest, dividends, and capital gains generated from the investments.

These might be investments such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or ETFs held in a brokerage account to name a few.
While these investments can serve as a fantastic compliment to your other retirement savings, you’ll want to be sure to manage this money in the most tax-efficient manner each year to allow your money to last as long as possible.

In this episode we discuss 6 year-end strategies to help you reduce the annual tax bill from your portfolio.

More specifically, I discuss:

• 7 basic tax rules you need to know when it comes to non-retirement investment portfolios
• Properly offsetting gains and losses
• Properly use long-term losses
• Avoiding the wash-sale rule
• Make use of lower tax brackets
• Donating appreciated stock to charity
• Do not donate depreciated stock to charity

Resources:

• Access Episode Show Notes and Sign Up for the Retired·ish Newsletter
• Ask Cameron A Question!

Key moments:

00:00 Non-retirement accounts have annual tax implications

05:29 Capital gains can be taxed between 0% to 40.8% based on income and nature of gain

09:02 Properly offset short and long-term gains with losses to defer taxes and optimize savings

10:22 Consider strategic tax planning for mutual funds held in non-retirement accounts

15:04 Transfer appreciated stock to family in lower tax brackets

17:22 Donate appreciated stocks if itemizing deductions and charitably inclined

In a recent study published by the investment research company Morningstar, they estimate that the average dollar invested in funds by individual investors over the 10 years ending December 31st, 2023 earned a 1.1% lower rate of return per year than the actual investments they were invested in.

This resulted in individual investors out on nearly 16% of the investment’s actual returns each year, even without consideration of any investment fees.

Morningstar updates this data annually as part of their “Mind The Gap” study, and in this episode I break down why this is happening and what this means for investors.

More specifically, I discuss:

• What investing insights does this research show us?
• The difference in investor return “gaps” per asset classes invested in.
• Investors miss out on 50% of taxable bond fund returns!
• Why are many individual investors earning lower average rates of return than their investments themselves?
• The difference in investor return “gaps” based on the volatility of a particular asset class.

Resources:

• Access Show Notes and Sign Up for the Retired·ish Newsletter HERE
• Ask Cameron A Question!

Key moments are:

00:00 Difference between investment and investor returns.

05:07 Investor behaviors remain consistent over the years despite political and economic uncertainty.

06:37 Return gap varies widely depending on asset class.

12:55 Investors tend to receive about 50% of bond fund returns.

16:33 The more volatile the fund, the more likely investor’s poorly time investment activity.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump present starkly different tax proposals for the 2024 election reflecting their contrasting economic priorities. And while the exact outcomes of future tax policy are unknowable, you can be better prepared by having a good understanding of the potential changes.

In this episode, I address some of the major tax policies at play if either candidate takes office, and how they might affect your situation.

More specifically, I discuss:

• A basic review of the current tax laws in place under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)
• What will happen if the TCJA sunsets (expires) in 2026 without intervention from either candidate?
• How might you be affected by the sunsetting of the TCJA.
• Brief overview of Harris’s main tax proposals and what it means for you.
• Brief overview of Trump’s main tax proposals and what it means for you.
• Will the State and Local Tax deduction (SALT) limits be removed before 2026?

Resources:

• Access Show Notes and Sign Up for the Retired·ish Newsletter HERE
• Free Retirement Jump-Start Analysis
• Ask Cameron A Question!

00:00 Political uncertainty surrounds future tax provision changes

04:15 Middle-class tax burden increasing significantly by 2026

08:01 Harris aims to raise taxes on the wealthy, but Trump’s cuts may be too expensive

11:12 Higher corporate taxes could mean higher prices

16:39 $10,000 SALT cap limits state tax deductions significantly

21:05 Existing small businesses may face tax increases in 2026

24:50 Tax proposals may influence voters significantly come November 2024