Your Year-End Portfolio Planning Should Factor In Cap-Gains Change

Another year, another year-end tax planning piece.

To be honest, not much has changed on the tax-planning front since last year's piece. So, let's focus on an area of change that will have implications for your year-end portfolio planning: Thanks to the coming decrease in capital gains rates, there are some things you can consider to ensure your portfolio takes full advantage of this rate drop.

Divvy Up Your Portfolio

As a quick refresher, starting Jan. 1, taxpayers in the 15% tax bracket will see their current 10% long-term capital gains rate drop to 8% on gains from assets held for at least five years. Taxpayers in the higher brackets will see their 20% long-term rate slip to 18% on assets purchased after Jan. 1 and held for at least five years. Check out this column for details on these decreasing rates. ...