When Should I Sell My IRA Stock?
Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) provide investors with tax advantages. Trading transactions within an IRA do not incur taxes, though there may still be brokerage commissions and fees involved.
However, when selling stocks from a taxable brokerage account, any profits should be included on your annual income tax return; while earnings from selling stock investments in an IRA do not count as income.
1. If You’re Down 7% or 8% From Your Purchase Price
Stocks may decline for various reasons. Even though you love a company, its stock may fall due to bad news, market fluctuations or other external influences.
Stocks usually recover after taking a temporary hit, and can eventually begin their climb back upwards again. But it may be wiser to sell any stock which experiences significant decreases.
However, be wary. Selling too soon could cost you future gains and, remembering that IRA investors must pay income tax on any profits when withdrawing at retirement age, could incur significant income tax penalties.
If you’re bearish on a particular stock but unable to short it through an IRA, buying puts can provide an effective way of taking advantage of falling prices. Investors “sell” options by simultaneously purchasing another type that’s unrelated to what they already own – an action known as “selling naked.” This strategy could help limit losses.
2. If You Need Access to Cash
Financial preparation requires having an emergency fund, but life can sometimes present you with unexpected circumstances that require cash from your retirement account. While withdrawals from IRAs or 401(k)s may seem necessary in an emergency situation, doing so can incur taxes and penalties which should be considered carefully before withdrawing funds from these accounts.
There are a few ways you can access your IRA investments temporarily without incurring penalty, including conducting a 60-day IRA rollover. But this strategy comes with its own risks; should you miss the 60-day window or fail to return all distributed amounts within this period, the full tax and penalty liability may fall upon you.
One method to gain access to your IRA investment earnings is selling shares directly in your IRA account. Doing this is tax-efficient since IRA withdrawals are only taxed at your marginal income tax rate; additionally, trading through an IRA saves time and effort by eliminating capital gains reporting requirements when filing returns.
3. If You’re Investing for the Long Term
Investors with an IRA should carefully consider their investment goals and risk tolerance when selecting an appropriate asset mix for their IRA investments. Doing this can ensure you save enough for retirement regardless of market fluctuations.
Long-term investors may benefit from holding onto their IRA stock even when its value declines, since the IRS allows you to offset tax losses against capital gains and regular income to an extent.
However, active trading can be costly and challenging to accomplish effectively; research indicates that passive investing is more effective. Furthermore, IRAs don’t permit margin trading (borrowing money from brokers in order to invest) nor many popular trading strategies, including naked options sales (not permitted unless enough funds exist in an IRA for this strategy; covered calls can still be undertaken with an IRA if enough shares of the underlying stock cover the risk).
4. If You’re Investing for Taxes
IRAs offer tax-deferred investment returns, meaning investors won’t owe taxes when withdrawing the money from their accounts. However, according to IRS regulations, IRA owners must wait until age 59 1/2 to withdraw contributions and earnings or face a 10% early withdrawal penalty tax.
IRA owners are required by the IRS to keep records of their cost basis and transaction data. By mid-February of each year, your brokerage firm should send you a form 1099-B with all this data on it for your tax filings. This form will also help you tally up gains or losses that should be reported on tax return filings.
Some traders utilize IRAs for strategies such as covered calls, which generate income in down markets by selling options contracts while holding onto the underlying stocks, to mitigate downside risk. Unfortunately, Roth IRAs don’t permit this strategy; investors can get around this restriction by giving the option contracts away to charities or using them in donor-advised funds instead.
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