capital gains tax and taxable accounts

[psycho305]

after maxing out my roth IRA contributions for year 2020, i had a few thousand dollars left, which I bought into a brokerage account in Vanguard.

That was March 2020.This is my first time with any retirement account

several questions

1: If I were to NOT sell and actualize the gains, would the account be taxes?
2: if I were to sell, I should wait until March 2021, to have the capital gains be taxed at lower rate for the "long-term" investing
3: Would I be able to move those funds into my 2021 IRA without selling?

[CordMcNally]

1.) You'll have to pay taxes on any dividends (or interest) or if you're in a fund that distributed capital gains.
2.) Why did you initially buy the funds or stocks? Taxable accounts should generally be used for buy and hold investing.
3.) No.

[Larry Ragman]

On 2, it is correct that you must hold one year to be eligible for long term capital gains. But the point above is you will still owe capital gains. You can buy and sell if necessary in tax deferred accounts with no tax implications.

[Peds]

Mike Pipers book is great. Good place to start.

[PhysicianOnFIRE]

Best to buy and hold.

Avoid capital gains taxes by a) not selling, b) selling in retirement in the 0% capital gains bracket, c) donating those assets to charity someday, or d) dying.

More:

• Top 5 Ways to Pay No Tax on Capital Gains & Dividends