What are your tax loss harvesting partners?

[The White Coat Investor]

I'm doing lots of tax loss harvesting in the last month or so. It might be useful to make a list of various ETF/Fund partners for any given asset class. Here are some I've used in the past:

 

US Large Cap Stocks

Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund ---> Vanguard Large Cap Index Fund -----> 500 Index Fund

 

International Stocks

Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund----> Vanguard FTSE Ex-US Stock Index Fund ------> Developed Markets Stock Index Fund

 

Emerging Markets

Vanguard Emerging Markets Index Fund------> iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF----->iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF-----> Schwab Emerging Markets Equity ETF

 

Precious Metals

Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining ----> USAA Precious Metals Fund

 

What exchanges have you made lately?

[Sammywoof]

Having never really performed tax loss harvesting is it possible to maybe go over the basics of what to look for and what to avoid ?

 

thanks so much !

[Neuro]

Firstly, thanks a lot Jim! You are da man!

I did the "Backdoor Roth" based on your advice for both me and my spouse. It went splendidly. This year I would like to try tax loss harvesting.

Sammy - here are a couple of links to read on

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Tax_loss_harvesting

https://blog.wealthfront.com/10-things-about-tax-loss-harvesting/

https://personal.vanguard.com/pdf/s802.pdf

http://www.obliviousinvestor.com/tax-loss-harvesting/

The first thing I realized is that its only applicable to taxable accounts ( so no 401k, 403 or Roth). If you have money outside these, its a good option.

 

 

 

 

[TESUZUKI2002]

I did a little last year... but it was more selling some individual equities to flush out some losses and gains... I moved my proceeds into index funds..     I plan to implement much more of this on yearly bases with doing TLH.  Thanks for posting this up as I want to start putting together my plan for doing this on a consistent basis every year when applicable for my Short term trading.

 

Thank you!!  Following.

[Paden]

Here are some international TLH partners:

VTWSX: Total World
VTIAX: Total International
VFWAX: Large International
VTMGX: Developed International
VFSVX: Small International


I have moved from VTIAX to VFWAX and now today I moved to VTMGX.  Hopefully, to get back to VTIAX at a low price at the end of the month, once the wash sale will no longer apply.

[Paden]

Is there a WCI guide anywhere about TLHing?  I think I have the basics down, but my first time actually attempting a TLH was at the end of December.

[15hrsaday]

I'm a wimp, Betterment does it for me.

[RetiredERdoc]

Due to a recent cash infusion and timing, I ended up only being able to TLH from my short term bond fund holdings. All my stock holdings still had gains.  I went from vanguard st bond  index and st investment grade  to vg short term federal admiral.

WCI seems to have only some general tlh posts. you might check out the bogleheads wiki for a little more detailed info.

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Tax_loss_harvesting

And check out the post on tlh for dummies on the bogleheads site

https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=172568

 

 

[docbells]

Curious as to why you pick Large Cap instead of 500 index to go to from Total Stock.  I am sure differences are minor, but I always assumed total stock was best paired with 500 index.

 

I just harvested this today...

[RetiredERdoc]

There are multiple funds that you can pare with total stock market. Large cap is very close to 500, and actually has 4% more midcap than 500 (according to mstar instant xray) , so it is a little closer to total stock market in that regard. Either will work fine.

 

[Jonezez]

I really like using this website:  http://www.altruistfa.com/dfavanguard.htm

as a nice starting point to consider different TLH options within different asset classes.   The table itself is not specifically to suggest different TLH options but does give you a nice overview of different options within different asset classes.  You still have to recognize which funds/ETFs follow the same index or methodology so as not to disqualify your harvested loss.

The analysis section has some good info about why they suggest certain funds over others in general.

[Jonezez]

I really like using the altruist financial advisers website (google it, I couldn't post a link just yet... I think not enough posts on forum yet) as a nice starting point to consider different TLH options within different asset classes.   The table itself is not specifically to suggest different TLH options but does give you a nice overview of different options within different asset classes.  You still have to recognize which funds/ETFs follow the same index or methodology so as not to disqualify your harvested loss.

The analysis section has some good info about why they suggest certain funds over others in general.

[Jane]

New to tax loss harvesting as I have only had a taxable investment account for a couple years. Do most people hold their alternative investment for 30 days and then repurchase their original investment or simply hold the alternative investment?

[Toshi]

15hrsaday wrote:

I’m a wimp, Betterment does it for me.

Click to expand...

I think this is the way of the future. Tax loss harvesting, in my opinion, is a task that is perfectly suited for automation via an algorithm.

[Toshi]

Jane wrote:

New to tax loss harvesting as I have only had a taxable investment account for a couple years. Do most people hold their alternative investment for 30 days and then repurchase their original investment or simply hold the alternative investment?

Click to expand...

One usually goes back to the primary investment, as it has lower fees. If your secondary investment that you switched to (or tertiary if you're getting really tricky a la Betterment's TLH+ algorithm) has lower fees… well, why wasn't it your primary investment in the first place?