Know the Tax Bill Before You Sell — Trade Scenarios
A sample VOO sale, priced lot by lot — gain, paired losses, wash-sale checks, and the tax bill, before it's ever sent to a broker.
Numbers shown are from a sample plan, for illustration only — not financial advice.
What you'll see
Before this sample investor sells 140 of 190 shares of VOO, the trade-scenario tool lays out exactly what that sale means. Step one totals the proposed sale across three specific tax lots, landing on a $32,160 realized gain, split between long-term and short-term treatment. Step two pairs that gain against three available loss lots — two in GOOG and one in TLT — checking each for wash-sale risk across every linked account, including IRAs. One lot, GOOG, is already verified clean; the other two get flagged as needing confirmation or crossing a 30-day repurchase window before they're usable.
As losses get paired in, the net effect panel updates live: the $32,160 gain shrinks to a $3,300 net loss once the TLT lot is confirmed, taking federal tax and the 3.8% net investment income tax both to $0, while the sidebar confirms ACA subsidy and the two-year IRMAA lookback are unaffected. Saving the trade adds it to the Ledger as a dated, planned transaction — RetireOdds never places the trade itself, but it prices the full consequence, tax and all, before the retiree calls their broker.
Chapters
- 0:00The trade takes seconds. The tax bill takes years — the Trade Scenario view opens on a sample sale.
- 0:08Pick the exact lots — see the gain before you sell.
- 0:18Wash-sales checked across every linked account — IRAs too.
- 0:29Pair one more loss — and the tax bill goes to $0.
- 0:40Saved as a planned trade — your Ledger absorbs it this year.
Why it matters
- Prices the exact tax consequence of a specific sale — by lot, by term, by account — before you place it.
- Checks wash-sale risk across every linked account, including IRAs, not just the account you're selling from.
- Shows whether the trade changes your ACA subsidy or IRMAA tier, not just your capital-gains bill.
- Saves the planned trade to the Ledger so its tax effect is already reflected in the plan, not a surprise at tax time.
FAQ
What is a wash sale, and why does it check every linked account?
A wash sale disallows a tax loss if you buy a substantially identical security within 30 days, in any account you own — including IRAs. RetireOdds checks all linked accounts, not just the one you're selling from.
Does saving a scenario execute the trade?
No — saving adds it to the Ledger as a planned, dated transaction. You place the actual trade at your broker, then re-import to reconcile.
Why does pairing a loss change the ACA and IRMAA numbers?
It usually doesn't, and the tool tells you so directly — a paired loss lowers taxable gain but this sample plan doesn't cross an ACA or IRMAA threshold either way, which is exactly the kind of detail worth confirming before you sell.