No. 38 of 106 Things We Do For Clients
Record your cost basis on securities. Everyone know their cost basis in their investments, right? We wish that were true. Unfortunately, many people don’t have a clue. And in case you think the cost basis is tracked by your current custodians, that is only true on investments purchased while custodianed at that firm. Securities purchased many years ago from a different firm and then transferred to different brokers, securities that were a gift, or securities that were inherited often don’t have an easily obtainable cost basis. Knowing your cost basis is very important, because without it 100% of the value of any investment can be subject to capital gains tax. It’s acutely painful if you end up paying a tax of 23.8% of the value of an investment even though you actually had no gain or even lost money on the investment. We will help facilitate finding the cost basis on all your investments, so when it comes time to sell you know the exact amount of any capital gains tax you owe.
