Tax-smart portfolio rebalancing refers to the practice of adjusting the allocation of assets in an investment portfolio in a manner that minimizes the tax impact of transactions. The goal of tax-smart rebalancing is to increase the after-tax return of a portfolio by reducing the amount of taxes paid on capital gains.
Here are a few examples of tax-smart portfolio rebalancing with sample numbers:
Example 1: An investor has a portfolio that consists of 60% stocks and 40% bonds. Over time, the stock portion has grown and now represents 70% of the portfolio, while the bond portion has decreased to 30%. To bring the portfolio back to its target allocation, the investor sells some of the stock holdings and uses the proceeds to buy more bonds. By selling the stock holdings with the highest cost basis (original purchase price), the investor minimizes the capital gains tax liability.
Example 2: An investor has a portfolio that includes several individual stocks, an exchange-traded fund (ETF), and a mutual fund. Some of the stocks have appreciated significantly and now represent a large portion of the portfolio, while the value of the ETF and mutual fund have remained relatively unchanged. To tax-smartly rebalance the portfolio, the investor sells some of the individual stocks with the highest cost basis and uses the proceeds to purchase additional units of the ETF and mutual fund. This allows the investor to sell the stocks with the largest gains and minimize the tax liability, while also increasing the diversity of the portfolio.
In both examples, by rebalancing in a tax-efficient manner, the investor reduces the amount of taxes paid on capital gains and increases the after-tax return of the portfolio.
It's important to note that tax-smart portfolio rebalancing is just one aspect of a comprehensive tax planning strategy and it should be considered in conjunction with other tax planning strategies, such as tax-loss harvesting, to minimize the overall tax liability and increase the after-tax return of a portfolio.
