At Four Seasons Wealth Management, we have spent 42 years guiding investors through tax regimes, market cycles, and evolving regulations. In that time, we’ve prioritized partnering with institutional money managers who don’t just chase returns—but also integrate tax-sensitive execution, such as tax-loss harvesting, into their portfolio discipline. Our 42 years’ experience categorizing and selecting the best institutional money managers in the U.S. has allowed us to consolidate our selection to the few managers who get it done consistently and reliably.
What Is Tax-Loss Harvesting?
Tax-loss harvesting is a tax strategy used to actively manage your non-IRA portfolio with the goal of enhancing after-tax returns. It involves selling assets at a loss to offset capital gains realized elsewhere in the portfolio. After realizing the paper loss, your professional manager typically replaces the sold assets with similar investments (while adhering to the IRS wash-sale rule), allowing you to remain invested in the market. This strategy can help reduce the impact of federal and state income taxes and support the long-term growth and efficiency of your portfolio.
Keep in mind that this article is for informational purposes only and is not a replacement for real-life advice, so make sure to consult your tax or accounting professionals before implementing any tax strategy that may involve tax-loss harvesting.
How It Works
You may deduct up to $3,000 of capital losses in excess of capital gains for your federal tax return each year. (Your tax or accounting professional can speak to how capital losses are treated on your state tax return.) Any remaining capital losses above that can be carried forward to potentially offset capital gains in following years.
By taking losses and carrying over the excess losses into the future, you may be able to manage some long-term and short-term capital gains.
Rules & Risks to Watch
· Wash-Sale Rule: You can’t claim a loss if you repurchase the same or a nearly identical security within 30 days before or after the sale.
· Portfolio Impact: Selling for tax reasons may shift your asset mix or add trading costs—replacement investments matter.
· May Not Apply to Everyone: If your income is already low or you’re in a 0% capital gains bracket, the benefit may be limited.
Why Year-Round Works Better Than Year-End
Many investors, and professional institutional managers, wait until December to harvest losses, but opportunities arise all year. A proactive approach can capture losses during market swings, even in mostly “up” years. We seek managers who look for opportunities, and act when the time is correct, versus looking at their calendar.
Bottom line: reviewing throughout the year gives you more flexibility and potential tax savings than a once-a-year cleanup.
What You Can Do Today
Contact Steve Wedel, CFP, CFS for a detailed conversation of how you might be able to reduce your tax obligations.
Request a tax-sensitive overlay analysis for your taxable accounts to see whether harvesting makes sense in your situation.
Review individual tax lots—not just aggregate holdings—so you can optimally decide which shares to harvest.
Four Seasons Wealth Management’s Edge
Decades of trust and expertise — 42 years of serving investor needs, adapting through tax law changes and market cycles.
Selective manager partnerships — We work only with money managers who embed tax-sensitive thinking into their execution.
Proactive, continuous approach — We don’t treat tax-loss harvesting as a one-time exercise. We systematically look for harvest opportunities as markets move.
Client-first alignment — Our strategies are tailored to your full financial picture—not applied uniformly or blindly.
If you'd like to explore whether tax-loss harvesting could make sense for your portfolio, or you want a second opinion on your current plan, we’re ready to help.
Get in touch with Four Seasons Wealth Management
📞 Phone: (239) 262-0123
📧 Email: swedel@4swm.com
Feel free to reach out with any questions — we’re here to help you keep more of what you earn.