How capital gains, dividends and interest are taxed, and the rules that trip people up.
Asset location is the idea of choosing which account holds which investment, based on how each kind of income is taxed. Here are the federal tax rules behind it and the trade-offs people weigh.
What cost basis is, how the IRS lets you match shares sold to shares bought, what changes your basis over time, and how to read the boxes on Form 1099-B, including covered and noncovered securities.
How the IRS taxes dividends in a taxable account: what makes a dividend qualified, the 61-day holding period, why reinvested dividends are still income, and how to read Form 1099-DIV.
How the IRS taxes profits from selling investments: the one-year holding period, the 0%, 15% and 20% long-term rates for 2026, and how your other income decides which rate applies.
What the IRS wash sale rule covers, how a disallowed loss moves into the basis of new shares, the IRA exception, and the capital loss limits behind what people call tax-loss harvesting.