Vanguard does provide year end income estimates for the current year for their mutual funds on their website every fall. It's a bit tedious, and the numbers are subject to revision, but you can at least try if you want to.
I've also been nervous about year end transactions. Personally I'm comfortable with mutual fund transactions placed a few days before year end and have done those successfully. At the end of the year you also have to watch out for weekends and holidays when the market is closed or may close early. You can track this info down too, but again it's tedious.
Personally I try to do a tax estimate early December to get the general situation pre-planned. I then wait until my last mutual fund distribution, which is often 12/20 or so but sometimes is 12/28ish. I then make my final transactions after that if I can, but before the 12/28 if I need to and I can nail down the one 12/28 distribution with the aforementioned estimates.
If I want to do something sooner in the year, I just try to be really conservative. So if I think I want to realize $20K in capital gains, I might only do $10K in September and then do the rest in December.
I've also been nervous about year end transactions. Personally I'm comfortable with mutual fund transactions placed a few days before year end and have done those successfully. At the end of the year you also have to watch out for weekends and holidays when the market is closed or may close early. You can track this info down too, but again it's tedious.
Personally I try to do a tax estimate early December to get the general situation pre-planned. I then wait until my last mutual fund distribution, which is often 12/20 or so but sometimes is 12/28ish. I then make my final transactions after that if I can, but before the 12/28 if I need to and I can nail down the one 12/28 distribution with the aforementioned estimates.
If I want to do something sooner in the year, I just try to be really conservative. So if I think I want to realize $20K in capital gains, I might only do $10K in September and then do the rest in December.
Statistics: Posted by secondcor521 — Fri Sep 12, 2025 12:01 pm — Replies 2 — Views 138