Is this a good year for tax-loss harvesting?

Thanks to market swings, evolving tax laws and new technology, it may be a good year to consider tax-loss harvesting – a strategy that can help reduce taxes and improve long-term returns.

What is tax-loss harvesting? When you sell an investment for less than you paid, you may be able to use that loss to offset gains from other investments, potentially reducing your overall tax bill.

If your total capital losses exceed your gains, you can use up to $3,000 of those losses to reduce ordinary income each year. You can carry any remaining losses forward to future tax years. The strategy doesn’t eliminate taxes altogether; it simply defers them, which can free up money to reinvest elsewhere.