Stock Market Drop

My husband and I have some money invested at this time. Because of the market these last few days, if we were to take a portion of that money out would we have to claim it all on our 2016 tax return as income or can we reinvest that money over a period of months or years without having to claim it. My husband is 82 and I am 74.

Terry Says:  Well, you haven’t given me enough information — such as how long you’ve owned the stock, and whether it is inside a retirement plan.  If you own the stock personally and have owned it for more than a year, and if you are living mainly on Social Security then (aside from wondering why you have stocks at this stage of life), then if all those things are correct, you would owe a small amount of capital gains taxes when you sell.  (It is always better to pay taxes on gains than hold on till the gains disappear!)  Those gains would be reported on your 2015 tax return, which you will file in April, 2016.

But again, I can’t give you specific advice without more details.  Feel free to write back with more details, which I will certainly keep private.