People in another group suggested I post my questions here.
This will be my first year trying to make financial decision and understand/file taxes by myself (hubby died recently) and I've got some question that I'm hoping you can help me with.
I've been toying with the idea of selling a good portion of our portfolio as I keep hearing that a recession is coming. I'm guessing that there would be tax consequences if I did so. My husband and I in past years sold off a number of poorly performing stocks (tech stuff) at quite a loss. Can I offset any current stock gains by that carryover loss or is it limited to $3,000 (or is that $3,000 limit offset refer only to earned income?). The stocks that we sold were in joint name. In other words, if I sold mutual funds for a $50,000 capital gain, could I offset that with a $50,000 loss from a year or two ago????
Also like opinions as to whether this is something that I should be considering doing or should I just let investments sit in the account (The great majority is invested in mutual funds). And should I decide to sell, is a money market the best option or are their better investments in times of recession?
I live in a tiny town and have to travel 50 miles just to see a traffic light. I don't believe that we have any (or any good) financial advisors locally. Would it be worthwhile taking the trip to consult one? And if yes, how do I make a decision as to who to call?
Investments are @$60,000 in IRAs. I've got only @$5,000 in stocks now and most of them are nothing I'm proud of (Lucent, Sun Microsystems, etc.) I've got @ $350,000 in Mutual Funds....mostly Oakmark Equity and Income Fund Class I which seems to be rated highly (I've been trying to research everything) and a chunk sitting in Money Market Prime account. I'm a healthy 63 year old.
And a side question that I've been wondering about......How much can I safely withdraw from savings each year (I don't really care that much about conserving funds for heirs).
Appreciate your opinions.
Sandy