From 24/7 Wall St. · Ryne Mauck · · 1m 30s
Retired Couples Can Harvest $98,900 Tax-Free Gains
Retired couples can sell $98,900 of gains tax-free this year using three specific ETFs.
In brief
Retired couples can sell $98,900 of gains tax-free this year using three specific ETFs. Retired couples can sell up to $98,900 of long-term capital gains at 0% federal tax rate by resetting cost basis with these three ETFs. Originally reported by 24/7 Wall St..
Tax-Free Gains for Retired Couples
A married-filing-jointly couple can realize up to $98,900 of long-term capital gains at 0% federal tax rate in 2026.
How the 0% Bracket Works
Taxable income is calculated after deductions, allowing couples to sit on over $130,000 of gross income without owing federal tax on gains.
Three ETFs for 0% Bracket
Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI), Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF (SCHG), and Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (QQQM) are designed for tax-free gain harvesting.
VTI: Market Coverage
VTI tracks the CRSP US Total Market Index, holding thousands of stocks across all sectors, with shares trading at $381 and up 16% over the past year.
SCHG: Growth Focus
SCHG tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Growth index, with shares up 93.09% over five years and minimal dividends to preserve tax-free gains.
QQQM: Tech Concentration
QQQM tracks the Nasdaq-100, with shares up 20.97% year-to-date and a trailing twelve-month distribution of $1.3053 per share.
Trade-Offs for Tax-Free Gains
Realizing gains increases provisional income for Social Security and Medicare premiums, requiring careful modeling before selling.
Tax Strategy Benefits
Done deliberately, this strategy lets retired couples compound market gains, reset cost basis yearly, and avoid federal tax on long-term capital gains.
The main idea
Retired couples can sell up to $98,900 of long-term capital gains at 0% federal tax rate by resetting cost basis with these three ETFs.
