Should I hold REITs in taxable accounts?
Real estate investment trusts are a poor fit for taxable accounts for the reason that I just mentioned. Their income tends to be high and often composes a big share of the returns that investors earn from them, as REITs must pay out a minimum of 90% of their taxable income in dividends each year.
Reasons to hold REITs in a Roth IRA
In any tax-advantaged retirement account, investments are allowed to grow on a tax-deferred basis, meaning that you won't pay capital gains tax if you sold any investments at a profit, and you won't have to include dividends with your taxable income.
TIPS have the same tax-efficiency as their treasury bond equivalents; however, because you need to pay taxes annually on the inflation component, and you do not received this until the bond matures or is sold, this cash flow problem creates an additional reason to hold individual TIPS (as opposed to a fund) in a tax- ...
- Municipal Bonds, Municipal-Bond Funds, and Money Market Funds.
- I Bonds, Series EE Bonds.
- Individual Stocks.
- Equity Exchange-Traded Funds.
- Equity Index Funds.
- Tax-Managed Funds.
- Master Limited Partnerships.
If you have a huge capital gain in SCHD in a taxable account you will have to analyze how a sale would affect your overall tax picture. At a minimum, you might consider not reinvesting dividends and investing those dividends and any new money you have to invest in safer fixed income.
REIT Tax Advantages
There are no wage restrictions or caps on the deduction, and taxpayers don't need to itemize their deductions to receive the QBI deduction. Therefore, in a REIT structure, the QBI deduction can benefit high-net-worth individuals, as non-REIT structures may have income limitations.
While some REITs offer the reinvestment of investor's dividends, the investor can't avoid the dividend tax obligations. REITs do qualify for the 20% pass-through deduction, but most investors will need to pay a large amount of taxes on REIT dividends if they hold REITs in a standard brokerage account.
A taxable account is one where the normal IRS tax rules apply. In a taxable account, you pay taxes on interest, dividends, and capital gains, in the year in which you earn them. Checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and brokerage accounts are all taxable accounts.
The majority of REIT dividends are taxed as ordinary income up to the maximum rate of 37% (returning to 39.6% in 2026), plus a separate 3.8% surtax on investment income. Taxpayers may also generally deduct 20% of the combined qualified business income amount which includes Qualified REIT Dividends through Dec.
Defer the realization of gains.
As mentioned earlier, a fundamental tax planning tenet is that it is generally better to defer taxes as long as possible, and one way to do this is by deferring the realization of gains. In many circ*mstances, this strategy can make a portfolio more tax-efficient.
Why no one should use brokerage accounts?
If the value of your investments drops too far, you might struggle to repay the money you owe the brokerage. Should your account be sent to collections, it could damage your credit score. You can avoid this risk by opening a cash account, which doesn't involve borrowing money.
How Are Brokerage Accounts Taxed? When you earn money in a taxable brokerage account, you must pay taxes on that money in the year it's received, not when you withdraw it from the account. These earnings can come from realized capital gains, dividends or interest.
ETFs are generally considered more tax-efficient than mutual funds, owing to the fact that they typically have fewer capital gains distributions. However, they still have tax implications you must consider, both when creating your portfolio as well as when timing the sale of an ETF you hold. Internal Revenue Service.
The Schwab ETF — most investors just refer to it by its ticker symbol SCHD — was created in 2011 and its goal is to track the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index. Since its inception, the ETF has increased the amount of dividends it pays investors and its total return is 357%, or 13% annually.
SCHD's long-term track record of double-digit annualized returns over many years also inspires confidence that this is still a good place to be in the long term. Lastly, SCHD's expense ratio of just 0.06% is extremely favorable for investors, making this a compelling ETF to own in 2024 and beyond.
Given the methodology employed by this fund, SCHD can be used in a number of different ways. Though the portfoli ois somewhat shallow, this fund certainly could be used as a core holding for achieving U.S. equity exposure; it could also be used as a complement to a more broadly-based fund to derive greater yield.
The Bottom Line
REITs provide unique tax advantages that can translate into a steady stream of income for investors and higher yields than what they might earn in fixed-income markets.
Typically, REIT dividends are taxed individually as ordinary income, but you can avoid the tax burden if your investment grows within a Roth IRA. Investment earnings are tax-free in a Roth IRA – including REIT dividends — so you may end up keeping significantly more of your earnings than you would with a REIT alone.
Some dividends from a REIT are considered a return of your capital—meaning that you are getting some of your invested money back. These dividends aren't taxed at all, since it's just "your" money.
Risks of investing in REITs include higher dividend taxes, sensitivity to interest rates, and exposure to specific property trends.
Should I own REITs in a retirement account?
If you invested in the REIT outside of your Roth IRA, the dividends would be taxed as income. In many ways, investing in REITs in your Roth IRA is the ideal way to invest in a REIT. Their dividends greatly compound over time and you won't have to pay taxes on them when you reach retirement age.
“I recommend REITs within a managed portfolio,” Devine said, noting that most investors should limit their REIT exposure to between 2 percent and 5 percent of their overall portfolio. Here again, a financial professional can help you determine what percentage of your portfolio you should allocate toward REITs, if any.
But brokerage accounts are also called taxable accounts, because investment income within a brokerage account is subject to capital gains taxes. Retirement accounts (such as IRAs) have a different set of tax and withdrawal rules. They may be better for retirement savings and investing.
In many cases, you won't owe taxes on earnings until you take the money out of the account—or, depending on the type of account, ever. But for general investing accounts, taxes are due at the time you earn the money. The tax rate you pay on your investment income depends on how you earn the money.
A brokerage account is a key part of your financial plan, as investing in markets is one of the best ways to achieve long-term growth. It's important that you work with a company or person you can trust, because it's your money and you are investing in your future.
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