Take Advantage Of Tax Losses Before Year-end

The art and science of tax-loss selling

We are officially in a bear market, which means that we are in an extended period of prolonged price declines. From what I have read, stocks lose 36% on average in a bear market. Now, if your investments are in an RRSP and you are still relatively young, you can afford to ride this out. But others may want to consider whether 2022 is the year to trigger some losses to shelter gains, especially if you have had gains earlier this year, or in the past three years.

This is not any sort of investment advice. You should leave that to your financial advisers and portfolio managers. But from a purely tax perspective, if you have had some larger gains, and are looking to offset this, then perhaps you may want to consider speaking to your investment advisor about whether there are any losses that you should just take before year-end in order to claim a loss on your 2022 tax return.