Short Form What Is Capital Gains Tax and How Retirees Can Minimize It

LEGACY INVESTMENT SERVICES

YouTube Short Script  |  June 2025  |  Week 4 - Short 9

TITLE: What Is Capital Gains Tax and How Retirees Can Minimize It

ADVISOR: Jordan Cassiani

RUNTIME: 55-65 seconds

FORMAT: Vertical 9:16, tight on-camera, no cuts

CTA: Link in bio for complimentary retirement income analysis

Securities and advisory services offered through Osaic Wealth, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Legacy Investment Services and Osaic Wealth are separate entities. Content is for educational purposes only. Not investment, tax, or legal advice. All scenarios are hypothetical illustrations.

SCRIPT

Capital gains tax is the tax you pay when you sell an investment for more than you paid for it. The gain, not the total sale price, is what gets taxed.

For most retirees, the long-term capital gains rate applies to assets held for more than a year. In 2025, that rate is 0 percent for married couples with taxable income up to $94,050, 15 percent up to about $583,750, and 20 percent above that.

The 0 percent bracket is one of the most underutilized opportunities in retirement. If your taxable income in a given year is below that threshold, you can sell appreciated investments and owe nothing in federal capital gains tax. That is a complete tax-free step-up for that year.

This creates a planning opportunity called tax-gain harvesting. In lower-income years, deliberately realize gains on appreciated positions, capturing them at 0 percent. You can then repurchase those same positions at the higher cost basis, reducing future taxable gains.

The catch is that your total income including the capital gains must stay below the threshold. Social Security income, RMDs, and other sources all count. This requires modeling your specific income picture before executing.

Link in my bio.

PRODUCTION NOTES

Specific, actionable, and introduces a concept most people have not heard of: tax-gain harvesting. The 0 percent bracket is the hook.

Legacy Investment Services  |  Jordan Cassiani  |  Legacy - Capital Gains Tax Retirees Minimize - Short - Week 4