Glossary
Capital Gains
A capital gain is the profit you earn when you sell an asset for more than you paid. Capital gains are taxed differently depending on how long you held the asset — short-term (under one year) vs. long-term (over one year).
Why it matters
The tax difference is significant: short-term gains are taxed as ordinary income (up to 37%), while long-term gains are taxed at preferential rates (0%, 15%, or 20%). Simply holding an investment for one year and one day instead of eleven months can cut your tax bill dramatically.
Example
Buying stock at $1,000 and selling at $1,500 produces a $500 capital gain. Held for 14 months, you'd pay ~$75 in tax (15% rate) vs. ~$120 at the 24% ordinary income rate.
How Ray helps
Ray can help you understand the tax implications of your investment gains. Ask to see unrealized gains across your connected brokerage accounts.
$ ray "how much have my investments gained this year?"Related terms
Tax Bracket
A tax bracket is a range of income taxed at a specific rate in the U.S.
Portfolio
A portfolio is the complete collection of your financial investments — stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, real estate, and other assets.
Index Fund
An index fund is a type of mutual fund or ETF designed to track the performance of a specific market index, like the S&P 500.
Diversification
Diversification means spreading investments across different asset classes, sectors, and geographies to reduce the impact of any single investment's poor performance on your overall portfolio..
Roth IRA
A Roth IRA is a retirement account funded with after-tax dollars, meaning withdrawals in retirement — including all investment growth — are completely tax-free.