What is a Bear Market and What Does it Mean to You?

You may have heard about the stock market heading into bear market territory, and you may be wondering, “What is a bear market?” and “How does a bear market impact me and my investments?”

With 40-year record high inflation and recent increased interest rates, you may be worried about what the recent stock market crash means to your finances. Whether you already invested or you’re considering investing, don’t worry. TurboTax has you covered and is here to help you figure out:

What is a bear market?
How does a bear market Impact you and your Investments?

What is a bear market?

A bear market occurs when a stock index or markets drop for a prolonged period of time.

Generally, a bear market happens when the market falls 20% or more from its recent peak. This past week S&P’s index dropped over 20% heading the stock market into a bear market.

How does a bear market impact you and your investments?

The biggest question we’re hearing is, “What should I do if my stocks and crypto took a dive during the bear market?” If you haven’t sold them yet, you may see a loss in your portfolio on paper. It’s not until you sell your investments that you have a realized loss. In other words, you can hold on to the stock or crypto and wait for it to go back up before you sell it. This can also help if the crypto or stock in question was held for less than a year. When you hold on to crypto or stock investments for at least a year, you will pay lower capital gains taxes (assuming you have a gain).

If you sold losing stock, you can offset your capital losses against your capital gains (known as tax-loss harvesting). Offsetting a loss is essentially reducing the total amount of capital gains reported at tax-time, which can lower your taxes. This can also include the offset of ordinary income like wages, up to $3,000, further lowering your tax bill. Any additional loss over $3,000 can carry forward to future tax years.

Check back with the blog for more up to date information and trends. If you have questions and use TurboTax Live to prepare your taxes, remember you can connect with a TurboTax Live tax expert, in English and Spanish, year-round to get your questions answered.

Lisa has over 20 years of experience in tax preparation. Her success is attributed to being able to interpret tax laws and help clients better understand them. She has held positions as a public auditor, controller, and operations manager. Lisa has appeared on the Steve Harvey Show, the Ellen Show, and major news broadcast to break down tax laws and help taxpayers understand what tax laws mean to them. For Lisa, getting timely and accurate information out to taxpayers to help them keep more of their money is paramount. More from Lisa Greene-Lewis