When a 0% tax rate can be costly. Plus, our favorite summer reads so far

Hi Reader,

We hope you're enjoying the heart of summer - whether that means time at the lake, a family trip, or just a slower pace at home.

This month's newsletter has plenty to dig into: an introduction to our July webinar on the 0% capital gains bracket (and the surprising ways "tax-free" gains can backfire), the Arnold & Mote team's summer reading and watching list, a look at how QCDs can make your charitable giving more tax-efficient, and a mention of our firm in The Wall Street Journal about new tax rules that took effect this year.

As always, if the topics in this newsletter prompt any questions or concerns, simply hit reply to this email and we will be in touch!

Regards,

The Arnold & Mote Team

July Webinar: The 0% Capital Gains Bracket - Free Money, or a Trap?

The tax code lets many retirees sell appreciated investments and pay $0 in federal long-term capital gains tax. This is one of the most talked-about strategies in retirement planning.

It can be a valuable strategy for many retirees at some point in their retirement. However, for others, blindly recognizing capital gains can lead to very costly mistakes. In our examples, we'll show you how these "tax-free" sales can trigger an effective tax rate as high as 90%.

In this webinar, we'll cover:

• How the 0% capital gains bracket actually works in 2026
• When gain harvesting is best - concentrated stock, portfolio cleanup, and gifting to family
• When gain harvesting can backfire - ACA subsidies, Social Security "tax torpedo", state taxes, and more
• Should tax bracket room go to harvesting gains, or to a Roth conversion instead?

Join us for the live broadcast at noon Central Time on Friday, July 31st, streamed on our YouTube channel here:

Want a reminder before we go live? Click the button above and subscribe to our channel to be notified as the webinar begins.

If you can't attend live, a replay of the webinar will be accessible immediately after and available alongside recordings of all previous webinars on our YouTube channel.

Have a question you'd like us to address during the webinar? Just reply and let us know.

Miss last month's webinar? You can view a replay of When to Drop Your Homeowners or Auto Insurance - Or Raise Your Deductibles​

What We're Reading This Summer

While our own summer reading lists typically lean more toward tax law updates than beach thrillers, the Arnold & Mote team always has a few titles and finds worth passing along each summer. Here's what we've been reading and watching lately:

Reading:

Quinn - Holly by Stephen King

Matt - The Infinity Machine by Sebastian Mallaby

Cindy - The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins

Nick - Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein

Kyle - The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

Nathan - Redemption at Hacksaw Ridge by Booton Herndon

Watching:

Quinn - The Four Seasons (Netflix)

Matt - The Odyssey

Cindy - Young Washington

Nick - Project Hail Mary

Kyle - Twister and World Cup Soccer

Nathan - Young Washington

From the Arnold & Mote Blog

​QCDs: Charitable Giving Without the Hassle​

Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) allow retirees age 70½ or older to give directly from an IRA to eligible charities while potentially reducing taxable income. While also supporting the causes you care about, QCDs come with the benefit of lowering adjusted gross income (AGI), which can help manage Medicare premiums, Social Security taxation, and other income-based thresholds.

Arnold & Mote Featured in the Press

The Wall Street Journal: Congress Ended a Tax Break. Here's How that Might Help High Income Households​

While this interview was originally done several years ago, parts of the SECURE Act are only now impacting certain households. One change starting this year is that some high-income people are being pushed into saving in Roth 401(k)s. In this article, we talk about why they may come out ahead despite losing a key tax deduction.

See our other recent press mentions on our Press Page.

Looking for Something From a Prior Newsletter?

As a reminder, you can now find the last 12 months of our newsletters here:

Whether you're new and want to browse issues you missed, or you're following up on a topic from a few months ago, you'll find everything at the link above. We'll also keep this link at the bottom of all future newsletters.

Quinn and the Arnold & Mote Wealth Management Team

(319) 393-4020

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