Deep explainers, interactive simulators, and the math behind why direct indexing can keep more of your portfolio in your pocket. Built for the self-directed investor who wants to understand why before agreeing to what.
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I had a financial advisor charging 1.85% per year. On a $1M account that's $18,500. Per year. Forever. The math kept compounding. So I went looking for the actual cost of the service I was paying for, and what I found started this company.
Every year the market gives you opportunities to capture losses without changing your investment thesis. Tax-loss harvesting (TLH) turns those paper losses into real cash by reducing your tax bill. Here's what it is, how it works, and why direct indexing makes it dramatically more effective.
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Rebalancing one S&P 500 ETF gives you exactly one harvest opportunity per year — when the whole index is down. Holding the underlying 60–80 stocks gives you 60–80 independent opportunities, every day.
0.25% AUM at $250K = $625/year. At $1M = $2,500/year. At $5M = $12,500/year. Same service. The fee model determines who wins as your account grows: you, or your advisor.
Tax alpha is the after-tax outperformance your portfolio captures by harvesting losses, deferring gains, and using the tax code as a structural feature — not an afterthought. Industry estimates put it at 0.5–2.0% per year. Here's where that number comes from and how to reason about your own.
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If you sell at a loss and buy a 'substantially identical' security within 30 days, the IRS disallows the loss. The rule is older than online brokers, more nuanced than most software lets on, and the difference between thoughtful TLH and a tax accident.
When you die, the cost basis of your taxable holdings resets to fair market value. All the deferred gains your TLH strategy worked so hard to push down the road? Forgiven. Section 1014 is the reason the wealthy hold appreciated stock instead of selling it — and why direct indexing is more than just a fee story.
§1091 is the wash-sale rule. §1014 is the step-up at death. §1233 makes every short-sale gain or loss short-term. §1259 is the constructive-sale rule that prevents you from synthetically locking in gains. If you understand these four sections, you understand TLH.
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A successful career in tech, biotech, or finance often leaves you holding 30–80% of your net worth in one company's stock. The diversification need is real. The tax bill of selling all at once is also real. Direct indexing offers a third path.
You can carry forward unlimited capital losses, but only $3,000 per year offsets ordinary income. That single rule shapes when and how aggressively to harvest — especially in a strong year vs a down year.
Capital losses don't just lower your tax bill — they can wipe out gains entirely, dollar for dollar. With a deep enough loss bank, you can sell appreciated positions, rebalance concentrated stock, or take profits in a discretionary year and pay zero capital gains tax. The strategy is real; the math is unforgiving.
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Direct indexing isn't for everyone. If you have $20K, an S&P 500 ETF is fine. At $100K it gets interesting. At $500K it's a no-brainer. Here's how to decide where you actually fall.
Beta is the slope between your portfolio's daily returns and the market's. A beta of 1.0 means you move with the market. 1.2 means you move more. 0.8 means less. It's the most misunderstood number in retail investing — and the foundation of how direct-index sleeves are designed.
Tax-aware portfolios aren't one thing — they're three. Beta (broad ETFs) gives you cheap market exposure. Long (single stocks tracking an index) gives you the surface area for tax-loss harvesting. Short (margin overlay) doubles that surface if you can take the complexity. Here's how the layers fit.
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Wealthfront PassivePlus charges 0.25% to manage your portfolio. HarvestEngine Guided charges $49/month to give you the same automation on your own brokerage. Different shape, different cost curve, different relationship. Here's how to think about it.
We have an AI assistant that can explain trades, simulate outcomes, and execute the rules you set. We do NOT have an AI that tells you what to buy. The line matters legally, and we keep our product on the right side of it on purpose.
Big-name firms advertise tax-loss harvesting as a free feature. It's not. The fee is buried in the AUM rate, the advisor cut, the platform fee, and — at some firms — finder fees and revenue-sharing with the underlying managers. Pulling apart the layers tells you whether the harvest is actually free, or just hard to see.
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