Do I have to track the stocks I buy and sell in my Roth IRA Account?

[Guest Cori Tipton]

I just started trading stocks with my Roth IRA Account. I track everything yearly for trading, but wasn't sure if I was required to do the same for the Roth?

My assumption was no, because the money is non-taxable. That would mean no tax on gains and no write off on losses. Correct?

[BPickerCPA]

You may want to do it just to see how you're doing, but there is no tax reason to do so.

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Barry Picker, CPA/PFS, CFP

New York, NY

www.BPickerCPA.com

[John G]

Above info is correct. Since there is not tax obligations for buy/sells within a tax sheltered account, your tracking should be directed towards what you personally need to follow the performance of you portfolio.

Note, there is also no distinction between long term and short term holdings. Unlike taxable portfolios, holding periods are meaningless. Consider the situation were you have bought the same growth/tech stock in both your Roth and regular investment accounts. Two months later the stock spikes up. You might be reluctant to sell shares from the taxable account and pay the short term rate, but there is no tax issue if you sell shares in your Roth. So, in this example, the person might sell shares in the Roth while continuing to hold the block in the taxable account.