I work for the company (blue chip, dividend paying) long term and get a 15% match on stock purchases through the ASPP (Associate Stock Purchase Plan). This is the only single company stock I own, but due to the match I don’t want to give up free money. The rest of my money is in broad index funds in my 401k (split between Roth and Traditional) and a separate Roth IRA.
I’ve been putting enough in monthly for the full match for the past year and a half. I have about $4,000. With the tariffs and supply chain issues I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I will have to pay regular income tax on most of it as it hasn’t been a full year. My income is low enough if I wait until next year I’d pay capital gains taxes which due to my income will likely be 0%.
So here was my thinking as far as options go:
1. Hold stock until next year and pay zero in taxes on the money. The value might be less than what it is now though if the tariffs hit the economy hard and we don’t recover until much later.
2. Sell stock, take the tax hit, and then reinvest into the Roth IRA? My 401k leans heavily into US equities (+80%) so my Roth is fully international (EFAX) which is getting a lifetime rate of return higher than my car loan but barely.
3. Sell stock and put into my HYSA which is getting an APY of 4.25%
4. Sell stock and put toward my car loan’s principle balance which has an interest rate of 6.93% and a balance of $7,800.
5. Or do some combination of the above.
Let me know what you guys think I should do. I will continue to contribute to the ASPP regardless of which option I chose because it’s an instant 15% return on my money, even if I turned around and sold once every year.