How to use Capital Gains Estimator to find investment lots with maximum capital gains

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desplin
desplin Member ✭✭
in Budgeting and Planning Tools (Windows)
I would like to find investment lots with the maximum % capital gains. For instance, I want to donate $5000 of stock to a charity and use the most highly appreciated lots available to maximize my tax benefit. I am using the capital gains estimator and have tried telling it to maximize capital gains. It works for a few seconds and comes back with "Quicken found a solution to your goal as described, but it does not meet the accuracy or your requested objectives. Try increasing the time allotted, reducing the accuracy, or adjust the objectives" I have tried adjusting all of these in settings, but keep getting the same error message. Even though it says it found a solution, it won't let me view the results.
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  • Rocket J Squirrel
    Rocket J Squirrel SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
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    If you know which stock you want to donate, it may be easier to start a Sell transaction and do Specify Lots and click Maximum Gain. Record the lots and cancel out of the Sell. I never had any luck with Capital Gains Estimator either.

    Quicken user since version 2 for DOS, now using QWin Biz & Personal Subscription (US) on Win10 Pro.

  • desplin
    desplin Member ✭✭
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    I have done that in the past. But in this case I don't know which one would be best. I have too many candidates. I was hoping the capital gains estimator would be able to find an optimized solution.
  • q_lurker
    q_lurker SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I customize a portfolio view to include the columns among others:
    • Cost Basis
    • Market Value
    • Market Value %
    • Gain/Loss, and 
    • Gain/Loss % 
    Those are all parameters I use in my thought process.
    I then sort on the Gain/Loss % column to get the most likely choices to the top.  Those are the ones with the biggest gains as a percentage of their cost basis.  That view may also include multiple accounts and I may group by security (mixing accounts) or by account.

    What gets missed in that approach is 'lot' considerations.  I could have an old 'lot' with very big gains (a gifting candidate) but lesser gains in a later lots.  In my case, I don't see that as a big risk. 

    I have never found the Cap Gains Estimator very helpful (though the intent is good)..     


  • desplin
    desplin Member ✭✭
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    I was primarily interested in the 'lot' considerations. I have many positions that I've held for a long time that have old lots with big gains. I would have thought that the capital gains estimator would have been the ideal tool for that.

    I agree--as many times as I've tried to use it, the capital gains estimator has only been a waste of time for me.

    > @q_lurker said:
    >
    > What gets missed in that approach is 'lot' considerations.  I could have an old 'lot' with very big gains (a gifting candidate) but lesser gains in a later lots.  In my case, I don't see that as a big risk. 
    >
    > I have never found the Cap Gains Estimator very helpful (though the intent is good)..     
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