Whether gains are perceived as your stock value going up, or the percentage of interest, dividends, or proceeds from the sale of stock or options, one thing is universally true.
Realized Gains are a very important part of investing. Both to you, and also the tax-man. The conversation about tax is something for you to sort out with your accountant. What I focus on first is generating gains, and as much of them as possible.
Unrealized vs. Realized
An unrealized gain is when you are looking at your investment, and it’s in a position where the price is higher than what you paid for it. You might say my stock is up 5%. But that 5% gain isn’t going to happen unless you sell the stock. So the gain is technically “unrealized”
