toolbox
Home / Money & Investing / Tax Loss Harvesting Withdrawal Schedule Planner

Tax Loss Harvesting Withdrawal Schedule Planner

This planner models a withdrawal path after adding an estimated tax benefit from a harvested investment loss to the portfolio. It applies a constant annual return, then subtracts a fixed withdrawal each year, allowing you to see how much of the modeled balance remains after a chosen planning horizon.

The tax-loss-harvesting component is intentionally simple: harvested loss multiplied by the entered tax rate is treated as cash savings available to invest. The schedule does not determine whether the loss is actually deductible or account for a later basis-related tax cost, so it works best as a cash-flow scenario rather than a tax compliance tool.

Calculator inputs

$
$
%
$
%
years
Result
—
Ending balance after planned withdrawals
Starting balance incl. tax benefit—
Planned withdrawals—
Modeled tax benefit—

1. Enter the starting portfolio
Use the investable balance before adding the modeled tax benefit.

2. Estimate the harvesting benefit
Enter the harvested loss and the tax rate you want to apply to that loss for this scenario.

3. Set the annual withdrawal
Use a fixed end-of-year withdrawal amount.

4. Choose return and horizon
The planner applies the same annual return before each yearly withdrawal.

5. Inspect the ending balance
If the portfolio runs out, withdrawals are capped at the remaining modeled balance rather than driving it negative.

Initial modeled balance = Portfolio + (Harvested loss × Tax benefit rate); Each year: Balance = Balance × (1 + return) − Withdrawal

The calculation repeats the annual growth-and-withdrawal cycle for the selected number of years and floors the account at zero.

What the result means

The result is the remaining modeled balance after the planned sequence of annual withdrawals.

This is a level-withdrawal projection; it does not model inflation, variable returns, future tax on basis differences, or required distributions.

Given: portfolio $300,000, harvested loss $16,000, tax benefit rate 25%, withdrawal $20,000, return 4%, horizon 5 years.

Calculation: Tax benefit = $4,000, so modeled starting balance = $304,000. Year 1 ends at $296,160 after growth and withdrawal; repeating the same process for five years produces an ending balance of about $261,536.

Result: The plan leaves roughly $261,536 after five annual withdrawals under constant-return assumptions.

When are withdrawals taken in the model?

The calculator grows the balance for the year first and then subtracts the withdrawal. Using a beginning-of-year convention would produce a different result.

Does the planner increase withdrawals for inflation?

No. The entered withdrawal remains the same dollar amount every year.

What happens if the account cannot cover a full withdrawal?

The model takes only the remaining balance and then stays at zero, so it never shows a negative portfolio.

Is the harvested-loss tax benefit guaranteed cash?

No. The actual tax benefit depends on how the loss is treated on your return and whether rules such as wash-sale restrictions apply.

Why is future deferred tax not included here?

This page focuses on withdrawal cash flow. Use an after-tax-value or tax-impact model when you want to explicitly include future tax assumptions.