Investing 102

[WSSix]

Is it in a tax sheltered account like a Roth IRA? If not, you can only lessen your tax percentage by making sure the profit qualifies as capital gains as far as I know. To qualify for capital gains, the stock you sell needs to have been bought 366 days before. Otherwise, it'll be counted as ordinary income and be taxed as such which could put you into the next tax bracket.

I'm not sure what will happen if this is inside a 401k. Please make sure you don't put yourself into a position where you get penalized for selling stock. I believe the 401k only faces penalties if you take any money put in out ie not profit but the original purchase/contribution. However, what qualifies as taking money out? I don't know. It might be something dumb like when you roll over a 401k from one employer to the next it's imperative the money never be sent to you even if you turn right around and send it to the next employer's 401k.