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Purchasing shares of the same investment at different times results in multiple lots (A block of stock or mutual fund shares purchased at the same time. For example, if you purchase 100 shares of Litware, Inc. on January 10, and 50 shares of Litware, Inc. on January 11, you would own two lots of Litware, Inc. When securities are sold, Money will assume a FIFO (First In, First Out) sale flow. Therefore, if you later sold 50 shares of Litware, Inc., Money will assume half the first lot has been sold.), one lot for each purchase date. For example, you might have an automatic savings plan that purchases investment shares on a regular basis. This creates multiple lots:
Lot #1: 20 shares of ABC stock purchased at $10/share on March 1, 1998.
Lot #2: 15 shares of ABC stock purchased at $15/share on April 1, 1998.
Lot #3: 10 shares of ABC stock purchased at $20/share on May 1, 1998.
When you sell investment shares, it is important to specify which lot of shares you want to sell because shares with different purchase prices have a different cost basis (The total purchase price you paid for an investment. The difference between what you sell an investment for and its cost basis determines your capital gain or loss. This can also apply to your house; all improvements you make to your property add to its cost basis.) and might be taxed differently. When you make a stock or mutual fund sale, Money automatically assumes you want to sell the first shares you acquired (FIFO (An assumption that investments are sold in the same order theyÆre purchased so that when you sell shares, you sell the first shares you bought so that the first shares in your account are the first shares. Money uses FIFO lot tracking as its default.)).
Money's Lot wizard helps you specify which lots of stock or mutual fund shares you want to sell for a particular transaction.