I sold some stock late last year, how can I save on capital gains now?

• A capital gain occurs when you sell an asset for more than you paid for it.
• If you hold an investment for more than a year before selling, your profit is considered a long-term gain and is taxed at a lower rate.
• You can minimize or avoid capital gains taxes by investing for the long term, using tax-advantaged retirement plans, and offsetting capital gains with capital losses.

When you invest your money through a retirement plan, such as a 401(k), 403(b), or IRA, it will grow without being subject to immediate taxes. You can also buy and sell investments within your retirement account without triggering capital gains tax.

In the case of traditional retirement accounts, your gains will be taxed as ordinary income when you withdraw money, but by then you may be in a lower tax bracket than when you were working.   With Roth accounts, however, the money you withdraw will be tax-free, as long as you follow the relevant rules.

For investments outside of these accounts, it might behoove investors who are near retirement to wait until they actually stop working to sell.   If your retirement income is low enough, your capital gains tax bill might be reduced or you may be able to avoid paying any capital gains tax.   But if you are already in one of the "no-pay" brackets, there's a key factor to keep in mind: If the capital gain is large enough, it could increase your income to a level where you'd incur a tax bill on your gains.

for 2019 there's nothing you can do.  most everything that could be done to lower taxes post 12/31/2019 needed to be done bt 4/15/2020 or earlier.