IRAS and losses

I have a Roth IRA. If I sell a stock in it at a loss, may I deduct the loss on my tax return? — G.H., St. Joseph,

Mich.

Nope. In a regular taxable brokerage account, if your losses exceed your gains, you can offset up to $3,000 of income, carrying any excess forward to future years. But IRAS work differently, and do not permit deducting losses.

IRAS offer other benefits, though. Traditional IRAS give you an upfront tax break, letting you shrink your taxable income by the amount of your contribution. Roth IRAS, if you follow the rules, let you withdraw money in retirement tax-free. That can be a big deal if you’ve grown the account to be worth many thousands of dollars. Learn more about IRAS and retirement topics at Fool.com.

What are NFTS? — R.T., Lake City, Fla.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTS) are complicated, but in a nutshell, each NFT is a unique digital asset, representing ownership of a specific asset. It’s recorded via blockchain technology, like cryptocurrencies, but whereas one Bitcoin is interchangeable with another (just as one dollar is interchangeable with any other), there is only one of each NFT.

NFTS exist for a wide range of digital material, such as art and music (including GIFS and video clips), along with other collectibles. They’ve grown in prominence as more people have begun selling — and buying — NFTS. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, for example, sold his first tweet, autographed, as an NFT for more than $2.9 million. The fact that the tweet merely says “just setting up my twttr” demonstrates that NFTS can seem very — well, speculative. They’re probably best avoided by average investors.