My sister bought a stock in 1988 and sold it and can't find the cost basis

[Mayayana]

My sister bought a stock in 1988 and sold it and can't find the cost basis. She thinks she bought it for around $1000 and sold it for around $1800 but she is one of those super honest people who follow all the rules.

She asked me to find the cost basis. I don't even own stock. Never have.

She said I know 'people on the Internet'. Um, that's you.

It's a bank stock she bought at the bank. That's all she remembers.

The bank changed ownership a few times and is now Wells Fargo. I have no idea what paperwork she has. Probably none.

She certainly would never have a trading account to ask. It was probably a one-time deal at the bank (like microwaves used to be).

How can I find out the cost basis for her of a stock she bought in 1988?

[trader_4]

If this bank in 1988 was a publicly traded company, there is probably a stock price history, like a stock chart at least, available online. But that isn't going to help, unless she knows how many shares she had. When it was bought out by WF, she must have received some number of WF shares in exchange and sounds like she has no paperwork on that. I suppose you could try Googling for news on the buyout, to find WF is buying XYZ bank, XYZ stockholders will be getting X shares of WF stock for each share of XYZ bank that they own. Then you would know how many shares she had of the original stock. If it was me, I'd just estimate it as best you can, it's very unlikely she would get audited and if she does, she can just explain what she did. The tax owed on this is small potatoes. Does she have enough income that she has to pay tax at all? If not could value it at a zero cost basis.

[invalid unparseable]

If she knows the stock symbol, try here:

Also some reading here may help:

[Karen]

With Bidenflation she certainly hasn't profited.

[Dean Hoffman]

Here's a chart or two here of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. She hasn't done too badly if the stock she bought more or less tracked the average since

1988.

[Marilyn Manson]

It *might* be more accurate to find a chart of a Financial Sector ETF or index as opposed to the entire Dow Jones.

[Retirednoguilt]

Your sister made a bad investment if that's the case. Her investment only went up 80% in 34 years. That's a CAGR of only 1.74%/year. Didn't even keep up with the rate of inflation.

[Ralph Mowery]

That was a very poor stock investment. It did not even double in over

30 years. The Dow went up about 10 times if not more in that time period.

[Fishrrman]

There are websites you can go to that will give you a stock price on a particular date in the past:

Same for mutual funds.

[Mayayana]

Marilyn Manson [e-mail] wrote

The problem as she explains it to me is she doesn't remember the original bank name but just the location as it was in a town where she used to live.

It didn't change ownership only once either. It changed owners multiple times.

She didn't keep track of all that. Where do you find the stock history of a small bank getting gobbled up over time?

[Dean Hoffman]

Does her state have to approve bank sales? Is there some special agency for that? Newspaper archives? It would make the papers in the little towns in Nebraska.

[invalid unparseable]

Who did she sell the stock to ? Perhaps they can help determine the basis. What was the name of the bank on the stock certificate ? Does the  bank still exist in the town where she bought it ? What's its name now ?

[trader_4]

Still no answer to the questions I posed, like does she have enough income that there would be any capital gains tax at all? If her total taxable income is less than $40K, she owes nothing, even if the cost basis is zero. And after that, it's 15%. Put down bought for $1000 sold for $1800, pay the $120, how much is your time worth? The thing I'd be most concerned with is the amount she received from the sale last year. Apparently she's such a hot mess that she doesn't even know that? That amount is reported and the IRS may try to match it.

[Mayayana]

trader_4 [e-mail] wrote

That doesn't matter but the answer is yes even if it did matter. When people are honest, they don't worry about how much they owe. They worry about being honest.

You don't seem to understand that principle of being honest. Just to be honest.

No other reason is needed for honesty.

My income is lower than 40K and I still pay taxes. What are you talking about?

Are you just making this up?

You don't seem to be an honest person so you don't understand how honesty works. It's not a matter of convenience.

She received $1800. How did you miss that?