If you decide you want to repurchase your losing fund, you must wait 31 days to avoid a disallowance of your tax loss—called a wash sale. During the 31-day interim period, you can put the proceeds from the sale of the losing fund into a money market fund. Some investors fear being out of the market for 31 days. In that case, buy a similar (but not identical) fund during the 31-day waiting period.
