A Greek trireme. A Trireme is an ancient oar-driven warship powered by about 170 oars men. It was long and slender, had three tiers of oars and one sail. On the bow was a battering ram that was used to destroy enemy ships. The tip of the ram was made of bronze and could easily slice through the side of a wooden ship.
When you buy 1,000 shares of Ford at $14 and your broker charges you a $10 commission, your cost basis is $14,010 for those shares. That transaction is given a unique tax lot ID so you and the IRS can track those shares separately from other Ford stock you might buy later.
What you can do next. 1  Find out which cost basis method is your current default. 2  Adjust your defaults if theyâre not what youâd like them to be, and pay attention to what method youâre using the next time you sell. 3  If youâre a Schwab client, you can use a cost basis method called the Tax Lot Optimizerâ¢.