If you own a security or other investment that increases in value, but you don't sell it, the gain is your paper profit, or unrealized gain. But if you sell at the higher value, your paper profit becomes an actual profit, or realized gain. The same relationship applies if the security has lost value. Your paper loss isn't realized until you sell.
Barry Goldsmith
| APA | Barry Goldsmith. (2010). paper profit (or loss). Retrieved September 27, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/paper_profit_(or_loss)/definitions/1160137 |
| Chicago | Barry Goldsmith. 2010. "paper profit (or loss)" http://smartdefine.org/paper_profit_(or_loss)/definitions/1160137 (accessed September 27, 2026). |
| Harvard | Barry Goldsmith 2010, paper profit (or loss), Smart Define, viewed 27 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/paper_profit_(or_loss)/definitions/1160137>. |
| MLA | Barry Goldsmith. "paper profit (or loss)" 21 October 2010. Web. 27 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/paper_profit_(or_loss)/definitions/1160137> |