when unrealized gains present it usually means an investor believes the investment has room for higher future gains otherwise they would sell now and recognize the current gain additionally unrealized gains sometimes come about because holding an investment for an extended time period lowers the tax burden of the gain 
for example if an investor holds a stock for longer than one year their tax rate is reduced to the long term capital gains tax 1 further if an investor wants to move the capital gains tax burden to another tax year they can sell the stock in january of a proceeding year rather than selling in the current year investors should also note the distinction between realized gains and realized income realized income refers to income that you have earned and received such as income from wages or a salary as well as income from interest or dividend payments 