Except you are still going to pay those taxes when you do sell, you are just delaying the taxable event so I wouldn't consider that money actually saved.

What is the situation where that is actually useful? Take me for example, I invested for 5 years in VTI and then sold it for a downpayment. What would their TLH do for me in that situation because I didn't need to offset cap gains in those middle years and the end year both get hit with cap gains.

Doesn't seem to do anything except charge a higher fee and create more irs paperwork in that situation.

True, if you cash out that soon you only get use of the tax money for a little while. I like TLH for the same reason I like a traditional 401(k). Right now I’m getting a Bay Area tech salary and RSUs, and I want to defer some taxes until I’m in a lower bracket.

If we’re talking about the first $3k of losses applied to income account instead of capital account, it is saving you taxes by turning capital losses into income losses where the tax benefits are greater.