What a taxable index-fund account is actually worth after expense-ratio drag and after Colorado takes its share of the gain — which, in most states, is not at the federal preferential rate.
There is no state equivalent of the federal preferential rate here — a long-term gain is charged at Colorado's normal income brackets, exactly like wages. This is the common case, and it surprises people who assume the federal 15% carries over. Taxed as ordinary income at the flat rate. Colorado computes its tax on modified FEDERAL TAXABLE INCOME, so a long-term capital gain arrives already inside the base and no preferential state rate applies to it. THE COLORADO-SOURCE CAPITAL GAIN SUBTRACTION THAT OLDER GUIDES DESCRIBE IS NO LONGER GENERALLY AVAILABLE -- this was checked because it is the obvious trap. It survives only in a narrow agricultural form: a subtraction for qualifying net capital gains from the sale of Colorado real property used in an agricultural business (farm or ranch land), held at least five years. It is not available for gains on securities, on a personal residence, or on non-agricultural real estate. LIMITATION STATED PLAINLY: the agricultural carve-out's current statutory conditions were not read directly from C.R.S. 39-22-518, so the precise holding-period and qualifying-use tests are flagged in NEEDS_VERIFICATION. The headline treatment -- ordinary, no general preference -- is confirmed structurally by Colorado's use of federal taxable income as its starting point.
What your state actually takes from a 401(k) withdrawal, a pension, and Social Security — in dollars, not a yes/no list.
2026 limits, employer match, the 60-63 super catch-up, and whether the Roth catch-up mandate applies to you.
When your RMDs start under SECURE 2.0, how much this year's is, and what missing it costs.
What retiring actually costs across all fifty states in 2026 — the three lines that decide it, why ranking states by income tax gets the answer wrong, the federal rules that follow you everywhere, and the decisions that are worth real money before you move.
Colorado charges $2,416 in state income tax on a typical retirement income, $2,871 in property tax on its median home and $3,312 in insurance — $8,599 together, which is 33rd of 50.
What moving actually saves, on your own income mix rather than a headline rate — and how to establish domicile so the state you left cannot follow you.
Which account to draw first, priced. The three cliffs a withdrawal can cross without warning, the conversion window almost nobody uses, and why the order is the last big decision you can still change.