What a taxable index-fund account is actually worth after expense-ratio drag and after Delaware 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 Delaware'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 2.2%-6.6% schedule, with no preferential rate and no exclusion percentage. Delaware begins from federal adjusted gross income and carries the federal capital gain or loss through on its own line of the return without any capital-gains-specific relief. ONE INDIRECT BREAK WORTH NAMING, BECAUSE IT IS AGE-GATED AND EASY TO MISS: for a filer aged 60 or over, capital gains net of capital losses count as 'eligible retirement income' inside the $12,500 pension exclusion calculation, so gains can absorb exclusion room left unused by a small pension. That is an exclusion of income against a shared cap, not a rate preference, and it is unavailable under age 60. Separately, Delaware requires estimated tax payments on real estate capital gains realised by non-residents, which is a collection mechanism rather than a different rate.
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.
A required minimum distribution is ordinary income, taxed at your top bracket and often pushing you into the next one. Here is the federal tax on RMDs from $20,000 to $75,000 at different income levels, why the default 10% withholding usually leaves a bill, how to avoid an underpayment penalty, and the three side effects that make the real rate higher than the bracket.
The required minimum distribution on every common balance at every age from 73 to 95, worked from the IRS table, plus what happens to the account over twenty years of withdrawals at 0%, 5% and 7% returns. The short version: the share you must take rises every year, and at good returns the dollar amount keeps rising with it.
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.