What a taxable index-fund account is actually worth after expense-ratio drag and after Georgia 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 Georgia'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 4.99% rate, with no preferential rate, no exclusion and no separate schedule. Confirmed structurally rather than by a statement: Georgia starts from federal adjusted gross income at Form 500 Line 8 and applies a single multiplication at Line 16 -- for 2025 'Tax (Multiply Line 15c by 5.19%)', for 2026 the same line at 4.99% -- and nothing in Form 500 or the IT-511 creates a capital-gains rate or subtraction. Capital gains appear in Georgia's return only as one category of UNEARNED income inside the retirement income exclusion worksheet, which is an age-gated exclusion available to those 62 and older, not a capital-gains preference. A 45-year-old Georgian pays the full flat rate on a long-term gain.
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.