Retiring in Louisiana

Every figure below is sourced to Louisiana’s own publications and dated. Estimates only, and not tax advice.

Retirement tax by state

What your state actually takes from a 401(k) withdrawal, a pension, and Social Security — in dollars, not a yes/no list.

Brokerage account growth

Long-term index-fund growth after expense-ratio drag — and what your state takes from the gains at withdrawal.

Roth vs. Traditional

Decided on the two rates that actually govern it — yours now, and yours at withdrawal, in the state you'll retire in rather than the one you're in.

Contribution limit optimizer

2026 limits, employer match, the 60-63 super catch-up, and whether the Roth catch-up mandate applies to you.

Required minimum distribution

When your RMDs start under SECURE 2.0, how much this year's is, and what missing it costs.

Backdoor Roth pro-rata

What a backdoor Roth conversion would actually cost you in tax — the pro-rata rule most calculators only describe.

Self-directed IRA real estate (UDFI)

The tax a leveraged rental owes inside a self-directed IRA — computed at trust rates, not the rate you'd assume.

Louisiana at a glance

401(k) and IRA withdrawals
Partly excluded
From age 65.
Social Security
Not taxed
Top marginal rate
3%
A flat rate on all taxable income.
Tax year
2026
Brackets are legislated and change on a fixed calendar, so the year matters.
  • Louisiana is one of the most generous states in this dataset for a career public-sector, federal or military retiree and merely average for a private-sector one. A LASERS, TRSL, local-system, federal or military pension is untaxed at any age; a 401(k) is taxed at 3% above a $12,000 allowance that does not start until 65.
  • The ORDER of Louisiana retirement income matters: because the fully-exempt categories are removed before the $12,000 cap is applied, a retiree with both a state pension and a 401(k) keeps the full $12,000 allowance for the 401(k) rather than having it absorbed by the pension.
  • Louisiana repealed its additional exemptions for dependents, blind persons and taxpayers over 65 in the same act that created the flat rate and the large standard deduction. A retiree comparing Louisiana against its former structure is comparing two genuinely different systems, not a rate change.