What a taxable index-fund account is actually worth after expense-ratio drag and after Maryland 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 Maryland's normal income brackets, exactly like wages. This is the common case, and it surprises people who assume the federal 15% carries over. READ THIS BEFORE MODELLING MARYLAND CAPITAL GAINS: 'ordinary' is correct but incomplete, and the schema has no field for the part that is missing. Long-term capital gains are taxed at Maryland's ordinary graduated rates plus the county rate, with no preferential rate and no general exclusion. ON TOP OF THAT, the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2025 imposes an ADDITIONAL 2 PERCENT TAX on net capital gains for individuals with FEDERAL adjusted gross income over $350,000, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2024. It is a surtax on the gain, triggered by a federal-AGI test, and it is not represented anywhere in the structured fields above - a calculator that reads only 'kind: ordinary' will understate a high-income Maryland gain by two full points. THE SURTAX HAS REAL EXCEPTIONS, and they are not marginal: it does not apply to gain from the sale or exchange of a primary residential dwelling sold for less than $1.5 million; to assets held in specified retirement savings plans; to cattle, horses or breeding livestock held more than 12 months; to certain land subject to a conservation, agricultural or forest preservation easement; to IRC section 179 eligible property; or to affordable housing owned by a non-profit entity. The $350,000 trigger is measured on FEDERAL AGI, not Maryland taxable income, so it is not comparable to the bracket thresholds in this record.
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.