What a taxable index-fund account is actually worth after expense-ratio drag and after Mississippi 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 Mississippi's normal income brackets, exactly like wages. This is the common case, and it surprises people who assume the federal 15% carries over. No preferential rate. The instruction booklet states it directly: 'Mississippi generally follows IRS rules concerning computation of capital gains and losses ... However, Mississippi does not have different tax rates for capital gains. All income is taxed at the same rate.' Capital losses follow federal rules and are limited to $3,000 per year. ONE NARROW STATUTORY EXCLUSION EXISTS AND IS NOT A GENERAL PREFERENCE: Miss. Code Ann. 27-7-9(f)(10) recognises no gain on the sale of authorised shares in financial institutions domiciled in Mississippi, or of stock in domestic corporations and interests in domestic limited partnerships and limited liability companies, held more than one year — with any excluded gain first reduced by losses from comparable transactions in the year of the gain or within the two years before or after. That is a closely-held-business provision and reaches no publicly traded stock, mutual fund, real estate or crypto.
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.