What Mississippi actually takes from a 401(k) withdrawal, a pension, and Social Security — in dollars, against the state’s own brackets and exclusions rather than a yes-or-no list.
Long-term index-fund growth after expense-ratio drag — and what your state takes from the gains at withdrawal.
When your RMDs start under SECURE 2.0, how much this year's is, and what missing it costs.
2026 limits, employer match, the 60-63 super catch-up, and whether the Roth catch-up mandate applies to you.
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.
Mississippi guide
On the ordinary retirement profile — $34,000 of Social Security and $61,000 of plan distributions — Mississippi takes $0 a year in state income tax.
That is the number people compare, and it is the smallest of three. Property tax adds about $1,852 on the state's $284,900 median home, and insurance another $4,445. The three together come to $6,297, placing Mississippi 13th of 50.
A note before you start. This is general education, not tax advice. Every Mississippi figure comes from this site's own fifty-state income-tax dataset and its retirement tax engine, computed for a single filer aged 70 unless stated otherwise; property tax, median home price and insurance figures come from the site's core state dataset. Rates are for tax year 2026. Property tax is assessed locally in most states, so the effective rate here is a statewide figure rather than your county's.
On Social Security. Fully exempt under Miss. Code Ann. 27-7-15(4)(k), which excludes amounts paid under the federal Social Security Act along with Railroad Retirement and federal Civil Service. The Department's FAQ answers the question directly: 'No. Mississippi does not tax benefits received from U.S. Social Security, Railroad Retirement Public Welfare assistance, Veterans Administration payments or workers compensation.'
On 401(k) and IRA distributions. Exempt, but only once the plan's retirement requirements are met — this condition is the whole story and most summaries flatten it. The Department states: 'Generally, retirement income, pensions and annuities are not subject to Mississippi Income tax if the recipient has met the retirement plan requirements. Early distributions are not considered retirement income and may be subject to tax.' The instruction booklet is sharper: 'Pensions and annuities that are taxable as early or excess distributions under the Federal Internal Revenue Code (see Federal Form 5329) do not qualify for exemption from Mississippi income tax.' Mississippi never states an age. It piggybacks the federal determination, so the right test is 'is this an early distribution on federal Form 5329?', not 'is the taxpayer 59 and a half?' — which means every federal section 72(t) exception (age-55 separation, substantially equal periodic payments, death, disability, a QDRO) also makes the distribution exempt in Mississippi. There is no Mississippi early-withdrawal penalty; an early distribution is simply ordinary Mississippi income. Also taxable regardless of age: separation pay, and investment income from stocks, bonds or property, which is never 'retirement allowance' income.
Read the full Mississippi guide →19 min read · Updated 2026-09-03