What a taxable index-fund account is actually worth after expense-ratio drag and after Montana takes its share of the gain — which, in most states, is not at the federal preferential rate.
Montana is one of the minority of states that charges long-term gains at a lower rate than ordinary income. MONTANA IS ONE OF THE FEW STATES WITH A GENUINE PREFERENTIAL LONG-TERM CAPITAL GAINS RATE, and it is two-tier: 3.0% and 4.1% under MCA 15-30-2103(2), with thresholds identical to the ordinary brackets. THE RATE RECORDED HERE IS THE HIGHER TIER, DELIBERATELY. This schema carries one preferential rate, and the two tiers share a single stack with ordinary income sitting at the bottom — so the 3.0% band is available only to the extent ordinary income has not already consumed the bracket, and vanishes entirely once ordinary income exceeds the threshold. Recording 3.0% would understate the tax for most filers with meaningful ordinary income; 4.1% overstates it for filers with little. Treat a Montana capital-gains figure from this calculator as an upper bound. SHORT-TERM GAINS GET NO PREFERENCE and neither do QUALIFIED DIVIDENDS — Publication 1 defines Montana Ordinary Income as all taxable income that is not a net long-term capital gain 'and includes qualified dividends', a notable divergence from federal treatment. The old 2% capital gains CREDIT was repealed by SB 399 of 2021 and replaced by these rates.
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.