Retiring in Tennessee

Every figure below is sourced to Tennessee’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.

Tennessee at a glance

Tennessee has no state income tax, so none of your retirement income — 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, pensions, or Social Security — is taxed at the state level. Federal tax is a separate matter these pages do not model.

  • THE ONE PIECE OF HISTORY THAT STILL MATTERS: Tennessee is not a state that never had an income tax. It had the Hall income tax on interest and dividend income, which was phased down and then repealed for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2021. Material written before 2021 that describes Tennessee as taxing investment income at 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, 2% or 1% is describing the Hall tax and its statutory phase-down, none of which is in force.
  • Because the Hall tax reached only interest and dividends, its repeal changed nothing for wage earners or for retirees living on Social Security and pension distributions; it mattered chiefly to investors holding dividend-paying stocks and interest-bearing accounts.
  • The Department of Revenue instructs that no Hall income tax return should be filed for any tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2021.