What a taxable index-fund account is actually worth after expense-ratio drag and after Texas takes its share of the gain — which, in most states, is not at the federal preferential rate.
Your gain is untouched by Texas. Only federal tax applies. No Texas tax on capital gains, and as of November 4, 2025 a constitutional prohibition on ever imposing one. Article VIII, Section 24-b provides that the legislature may not impose a tax on the realized OR UNREALIZED capital gains of an individual, family, estate, or trust, including a tax on the sale or transfer of a capital asset payable by the seller or transferor. Subsection (b) preserves ad valorem property tax, sales tax, and use tax, so the prohibition is aimed squarely at a gains levy rather than at transaction taxes generally. THIS IS THE EXACT MIRROR OF WASHINGTON: both states have no general income tax, and where Washington enacted a standalone capital gains excise, Texas constitutionally foreclosed one -- including, unusually, the excise-tax framing Washington used to survive its own constitutional challenge.
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.
What retiring actually costs across all fifty states in 2026 — the three lines that decide it, why ranking states by income tax gets the answer wrong, the federal rules that follow you everywhere, and the decisions that are worth real money before you move.
Texas charges nothing on retirement income, and the constitution has forbidden an income tax since 2019. Then property tax runs 1.4% and insurance averages $4,915 — and the combined bill lands Texas 37th of 50, behind most states that do tax income.
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.