Retiring in Alaska

Every figure below is sourced to Alaska’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.

Alaska at a glance

Alaska 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.

  • Alaska has levied no individual income tax since 1980, when the legislature repealed it as North Slope oil revenue came online -- the only US state ever to repeal a personal income tax it had actually enacted.
  • Every category of retirement income is therefore untaxed at the state level without condition: no age gate, no income threshold, no dollar cap, and no distinction between private, public and military sources.
  • THE PERMANENT FUND DIVIDEND IS THE ONE THING ALASKANS GET WRONG IN THE OTHER DIRECTION: the PFD is FEDERALLY TAXABLE and must be reported on the federal return. Alaska does not tax it, but the IRS does, and the Permanent Fund Dividend Division issues federal reporting information annually.
  • Alaska has no statewide sales tax either, but around 100 local governments levy their own -- a real cost of living that is not an income tax and is not modelled here.