What a taxable index-fund account is actually worth after expense-ratio drag and after California takes its share of the gain — which, in most states, is not at the federal preferential rate.
There is no state equivalent of the federal preferential rate here — a long-term gain is charged at California's normal income brackets, exactly like wages. This is the common case, and it surprises people who assume the federal 15% carries over. Long-term capital gains are taxed as ordinary income at the full 1%-12.3% schedule, with no preferential rate, no exclusion, and no holding-period benefit. The 2025 Instructions for Schedule CA (540) say so in as many words on the capital gain line: California taxes long and short term capital gains as regular income, and no special rate for long term capital gains exists. Adjustments on that line arise only where California and federal BASIS differ. Combined with the 1% Behavioral Health Services Tax described in the brackets source, the top marginal rate on a long-term gain for a California resident is 13.3% -- the highest state capital gains rate in the country, and a figure that surprises people who assume the preferential federal treatment carries over to the state return.
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.
California charges $1,853 in state income tax on a typical retirement income, $6,332 in property tax on its median home and $1,335 in insurance — $9,520 together, which is 36th of 50.
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.