What a taxable index-fund account is actually worth after expense-ratio drag and after North Dakota 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 North Dakota's normal income brackets, exactly like wages. This is the common case, and it surprises people who assume the federal 15% carries over. STILL IN FORCE IN 2026, and this was checked rather than assumed, because several states have quietly repealed comparable breaks. North Dakota allows a subtraction of 40 PERCENT of net long-term capital gain from North Dakota taxable income, claimed on Form ND-1 line 6 via a worksheet in the instruction booklet whose final step is 'Multiply line 7 by 40% (.40).' kind is recorded as 'ordinary' rather than 'excluded' because the remaining 60% is taxed at the ordinary graduated rates — there is no separate capital gains rate — and exclusionPct carries the discount. FOUR CONDITIONS: the gain must be LONG-TERM (a capital gain distribution from a mutual fund counts); a full-year nonresident or part-year resident may exclude only gain reportable to North Dakota; gain included in Native American exempt income or in other subtractions already claimed is not eligible for the exclusion a second time; and the worksheet starts from Schedule D line 15, so if that line is zero or less no exclusion is allowed at all. SEPARATELY, and often confused with this: North Dakota also excludes 40 percent of QUALIFIED DIVIDENDS on line 13. That is a different subtraction on a different line and is not part of exclusionPct.
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.
North Dakota charges $0 in state income tax on a typical retirement income, $2,888 in property tax on its median home and $3,510 in insurance — $6,398 together, which is 16th 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.