What a taxable index-fund account is actually worth after expense-ratio drag and after Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island'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 graduated rates above, up to 5.99%. Rhode Island taxable income begins from federal AGI as modified, which already includes net capital gain, and the current statute provides no preferential rate, no holding-period discount, and no general exclusion — the federal preferential long-term rate does NOT carry over. THIS WAS TREATED AS A LIVE QUESTION rather than assumed: Rhode Island did once operate a separate, lower capital gains rate schedule keyed to holding period, and that regime was repealed in the 2010 income tax restructuring that produced the current three-bracket uniform schedule. A source describing a Rhode Island capital gains preference is describing the pre-2011 law. One consequence worth stating: a large realized gain can push a retiree's federal AGI above the $107,000 / $133,750 retirement modification limits, costing them the Social Security and pension exclusions for that year — so in Rhode Island the cost of a gain is not only the tax on the gain.
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.
Rhode Island charges $0 in state income tax on a typical retirement income, $6,247 in property tax on its median home and $2,650 in insurance — $8,897 together, which is 35th 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.