Other income—such as qualified withdrawals from a Roth IRA, a Roth 401(k), or a health savings account (HSA)—are not subject to federal income taxation and do not factor into how your Social Security benefit is taxed.
When we figure out how much to deduct from your benefits, we count only the wages you make from your job or your net profit if you're self-employed. We include bonuses, commissions, and vacation pay.
Is a 401(K) Withdrawal Considered Earned Income or Capital Gains? Traditional 401(k) withdrawals are considered income (regardless of your age). However, you won't pay capital gains taxes on these funds.
Again, it's important to remember that your 401(k) plan is an entirely separate thing from Social Security. Your 401(k) is offered by your employer while Social Security comes from the government. So making contributions to a 401(k) will not reduce your Social Security benefits in any way.
Income from a 401(k) doesn't affect the amount of your Social Security benefits, but it can boost your annual income to a point where those benefits will be taxed.
As a general rule, if you withdraw funds before age 59 ½, you'll trigger an IRS tax penalty of 10%. The good news is that there's a way to take your distributions a few years early without incurring this penalty. This is known as the rule of 55.
Many Americans don't realize they can increase Social Security monthly payments by adopting a "bridge" strategy. Leveraging funds in a 401(k) in early retirement to delay taking Social Security benefits may increase your monthly payment by hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Deferring Social Security payments, rolling over old 401(k)s, setting up IRAs to avoid the mandatory 20% federal income tax, and keeping your capital gains taxes low are among the best strategies for reducing taxes on your 401(k) withdrawal.
You may not be rich, but your 401(k) and regular IRA withdrawals become taxable income, and you may look rich to Medicare. If you take out too much tax-deferred money, it can cause your Medicare monthly premiums to go up. This is called IRMAA (income related monthly adjustment amount).
For the earnings limits, we don't count income such as other government benefits, investment earnings, interest, pensions, annuities, and capital gains.
Your benefit might be reduced if you get a pension from a government employer who wasn't required to withhold Social Security taxes. This reduction is called the “Government Pension Offset” (GPO).
Have you heard about the Social Security $16,728 yearly bonus? There's really no “bonus” that retirees can collect. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a specific formula based on your lifetime earnings to determine your benefit amount.
There isn't a separate 401(k) withdrawal tax. Any money you withdraw from your 401(k) is considered income and will be taxed as such, alongside other sources of taxable income you may receive. As with any taxable income, the rate you pay depends on the amount of total taxable income you receive that year.
What Income Is Included in Your Social Security Record? (En español) Only earned income, your wages, or net income from self-employment is covered by Social Security. If money was withheld from your wages for Social Security or FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act), your wages are covered by Social Security.
Borrowing from your 401(k) may be the best option, although it does carry some risk. Alternatively, consider the Rule of 55 as another way to withdraw money from your 401(k) without the tax penalty.
Once you start withdrawing from your traditional 401(k), your withdrawals are usually taxed as ordinary taxable income. That said, you'll report the taxable part of your distribution directly on your Form 1040 for any tax year that you make a distribution.
Since Jan. 1, 2024, however, a new IRS rule allows retirement plan owners to withdraw up to $1,000 for unspecified personal or family emergency expenses, penalty-free, if their plan allows.
Dipping into a 401(k) or 403(b) before age 59 ½ usually results in a 10% penalty. For example, taking out $20,000 will cost you $2000.
Social Security does not count pension payments, annuities, or the interest or dividends from your savings and investments as earnings. They do not lower your Social Security retirement benefits.
Key Takeaways
Withdrawals from your 401(k) before age 55 will typically be subject to a 10% penalty, in addition to income taxes. You can cash out your 401(k) plan at age 62, but you may want to consider withdrawing gradually from your 401(k) so as to never pay more than a specified amount of tax in any given year.
While you can start as early as age 62, waiting a few years or until you reach your full retirement age can substantially increase the amount you receive over your lifetime. See "Find your full retirement age" below.
The $1,000 per month rule is designed to help you estimate the amount of savings required to generate a steady monthly income during retirement. According to this rule, for every $240,000 you save, you can withdraw $1,000 per month if you stick to a 5% annual withdrawal rate.
Mistake #1: Not Starting Your RMD on Time
The rules for RMD starting ages have undergone changes in recent years, leading to confusion among many individuals. In the past, the starting age for RMDs was 70½. However, as of 2023, the starting age stands at 73 and is set to increase to 75 in the future.
One of the easiest ways to lower the amount of taxes you have to pay on 401(k) withdrawals is to convert to a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k). Withdrawals from Roth accounts are not taxed. Some methods allow you to save on taxes but also require you to take out more from your 401(k) than you actually need.