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.
The easiest way to borrow from your 401(k) without owing any taxes is to roll over the funds into a new retirement account. You may do this when, for instance, you leave a job and are moving funds from your former employer's 401(k) plan into one sponsored by your new employer.
Once you reach 59½, you can take distributions from your 401(k) plan without being subject to the 10% penalty. However, that doesn't mean there are no consequences. All withdrawals from your 401(k), even those taken after age 59½, are subject to ordinary income taxes.
If you withdraw money from your 401(k) before you're 59 ½, the IRS usually assesses a 10% tax as an early distribution penalty. That could mean giving the government $1,000, or 10% of a $10,000 withdrawal, in addition to paying ordinary income tax on that money.
Do you pay taxes twice on 401(k) withdrawals? We see this question on occasion and understand why it may seem this way. But, no, you don't pay taxes twice on 401(k) withdrawals. With the 20% withholding on your distribution, you're essentially paying part of your taxes upfront.
Unfortunately, yes, there are taxes associated with 401(k) withdrawals. Regardless of whether you are under 59.5 or over 59.5, there is a mandatory 20% withholding on distributions. If withdrawing before the age of 59.5, you may also pay a 10% early withdrawal penalty at tax time.
The Bottom Line. Withdrawals from 401(k)s are considered income and are generally subject to income tax because contributions and growth were tax-deferred, rather than tax-free.
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.
States That Don't Tax Retirement Income
Those eight – Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming – don't tax wages, salaries, dividends, interest or any sort of income.
When you take a qualified distribution from a 401(k) after the age of 59 1/2, you are taxed at your ordinary income tax rate unless you have a Roth 401(k), which is funded post-tax but allows for tax-free withdrawals.
Income from a 401(k) does not affect the amount of your Social Security benefits, but it can boost your annual income to a point where those benefits will be taxed.
Not all employers allow you to take money out of your 401(k) plan while you're still employed. Check with your 401(k) plan administrator or provider to see what's possible. Generally, you'll be able to take a 401(k) loan, hardship withdrawal or in-service distribution.
Because the taxable amount is on the 1099-R, you can't just leave your cashed-out 401(k) proceeds off your tax return. The IRS will know and you will trigger an audit or other IRS scrutiny if you don't include it. However, there are a couple things you can do.
While you may have heard at some point that Social Security is no longer taxable after 70 or some other age, this isn't the case. In reality, Social Security is taxed at any age if your income exceeds a certain level.
At the very least, you'll pay federal income tax on the amount you withdraw each year. Retirees who live in states that have additional income taxes, such as California and Minnesota, will have to pay that as well. (Some states are more tax-friendly to retirees.)
A withdrawal you make from a 401(k) after you retire is officially known as a distribution. While you've deferred taxes until now, these distributions are now taxed as regular income. That means you will pay the regular income tax rates on your distributions. You pay taxes only on the money you withdraw.
Cash flow management: Making monthly withdrawals allows you to treat this as a regular income. Many retirees prefer this style of cash flow over a lump sum format, as it helps with personal finance and budgeting. This is often the biggest advantage to making monthly or quarterly withdrawals.
In general, Roth 401(k) withdrawals are not taxable provided the account was opened at least five years ago and the account owner is age 59½ or older.
The administrator will likely require you to provide evidence of the hardship, such as medical bills or a notice of eviction.
Is there really a $16728 Social Security bonus? The flagship welfare programme in the US has rigid and specific rules for how much one's monthly check will be; there are no extra bonuses to receive. There is no such thing as an “annual bonus” of $16,728″ for Social Security.
There is a good reason, however, to consider relying on 401(k) withdrawals for as long as possible before taking Social Security retirement benefits. Delaying benefits longer can result in a higher benefit amount.
“Roth” refers to contributions you've elected to make to your TSP account with pay that's already been taxed. You do not pay income tax on the portion of your withdrawals that comes from your Roth contributions.
You can do a 401(k) withdrawal while you're still employed at the company that sponsors your 401(k), but you can only cash out your 401(k) from previous employers.
So if you're trying to claim a loss on your 401(k), you must close all of your 401(k)s. Then you total your nondeductible contributions and the current value of the accounts, and you can write off the difference if the current value of the accounts is lower.
If you have more than $5,000 in your account, your former employer can only force you to cash out or roll over into another account with your permission. Your funds can usually remain in the account indefinitely.