What if you could pull $100,000 from your portfolio this year to live on, but only $30,000 or $40,000 of it actually counted as taxable income? It sounds too good to be true, but for a lot of retirees, it's completely possible. In this episode, I break down a strategy called income stacking, how to pull from cash, brokerage, IRA, and Roth accounts in the right combination, and why paying $0 in taxes isn't always the smartest move.
Tune into this episode to find out:
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00:18) The $100,000 question: what if only $30–40K of it was actually taxable?
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00:42) Why retirement gives you control over how your paycheck—and your taxes—are built
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01:03) The #1 mistake: treating withdrawals as "one account at a time"
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02:18) Introducing income stacking and how it reframes your withdrawal strategy
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03:03) Why Social Security can be taxed anywhere from 0% to 85%
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03:36) A real example: building $100,000 of income from four different account types
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05:39) How the standard deduction makes your first IRA dollars tax-free
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06:21) The 0% long-term capital gains bracket (and how high it actually goes)
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08:48) Why paying $0 in taxes isn't always the goal
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09:36) The smarter target: filling up the right tax brackets on purpose
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11:39) How managing your IRA today can reduce tomorrow's Social Security taxes
Jacob Duke, CFP, MBA is the founder of Rivertree Wealth and the host of the Retirement Answers podcast.
DISCLAIMER: This should not be taken as tax, legal, or investment advice. All content is for educational purposes only.
What is Retirement Answers?
Retirement Answers is a podcast built to help you succeed in retirement. The thought of retirement can be overwhelming and downright scary for many... but it doesn't have to be!
The goal of this podcast is to provide thoughtful insights and strategies to give you the confidence you need to retire successfully. At the end of the day, my ultimate goal for my clients and podcast listeners is to live a fulfilling retirement.
Follow along as I publish a new episode each week covering everything from retirement income planning, tax planning, Social Security, insurance planning, investing, and much more.
Here's to learning everything you need to know to live out your dream retirement!