Just realized something interesting about retirement taxes that most people probably don't think about until it's too late. Turns out 41 states don't tax Social Security benefits at all, which is actually pretty wild when you think about how much taxes hit you everywhere else.

So there's basically two groups here. If you're in one of those lucky 41 states without social security tax, you're already ahead. But if you live in Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, or West Virginia, yeah, you're gonna owe state taxes on those benefits. Though not everyone in those states pays it - depends on your income level. Like Connecticut won't tax you if you're single and making under 75k, or married filing jointly under 100k.

Here's the kicker though - even if you're in a states without social security tax situation, Uncle Sam still wants his cut. Federal taxes on Social Security are basically unavoidable unless you're making really low income. The feds tax up to 85% of your benefits depending on your combined income, which includes half your benefits plus everything else you make.

Nine of those 41 states actually don't tax any income at all - Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. That's the real move if you're planning ahead. And apparently Mississippi just passed something that could phase out their income tax by 2040, so that list might keep growing.

Trump supposedly wants to eliminate federal taxes on Social Security too, but honestly that probably won't happen because it would drain the trust funds way faster. Anyway, if you're getting close to retirement, might be worth checking what your specific state does instead of assuming you're gonna get taxed everywhere.