Been doing some research on retirement planning and stumbled onto something pretty useful - turns out there are actually 13 states where you won't pay state taxes on your retirement income. Thought I'd share what I found.

So here's the thing about states that do not tax your pension: nine of them don't have state income tax at all. We're talking Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. If you move to any of these, you're basically golden on the retirement income front.

Then there are four more states that specifically carved out tax breaks for retirees even though they do have income tax: Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania. These states won't tax your Social Security, 401(k) withdrawals, IRAs, or pension payments. Pretty solid deal if you're in one of those.

One heads up though - Washington technically doesn't tax most retirement benefits, but they do have a capital gains tax. And if you're in Mississippi or Pennsylvania, watch out for early withdrawal penalties on retirement accounts.

Now, if you're not in one of the lucky 13 states that don't tax your pension, don't panic. A ton of other states at least exempt Social Security from taxation - we're talking 28+ states including Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, and others. Alabama goes even further and also excludes pension income from defined benefit plans.

Here's the kicker though: you can't completely escape Uncle Sam. Federal income taxes are coming regardless of where you live. Social Security benefits have federal tax implications depending on your combined income. If you're filing as an individual and your combined income is under $25,000, none of your Social Security gets taxed federally. Between $25,000 and $34,000, up to 50% becomes taxable. Over $34,000 and you could owe taxes on up to 85% of your benefits.

Married couples filing jointly get slightly better thresholds - $32,000 and $44,000 - but the same 50% to 85% taxation applies at the higher income levels.

There's been talk about changing federal policy too. During the last presidential cycle, there were pledges to potentially eliminate federal income taxes on Social Security entirely, so that landscape might shift.

Bottom line: if you're planning your retirement and thinking about where to live, states that do not tax your pension could save you serious money. Even if you're not moving to one of the 13 states with no pension taxation, understanding which states exempt Social Security and other retirement income is worth factoring into your decision. The tax savings could be substantial over a decade or two of retirement.