Just realized something interesting about retirement taxes that most people probably don't know. Turns out there are actually 13 states where you don't pay state income tax on retirement income at all. Like, zero taxes on Social Security, 401(k) withdrawals, IRAs, pensions - nothing.

The list is Alaska, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. Pretty wild when you think about it. Nine of those states don't even have state income tax in general, so that makes sense. But the other four - Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, Pennsylvania - specifically carved out tax breaks for retirees even though they do tax regular income.

There's a catch though. Washington taxes capital gains even though it doesn't tax most retirement stuff. And Mississippi and Pennsylvania will still hit you with taxes if you take early distributions from retirement accounts before you're supposed to.

If you're not in one of those 13 states, don't worry too much. Tons of other states at least don't tax Social Security benefits specifically. Alabama's pretty solid too - they skip Social Security taxes plus pension income from defined benefit plans.

The federal government still gets their cut though. How much of your Social Security gets taxed federally depends on your total income. If you're single and make under $25k combined income, none of it's taxable. Between $25k-$34k, up to 50% could be taxed. Over $34k, up to 85% could be hit. For married couples filing jointly it's $32k and $44k thresholds.

I've heard Trump was talking about eliminating federal taxes on Social Security entirely during his campaign, so that could change things. But for now, if you're planning retirement and taxes are a concern, knowing which states don't tax retirement income is definitely worth factoring in. Pretty useful info to have.