From Savvy Saver to Smart Spender: How to Pick a Tax-Wise Retirement Withdrawal Strategy

Book Synopsis: UPDATED FOR 2023! Including calculations based on new 2023 tax brackets and RMD distributions based on new SECURE 2.0 ACT RMD age requirements!You may have spent years saving for retirement—but have you thought of the best way to use the money you saved? How you withdraw from your IRA, 401(k), and other accounts can have a major impact on how much you will pay in federal income taxes during retirement. Topics include:

• Conventional wisdom—waiting to use “tax deferred” 401k and IRA accounts until Required Minimum Distributions begin – can lead to paying more taxes than you need to.
• One simple change to your retirement withdrawal strategy can save thousands of dollars in federal income taxes over your retirement years.
• You can implement the change without new investments, purchases or fees—just use your existing accounts.
• Evaluate whether you can save in taxes by using an online Retirement Tax Saver tool.
• Use the Retirement Tax Saver tool to pick your winning withdrawal strategy and estimate how much you could save over the course of your retirement years.
• If you are at least 59 1/2 years old, you can and should implement a withdrawal strategy now to take full advantage of the strategy before 2026 when the current tax cuts expire.
• Design a strategy that takes into account your tax deferred and other assets, your Social Security benefits, and other sources of income. (Yes, Social Security can be subject to federal and even state income taxes!)
• Find out which states tax Social Security—and how a withdrawal strategy could save you even more if you live in a state with income taxes.
• If you are in your 50s or 60s, either retired or nearing retirement, married or single, and have at least a few hundred thousand dollars in tax-deferred and other accounts you will use in retirement, you are in the “sweet spot” for getting the maximum benefit from the strategy described in the book.

When I prepared for semi-retirement, I could not find information to guide me on how to withdraw from retirement accounts tax-efficiently. I decided to create the Retirement Tax Saver tool to determine the most tax-efficient way to withdraw in retirement. I thought the information I learned from the tool was important to share with others so I wrote the book, From Savvy Saver to Smart Spender: How to Pick a Tax-Wise Retirement Withdrawal Strategy and made the Retirement Tax Saver tool available online.

About 80 percent of retirees wait to use tax-deferred accounts such as 401(k) and IRA accounts until they “have” to withdraw from them at their RMD Age (between 72 and 75 years old for most people). That “Conventional” approach, however, can wind up costing a lot more in taxes in the years after you reach your RMD age. This book shows you a better way that takes advantage of lower tax rates before you reach your RMD age.

By reading this book and using the Retirement Tax Saver tool, you can learn how to Implement a simple withdrawal strategy for retirement that could save you thousands, or even tens of thousands, of dollars in taxes.