• Home
  • News
  • Personal Finance
    • Savings
    • Banking
    • Mortgage
    • Retirement
    • Taxes
    • Wealth
  • Make Money
  • Budgeting
  • Burrow
  • Investing
  • Credit Cards
  • Loans

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest finance news and updates directly to your inbox.

Top News

What the Fed’s first rate cut of the year means for your wallet

September 18, 2025

Mortgage rates fall again, refinances jump to highest level since 2022

September 18, 2025

How The Health Care System Can Better Support Family Caregivers

September 18, 2025
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • What the Fed’s first rate cut of the year means for your wallet
  • Mortgage rates fall again, refinances jump to highest level since 2022
  • How The Health Care System Can Better Support Family Caregivers
  • More Americans Now Read Food Labels. You Might Be Surprised What They Focus On.
  • Top 100 Companies for Hybrid Jobs in 2025
  • AI Is Quietly Writing Your Résumé — and One Tool Could Misrepresent Your Reputation if You Don’t Take Control
  • Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Is Fighting Against Bureaucracy
  • Zoom CEO: Best Tips for Running a Video Meeting
Thursday, September 18
Facebook Twitter Instagram
FintechoPro
Subscribe For Alerts
  • Home
  • News
  • Personal Finance
    • Savings
    • Banking
    • Mortgage
    • Retirement
    • Taxes
    • Wealth
  • Make Money
  • Budgeting
  • Burrow
  • Investing
  • Credit Cards
  • Loans
FintechoPro
Home » How Does California Tax Your Social Security Benefits?
Retirement

How Does California Tax Your Social Security Benefits?

News RoomBy News RoomMarch 21, 20250 Views0
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email Tumblr Telegram

If you want to retire in or to California, you may wonder how California will take your Social Security and other retirement benefits. There is some good news and some bad news here. The good news is that regardless of where you choose to retire in California, you will not owe state taxes on your Social Security benefits. However, California will still take a chunk of your other retirement income sources.

The ok news is that while California has a reputation as a high-tax state, you may or may not owe a high amount of taxes on other retirement income. How much you owe at the end of the day will depend on how much retirement income you have and how much proactive tax planning you (and your financial planner) have done to help you keep more of your hard-earned life savings.

California Does Not Tax Social Security Income

Great news for California retirees: the state does not tax Social Security retirement benefits. This means you could potentially live state-tax-free if you were retiring with just Social Security. Of course, most of California has quite a high cost of living, so retiring with Social Security as your sole source of income would be tough.

The maximum Social Security benefit in 2025 at age 70 is $5,108. A married couple might be able to double that if both spouses qualified for the maximum Social Security benefit and waited to claim until age 70. Doing so would put the couple in the 9.3% California tax bracket, assuming no other taxable income. Nontaxation of Social Security benefits would save them over $7,400 in 2025.

Taxes On Other Retirement Income In California

Your other retirement income (think pensions, IRA and 401(k)) withdrawals will be taxed like regular income. However, this income won’t be subject to payroll taxes that you may owe on your earned income. California tax brackets range from 1 to 13.3%.

While California has the highest marginal tax bracket at 13.3%, its progressive tax bracket may allow you to pay fewer taxes than other so-called lower-tax states. You will hit their highest tax bracket in many other states at much lower income levels than in California.

What Other California Taxes Could Hit My Retirement Income?

If you plan to generate some or all of your retirement income from a taxable investment account during retirement, you need to be aware of how California taxes capital gains. All capital gains in California, whether short-term or long-term, will be taxed as regular income at the state level in California.

Roth Conversions For California Retirees

Between how California taxes retirement income and capital gains, strategic Roth conversion can be an amazing way for California retirees to reduce their overall tax burden. This is often the case when considering your federal tax savings, but the benefits of tax-free retirement income via Roth conversion can be even more substantial for those looking to retire in California.

Your taxes owed will ultimately depend on your overall income, state of residence and what tax deductions you may be entitled to. Work with your tax planning-focused financial planner to help ensure you understand what your retirement income will look like after taxes are paid.

Read the full article here

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Articles

How The Health Care System Can Better Support Family Caregivers

Retirement September 18, 2025

Don’t Make This Medicare Advantage Mistake

Retirement September 17, 2025

Why Education Is A Lifelong Investment

Retirement September 16, 2025

Is America’s Retirement System Failing Future Retirees?

Retirement September 15, 2025

3 Ways I Am Practicing What I Am Preaching About Retirement

Retirement September 14, 2025

12 Critical Insights About Social Security’s Survivor Benefit

Retirement September 13, 2025
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Demo
Top News

Mortgage rates fall again, refinances jump to highest level since 2022

September 18, 20250 Views

How The Health Care System Can Better Support Family Caregivers

September 18, 20250 Views

More Americans Now Read Food Labels. You Might Be Surprised What They Focus On.

September 18, 20250 Views

Top 100 Companies for Hybrid Jobs in 2025

September 18, 20250 Views
Don't Miss

AI Is Quietly Writing Your Résumé — and One Tool Could Misrepresent Your Reputation if You Don’t Take Control

By News RoomSeptember 17, 2025

Entrepreneur In the crowded world of AI Assistive Engines, all the attention goes to ChatGPT,…

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Is Fighting Against Bureaucracy

September 17, 2025

Zoom CEO: Best Tips for Running a Video Meeting

September 17, 2025

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky Is ‘Unhappy’ With Airbnb’s Growth

September 17, 2025
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Dribbble
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Press Release
  • Advertise
  • Contact
© 2025 FintechoPro. All Rights Reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.