ElizabethW2
Expert Alumni

Retirement tax questions

Good morning!

There are 2 issues when it comes to social security benefits.  If you have reached full retirement age (FRA) you can earn any amount and not have your benefits reduced.  Taking a distribution from retirement funds does not affect the amount of your benefits, ever.

 

Taxation is another story.  The total of all your other income determines whether or not your social security is taxable.  Below is a link that will give you the thresholds for each filing status.

 

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/irs-tax-return/a-guide-to-social-security-tax/L5QxGNcJL

 

Taking a distribution of that size from your 401k, regardless of your filing status, is going to cause some (up to 85%) of your social security benefits to be subject to tax on your return.

 

Elizabeth W

EA for 29 years