Retirement with no depenent

[Romoa24]

I retired this year with no dependents or no deductions to claim, I am paying a portion of my medical until I reach age 65,  what can I do to ensure that I don’t pay taxes at the end of the year I currently claim zero for federal and state and only receive my monthly pension check.  My fear is since I don’t have any dependents I may end up having to pay 6000 or more at the end of the year.  Thank you

[KrisB-EA]

Hi Romoa24!

You're doing a great job thinking this through in advance! 

Here are a couple of resources that can help you predict what your tax outcome will be, and how to make adjustments if necessary: 

TurboTax TaxCaster (2020) 

IRS Tax withholding estimator (2021) 

If you find that you need to have tax withheld from your pension, and the administrator of the plan isn't able to do the withholding, you can make estimated quarterly payments directly to the IRS, using the forms shown on page 11 here:

IRS Estimated payment forms 

Also, if you live in a state that collects income tax and none is withheld from your pension, you might want to look on your state's tax website for instructions on how to withhold state tax, if necessary.