See your own Tax Avalanche
Most people spend forty years being told to defer their taxes. Almost no one is shown what happens when “later” finally arrives. Put in a few rough numbers and see what the government has lined up for you.
KJ Financial is a compliance-first firm. All educational content on this page reflects current law and research as of 2026 and is subject to change. Kurt H. Jackson is Life and Health Insurance Licensed in MO, NE, KS, IA, and FL, and is not a securities broker, registered investment advisor, or CPA. Nothing on this page constitutes personalized tax, legal, or investment advice. Any figures shown are illustrative estimates only and are not a guarantee of future results. Guaranteed income strategies involve real costs and require careful planning based on your individual circumstances.
Also worth checking: The Tax Avalanche shows what forced withdrawals do to your bracket, but there is a second hidden tax that hits your Social Security check directly. Every IRA withdrawal can drag part of your benefit into the tax with it. See whether it is aimed at you.
See my Social Security tax torpedo →Sources
- IRS, Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distribution FAQs. The IRS page setting out when withdrawals from a traditional IRA or workplace plan must begin, and the ten-year rule for an inherited account when the owner died after December 31, 2019.
- Social Security Administration, Must I pay taxes on Social Security benefits?. Social Security’s own statement that up to 85% of benefits are taxable once combined income exceeds $25,000 filing individually or $32,000 filing jointly, and that combined income means adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest plus half of the benefit.
- Social Security Administration, Research Note #12: Taxation of Social Security Benefits. The agency history of the tax, stating that the 1983 Amendments made benefits taxable beginning in 1984, that the thresholds in the 1983 law were intentionally not indexed, that about 10% of beneficiaries had tax liability when the law was enacted, and that the law was first amended in 1993.
- Social Security Administration, Research Summary: Income Taxes on Social Security Benefits. Social Security’s research office, reporting that the proportion of beneficiary families whose benefits are taxed has risen from less than one in 10 to more than half, and projecting an annual average of about 56 percent of beneficiary families owing tax on their benefits from 2015 through 2050.
- Social Security Administration, Medicare premiums: rules for higher-income beneficiaries. Social Security’s explanation of the income-related monthly adjustment amount, which applies to both Part B and prescription drug coverage, is charged to each beneficiary, and is based on modified adjusted gross income from the most recent federal tax return the IRS provides.
- Social Security Administration, POMS RS 00615.020, Dual Entitlement Overview. Social Security’s own operations manual, stating that a person’s benefit amount can never exceed the highest single benefit to which that person is entitled, which is why a surviving spouse keeps the larger check and loses the smaller one.
- IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, inflation adjustments for tax year 2026. The official 2026 rate tables and standard deductions, showing the single brackets running to $12,400, $50,400 and $105,700 against $24,800, $100,800 and $211,400 for a couple, and a single standard deduction of $16,100 against $32,200.
- Illustrative guaranteed-income figures are current carrier estimates, are hypothetical, and depend on your age, your contract, and the carrier at the time of purchase.
Every figure on this page was read against the source listed above it on August 30, 2026.