Mainstreet Financial Education · Tax Year 2026
Ranked for the typical retiree by how many people can use each rule, the dollars it can save, and whether it calls for action this year.
Each of these is a real provision in the 2026 code. Whether any one helps you depends on your income, your accounts, and your timing, which is exactly where planning earns its keep.
Long-term gains are taxed at 0% on taxable income up to $49,450 single or $98,900 married filing jointly in 2026. In a low-income year, gains can be realized tax-free.
A taxable asset's cost basis resets to market value when its owner dies, wiping out a lifetime of unrealized gains for heirs. Note that IRAs and 401(k)s do not get a step-up.
Exclude up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000 married) on a primary residence you owned and lived in for two of the last five years.
An extra $6,000 deduction per person at age 65+, for tax years 2025 through 2028. It phases out above $75K single / $150K married MAGI, and disappears entirely above $175K / $250K.
No lifetime RMDs for the original owner, and qualified withdrawals are tax-free. Heirs still face distribution rules on inherited Roths.
From age 70½, send up to $111,000 (2026) from an IRA straight to charity. It counts toward your RMD and never touches your AGI.
Deductible going in, tax-free growth, and tax-free out for qualified medical costs. New contributions end once you enroll in Medicare.
These breaks interact. Gains taxed at 0% still raise your AGI, so harvesting too much in one year can make more of your Social Security taxable or trigger an IRMAA Medicare surcharge two years later. The savings are real, but the sequencing is where they are won or lost.
Knowing the breaks is step one. Sequencing them is the plan.
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