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nolesrule t1_j6msoam wrote

Since you already have to withdraw income from the inherited 401k, the question to ask is if the larger withdrawal will push you into a higher tax bracket. If so, then the extra added cost is the increase in tax rates on the added income. Keep in mind that adding $200k+ to your AGI will also push you into the Net Investment Income Tax if you are not already there (it kicks in at $200k single / $250k MFJ).

You would then compare that extra tax paid above your current marginal tax rate to the cost of the interest + closing costs related totaling out a mortgage. So for example if you are in the 22% bracket 10k below the top and the extra withdrawal pushed you into the 24% bracket, the extra tax cost would be 2% of 190k.

However, since you want the total tax cost to come from the withdrawal as well, you run into a bit of a problem, because taxes aren't flat, as noted above, so you can't use a recursive formula to figure it out.

My recommendation for getting these answers is just to run a pro-forma tax return using this year's tax software. Unless there is a major overhaul in tax law the results will be very similar to next years taxes, probably slightly high because there haven't been adjustments to the inflation-indexed numbers.

And don't forget state taxes if you have them.

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yes_its_him t1_j6mtpvb wrote

Just to clarify, NIIT applies to investment income, and retirement plan distributions are not considered investment income for this purpose. Other types of investment income could be affected though.

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Vivid_Fox617 OP t1_j6mthkx wrote

Net investment income tax doesn’t apply here I don’t think? Withdrawals from an inherited 401k are 1099R income

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nolesrule t1_j6mtx41 wrote

Not directly, but it applies to interest (including bank interest), dividends and and capital gains, so adding additional ordinary income can push any investment income into NIIT.

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