Kansas City, MO
Retirement Planning in Kansas City
Missouri just handed you a tax advantage almost no guidance mentions yet: since January 1, 2025, it subtracts 100% of your capital gains. If you're holding legacy Cerner shares from the Oracle deal, Honeywell contractor savings, or a hospital 403(b), that one rule flips your withdrawal order. Your brokerage account just became the cheapest place to draw from. Your IRA became the most expensive.
Why Kansas City
Planning built for Kansas City retirees
Jackson County · about 25 minutes north · I-435 at Bannister Road
Kansas City's employment character is documented rather than assumed. The city's FY2025 financial report lists metro-area employers led by public school systems at 48,110, combined state, county, and city government at 32,047, and federal government at 24,143, followed by The University of Kansas Hospital, Saint Luke's, HCA Midwest, Ford's assembly plant, Children's Mercy, Honeywell, and Oracle.
Two changes hit local balance sheets recently. Oracle acquired Cerner in 2022, vacated the former Cerner headquarters campus in North Kansas City, consolidated near I-435 and Bannister, and cut more Kansas City jobs in September 2025. Saint Luke's completed its combination with BJC on January 1, 2024, forming a roughly 44,000-employee system across two states.
Kansas City's largest employers sit in three very different retirement regimes (government, contractor, and private), and Missouri taxes all three differently. The cards below name only what the cited sources establish.
Honeywell FM&T
Operates the Kansas City National Security Campus for the Department of Energy's NNSA, more than 7,000 employees. These are contractor employees with a 401(k), not federal civil servants with FERS, a critical distinction in Missouri.
Oracle (former Cerner)
Oracle acquired Cerner in 2022 and now reports 6,400 metro employees at "Oracle Center." Cerner listed 11,823 a decade earlier. Households here hold converted equity, severance, and deferred compensation from that transition.
Burns & McDonnell
Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri and 100% employee-owned through an ESOP, as the firm states on its own About page. Concentrated employer stock inside a qualified plan is the defining planning issue.
Missouri Taxes
Missouri's capital gains rule and Kansas City withdrawals
Missouri income tax law as of tax year 2026 · verified August 2026
Since January 1, 2025, Missouri subtracts 100% of your capital gains, short-term and long-term, for individuals. Sell those converted Oracle shares and you owe Missouri nothing on the gain. The corporate version of this subtraction isn't in effect yet.
Your traditional accounts get the opposite treatment. RSMo 143.124.1 names 401(k)s, deferred comp, IRAs, and Keoghs (not Roth IRAs), and caps that exemption at $6,000, phased out by $38,000 of Missouri AGI for married filing combined. Missouri's rate is 4.7% for 2025 and 2026, functionally flat.
- Missouri top rate, TY2026
- 4.7%
- Capital gains subtraction, TY2025+
- 100%
- Public pension cap, TY2026
- $48,967
Sources: Missouri DOR pension FAQ · RSMo 143.124 · DOR 2025 legislative changes
Tax figures on this page are current as of the dates shown and are provided for general education only. Kansas and Missouri retirement tax rules changed in 2024 and 2025, and several of these figures are adjusted annually for inflation or depend on future revenue triggers. Nothing here is tax, legal, or investment advice. Confirm your own situation with your tax professional before acting.
Who We Help
Is this you?
01
Age 50+ and within 10 years of retirement
02
$2M or more saved, mostly in 401(k)s and IRAs
03
Ready for a tax-first approach to retirement planning
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Your Tax-First Retirement Plan is built in 4 weeks
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Phase 1
Three sessions. Four weeks.
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Strategy
A 30 to 45 minute conversation about your goals and concerns, including a walkthrough of your Nine Tax Surprises Analysis. You'll leave knowing whether it's the right fit, whether the Retire Ready Roadmap™ makes sense for your next steps, and what tax surprises Uncle Sam has waiting for you.
Week 3
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Week 4
Alignment
A 7 to 10 day refining period lets your plan settle in. Follow-up questions get answered, and sometimes components of your plan need to be analyzed or strategized. This wraps up the initial plan set-up and sets the stage for what happens next.
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The plan is done. Here's what happens next.
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Phase 2
Ongoing relationship
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Nearby
Retirement planning nearby
Lee's Summit, Blue Springs, and Liberty share Missouri's rules and draw from the same metro employer base documented in the city's own report.
Common Questions
Retiring in Kansas City: common questions
Does Missouri tax Social Security for a Kansas City retiree?
Not from age 62. Since tax year 2024, Missouri subtracts 100% of the Social Security in your federal AGI once you turn 62, plus disability benefits at any age, regardless of filing status or Missouri AGI. That age condition is statutory: at 60 on survivor benefits, you sit outside it entirely.
You hold legacy Cerner shares from the Oracle deal. Does Missouri tax the gain?
Not as of tax year 2025. Missouri now subtracts 100% of your capital gains, short-term and long-term, for individuals. Realize that gain and it costs 0% in Missouri tax, while an equivalent IRA withdrawal costs 4.7%. That inverts the usual sequencing advice completely.
Honeywell runs the National Security Campus: is that a federal pension?
No. The Kansas City National Security Campus employs more than 7,000 people, but they work for Honeywell FM&T under contract to the NNSA, not the federal government. That means a 401(k), privately funded to Missouri (the $6,000 exemption, gone by $38,000 of AGI), not the government pension subtraction capped at $48,967.
Does the Kansas City earnings tax apply to your IRA withdrawals?
It shouldn't reach them. Missouri defines the earnings-tax base at RSMo 92.111.2 as compensation earned plus business net profits, and a retirement distribution is neither. RSMo 92.130.1(16) goes further, putting pension and profit-sharing trusts, and their distributions, outside any ordinance under those sections.
Next Step
Ready to Keep More of What You've Built?
If you and your spouse have $2M or more in investable assets, a tax-first retirement plan helps you keep more of it, year after year.