re: Question about Tax on Retirement Accounts

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Brokerage accounts = no tax on the withdrawal, only on the activity inside the account (capital gains, dividends, interest)

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This is correct. Here is how I explain it.

Withdrawals from taxable broker account / investments are not itself taxable. However, if you need to sell assets in the account to generate cash, it's that sale that will have the taxable impact.

Only the gain (if any) is taxed, and if it's long term, it's taxed at your qualified rates for federal tax.

There's also some weird state issues sometimes. For example, PA does not tax "retirement income" but does tax capital gains... even if the capital gains were harvested and distributed "in retirement".