Fund the household
Choose which dollars cover spending without accidentally creating taxable income.
Convert to Roth before Medicare — without blowing up your ACA premiums.
Enter your age, balances, and income. Get a year-by-year conversion plan that stays under the subsidy cliff.
Interactive planning sketch
Constant 2026 dollars
Simple inputs. A balanced strategic plan.
Start with the sample scenario, replace it with your own estimates, then generate an educational plan that runs through the pre-Medicare years and on until both Social Security claims begin. Nothing is saved.
Starter plan
Plan snapshot
Figures in thousands. “SS” is cash received; “Taxable SS” is the portion counted in MAGI. On a phone, swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Household MAGI vs. guardrails
The ACA ceiling uses 400% of the 2025 contiguous-U.S. poverty guideline as a 2026 coverage-year planning assumption. The credit model uses the pre-2021 sliding contribution schedule and adds all Social Security to Marketplace MAGI. The IRMAA line uses the 2026 first-tier threshold ($218,000 joint / $109,000 single) and applies from age 63, because Medicare premiums look back two years; it is drawn when income comes within reach of it. Premiums are not quotes.
Year-by-year detail
Method: values stay in constant 2026 dollars; pretax and Roth balances grow at the real return you enter, and cash does not grow. Withdrawals follow the selected priority and the cash-access age. Roth earnings are assumed qualified once the account has been open five years. Before 59½ (conservatively treated as the year the primary account holder turns 60), Roth money is drawn only from contributions and conversions at least five years old; newer conversions and earnings are used only as a flagged last resort. Conversion room is solved against the target federal bracket, the ACA ceiling while anyone needs Marketplace coverage, and the IRMAA first tier in lookback years. If income would fall below Marketplace credit eligibility (138% of poverty in expansion states, 100% elsewhere), the plan adds conversion income to reach it, and it holds back enough pretax money to do the same in later Marketplace years. The benchmark premium is split per covered person and drops as each adult reaches Medicare. State tax remains a rough planning estimate. The model still omits cost basis, capital gains, Medicare base premiums, RMDs, penalties and itemized deductions.
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One decision, two tax systems
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The obvious conversion is not always the cheapest one.
A traditional-to-Roth conversion can lower future taxes and required distributions. Before Medicare, though, the same conversion can increase Marketplace income and reduce premium tax credits for ACA.
Fill the bracket
Convert pretax savings while ordinary-income rates are deliberately low.
Protect the subsidy
Stop when the next conversion dollar does more damage to health costs than good for taxes.
Roth conversions, without the folklore
A conversion moves money from a tax-deferred account into a Roth account. The converted amount generally becomes ordinary federal income now; qualified Roth withdrawals can be tax-free later.
Why the gap years matter
After wages stop and before Social Security or required minimum distributions begin, taxable income may fall. That can create unused room in a lower bracket. A conversion intentionally uses that room.
A practical sequence
- Estimate cash needs and unavoidable income.
- Set aside room for capital gains and interest.
- Find the top of the target bracket.
- Apply the ACA income guardrail if anyone uses Marketplace coverage.
- Convert to the lower limit, then revisit before year-end.
Conversion is not withdrawal.The money moves accounts. Paying conversion tax from outside cash usually preserves more Roth value, but it also changes your cash runway.
Five-year rules still matter
Roth IRA conversions have separate five-year clocks for penalty purposes, and Roth earnings have their own qualified-distribution rules. Anyone under 59½ should review access timing before relying on converted principal for spending.
The ACA cliff changes the answer
Marketplace premium tax credits use household modified adjusted gross income. Wages, taxable withdrawals, interest, capital gains, Social Security and Roth conversions can all influence the result.
What “cliff” means here
The planner models a hard premium-tax-credit eligibility boundary at 400% of the federal poverty guideline. Crossing it can make the annual credit fall to zero instead of tapering gradually. That is why the best conversion amount may be below the tax-bracket limit.
Income is not cash
Qualified Roth withdrawals and spending existing cash generally do not add to MAGI. A household may therefore fund the same lifestyle with a very different subsidy result depending on which account supplies the money.
Do not use the premium estimate as a quote.Age, county, tobacco use, plan selection, benchmark premiums, family composition and evolving law all affect actual Marketplace costs.
Run the decision twice
First model the safest subsidy-preserving conversion. Then model a deliberate cliff crossing. If the extra future tax saved exceeds the lost subsidy and current tax, crossing may still be rational—but it should be a conscious choice.
State retirement-tax library
Federal strategy. Six very different state overlays.
Select a state for a planning summary. The structure is ready to expand as new state guides are reviewed.
Source-review status: these summaries are editorial drafts keyed to official publication titles. Confirm the current publication and instructions with the relevant state revenue department before relying on them for a transaction.
Get the launch note for the BridgeYears app.
The app is planned for iPhone and Android: a focused, manual-entry retirement tax planner—no account linking, no advisor sales calls. Join the waitlist and we’ll email you when it launches. Every signup also helps us gauge demand.
FAQ
ACA Subsidy Cliff FAQ (2026)
I'm not a financial planner, and this is directional — not tax advice. These are the mechanics the BridgeYears planner models, so you can see how the subsidy cliff works before you run your own numbers.
What's the ACA subsidy cliff in 2026?
The enhanced premium tax credits (2021–2025) expired December 31, 2025, and Congress didn't extend them. For 2026, the original ACA rules are back: if your household income goes above 400% of the federal poverty level, you lose the entire premium tax credit. Not a phase-out — a cliff. One dollar over, and the whole credit is gone.
What are the 2026 income cutoffs?
Based on the HHS 2026 poverty guidelines (48 contiguous states + D.C.):
| Household size | 400% FPL — the cliff |
|---|---|
| 1 person | $63,840 |
| 2 people | $86,560 |
| 3 people | $109,280 |
| 4 people | $132,000 |
Hit exactly 400% and you're still eligible. Go $1 over and you're not. (Alaska and Hawaii have higher guidelines.) If you enrolled during fall 2025 open enrollment, your advance credits were estimated on the 2025 tables — but the final credit on your 2026 tax return reconciles against the 2026 tables above.
What income counts? (MAGI)
The ACA uses household MAGI: your adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest, nontaxable Social Security benefits, and the foreign earned income exclusion. For most early retirees, it's basically AGI plus a couple of add-backs.
Do Roth conversions count toward the cliff?
Yes — this is the big one. Every dollar you convert from a traditional IRA to a Roth lands in your AGI that year, which means it lands in your ACA MAGI too. A $30,000 Roth conversion is $30,000 closer to the cliff. Run your numbers in the planner above to see the tradeoff: convert now and pay tax, but keep the conversion small enough to protect your subsidy.
Do dividends and capital gains count?
Yes. Qualified dividends and long-term capital gains are part of AGI, so they count toward the cliff just like any other income. Selling a chunk of stock in the same year as a Roth conversion can push you over — the planner adds these together so you see the combined effect.
What doesn't count?
Withdrawing your original Roth IRA contributions doesn't count — that's your own after-tax money coming back out, not income. (Earnings withdrawn early are a different story.) HSA contributions lower your AGI, which helps. And qualified charitable distributions from an IRA (once you're 70½) don't hit AGI either.
What happens if I go over by accident?
If you took advance credits during the year and your final MAGI lands above 400% FPL, you repay the entire advance credit on your tax return. There's no partial credit above the cliff and no repayment cap up there — the whole thing comes back. That's why the planner treats the cliff as a hard line, not a suggestion.
How do people stay under the cliff?
Directionally: size your Roth conversions to the room you have under the cliff, be deliberate about which year you realize capital gains, use HSA contributions if you're eligible, and watch every income source that feeds AGI — because they all feed MAGI. Test these moves in the planner before the tax year closes.
Figures checked September 30, 2026. Cutoffs from the HHS 2026 Federal Poverty Guidelines (published January 2026); cliff rules are the original ACA framework in force for plan year 2026. Guidelines update every January — verify current figures at HealthCare.gov before relying on them.