Real-Time ACA Subsidy & Tax Cliff Tracker
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See exactly how many dollars of Roth conversion headroom you have left before triggering ACA subsidy cliffs, RMD penalties, or SS taxation.
Added May 23, 2026
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The Problem
Early retirees and FIRE planners struggle to manage MAGI in real-time to avoid catastrophic tax cliffs like ACA subsidy loss, IRMAA brackets, and Social Security taxation thresholds. Existing retirement tools (Boldin, etc.) optimize for long-term net worth but don't show the immediate dollar-by-dollar headroom users need to make withdrawal and Roth conversion decisions throughout the year.
Potential Solution
A dedicated tax-cliff dashboard that connects to brokerage and retirement accounts to track MAGI in real-time against every relevant threshold (ACA, IRMAA, capital gains brackets, SS taxation, RMD). Users see a live 'headroom' number for each cliff, with a Roth conversion simulator and withdrawal sequencing planner that shows exact dollar amounts available before each threshold triggers.
Why Now?
ACA subsidy cliffs return in 2026 as enhanced premium tax credits expire, making MAGI management critical for millions of early retirees. The FIRE movement has grown rapidly, and existing tools like Boldin and NewRetirement lack the granular real-time cliff tracking users are demanding.
Has anyone found a tool that shows exactly how many dollars you have left before losing ACA subsidies?
I retired early and have been managing my MAGI carefully to stay under ACA subsidy thresholds. Every tool I've tried optimizes for long term net worth but none of them give me a real time answer to "how close am I to the cliff right now." I want to see a number. How many dollars of Roth conversion headroom do I have before my subsidy vanishes. Instead everything either hides the math or spits out an aggressive conversion recommendation I can't audit or verify. Ended up back in a spreadsheet. Is this just how everyone in FIRE manages this or is there actually a tool that does this well?
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I quit working due to health issues and essentially FIRE’d; are we ok financially?
My husband and I are in our mid-40s with no kids. He is still working full time but as of last year, I am no longer working due to health challenges. We are using my husband’s income for living expenses plus we’ve been drawing down on our investments to cover my portion. We’ve stopped investing altogether (but this may change if husband gets a raise). I don’t see myself going back to work full time again full time due to my health; I have some small side hustles that may be able to bring in a few hundred a month in future. We have 10 years left on our mortgage ($76k left on mortgage at 2.5% interest). Total annual amount needed: $71k Total annual husband take home pay after taxes, insurance, etc: $32,405 Total annual drawdown from investments to make up the difference : $38,595 So right now I’m drawing down right around 4% of our total investments; is it safe to assume this will last for another 45 year time horizon? Husband plans to work until 65. What account order should I be drawing down on these accounts at? Because our household income has dropped significantly with me leaving the workforce, we are currently in a much lower tax bracket than we will likely be in retirement, so should we go ahead and start slowly converting our traditional rollover IRA to a Roth IRA since that is the bulk of our investments, and then drawing down original contributions after the 5 year period? Total investments: $978,161 Investment breakdown…. Traditional Rollover IRA: $581,087 Individual brokerage investment accounts: $151,240 High Yield Savings Account: $20,038 Roth IRA: $142,876 401k with both traditional and Roth: $71,448 HSA Investment account $11,472 (only using for qualified medical expenses) Also, how does it change our financial landscape when considering our social security? We plan to draw social security at age 65. It will bring in approximately $3000 per month total for us at age 65.
Anyone have retirement software advise for something more robust than Boldin?
I am 50 and wife 55. We are looking to retire next year. We have Boldin Currently but are looking for something more robust where we can model the pros and cons of paying down the $125k mortgage at 2.25% in order to be able to lift our Roth conversion tax ceiling and how much to withdraw from her 401k using the rule of 55 and how much to take from brokerage to prevent loss of ACA subsidies and protect against RMD's and having our SS taxed. Any suggestions?
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