The Solo Bridge Worksheet
Retire before 65 and your health insurance stops being a payroll deduction and starts being an arithmetic problem: one dollar of income over the line and a subsidy worth thousands disappears. This free, printable worksheet is how you plan the year so that never happens by accident.
What's on the worksheet
Two pages, worked in pencil each fall before open enrollment. It's the free companion to Health Insurance for the Solo Early Retiree by M. E. Hart — the MAGI control game from Chapters 4 and 5, on a sheet you can actually fill in.
- Step 1 — your ceiling — the 400%-of-poverty cliff for your household size, with the Alaska and Hawaii figures printed alongside the 48-state ones, and a buffer for the December fund distribution nobody sees coming.
- Steps 2 and 3 — the room you actually have — the income you can't easily control (including the full Social Security benefit, which ACA MAGI counts even when your tax return doesn't), subtracted from your target.
- Step 4 — cold, warm, hot — which account each dollar of spending comes out of. Cash and Roth add nothing to MAGI; a pre-tax IRA withdrawal adds all of it. Same spending, wildly different subsidy.
- Step 5 — the November re-check — the last month with any levers left in it, and the order to try them.
The worksheet is a planning tool, not tax or financial advice. Poverty guidelines, subsidy percentages and the cliff itself are set annually and can be changed by Congress, so verify the current-year figures for your own state and household before you act, and run a big withdrawal past a tax professional first. You'll get it by email, so you always have the latest version as the numbers change.
Get the free Solo Bridge Worksheet
Tell us where to send it and we'll email you the free, printable worksheet — your 400%-of-poverty ceiling for the coming plan year, the income you can't control, the room that leaves you, and which account to spend from so a subsidy worth thousands doesn't disappear over one dollar.
- Find your subsidy cliff — including Alaska and Hawaii
- Work out the room you actually have
- Spend from the right account, in the right order
Almost there — check your inbox.
We just sent a confirmation email. Click the link inside and your free download lands right after. (If you don't see it, check spam or promotions.)
Keep going
The worksheet plans the year. These free tools and guides do the arithmetic and fill in the background:
- The Early-Retiree Health Insurance Calculator — runs COBRA against the Marketplace year by year to 65, with your subsidy and where your MAGI lands against the cliff. It has an Alaska and Hawaii setting, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
- Health insurance before Medicare — the four ways to stay covered, and what each one really costs.
- The books worth reading on covering the gap — what's on the shelf, and what dates fastest.
- The resources library — vetted government links for the Marketplace, Medicare, and free local help.
Planners & Books
Good to know
Common questions
What is the Solo Bridge Worksheet?
A free, two-page printable that runs the MAGI planning method from Health Insurance for the Solo Early Retiree. Page one finds your 400%-of-poverty ceiling and the room you have under it; page two decides which account each dollar of spending comes out of, and gives you the November re-check with the late-year levers still worth pulling.
Is it free, and how do I get it?
Yes — add your email and we'll send the printable PDF right away. It's a planning tool, not tax or financial advice; poverty guidelines and subsidy percentages are set annually, so verify the current figures for your state and household before you act.
Where is the subsidy cliff for 2026 coverage?
400% of the federal poverty level, which for 2026 coverage is about $62,600 for one person and $84,600 for a couple in the 48 states and DC. Alaska and Hawaii use their own, higher guidelines: about $78,200 and $71,960 for one person. One dollar over the line and the premium subsidy drops to zero, which is why the worksheet plans against a buffer.