Ep 53 - The Big Churn: ACA Health Subsidies

First in a multi-part series on churningFIRE, diving deep into early retirement hacks that make FIRE more attainable, and why having a churning mindset is particularly useful.

• 0:00 - Intro to churning healthcare
• 6:40 - How ACA actually works
• 9:57 - Health plan tiers
• 11:05 - Subsidy #1: Premium Tax Credit
• 18:17 - Subsidy #2: Cost Sharing Reduction
• 26:24 - Churning retirement

Show Notes

Health plan tiers

Premium Tax Credit (PCT)

• Required contribution %

• Federal Poverty Level (FPL)

• ACA MAGI calculation - healthcare.gov

Cost Sharing Reduction (CSR)

Further reading

• How ACA subsidies work - article
• 1 year of churningFIRE - reddit
• 📚 FIRE blogs we love
  • a purple life
  • early retirement now
  • root of good
  • mr. money mustache
• 💬 FIRE subreddits
  • r/financialindependence
• r/leanFIRE

Mentioned in episode

• Primer on churningFIRE - Ep 7 - ChurningFIRE
• Cheap, tasty food - Ep 2 - Mealkits
• Constant suite upgrades - Ep 8 - Hyatt Gloablist
• P2 flies for free - Ep 10 - Southwest Companion Pass
• Traveling first class for free - Ep 23 - ANA First & Business
• $5K Hawaii vacation for free - deal alert

Next time...

• 🪜 Roth conversion ladders
• 📈 Glidepath investment strategy