Subject: Re: First Withdrawal
1.) Unless we downsize to a (non-existent) smaller, lower cost house, we need 60K just to cover mandatory expenses - mortgage, prop taxes, Medicare + part D for DW, 1 car payment, groceries, utilities including now $5+ a gallon oil for heat. Then "discretionary" of $2K-$3K a month - without extravagant travel - brings us right up to that $84K subsidy cap. That's BEFORE the $800/month med & dental insurance for me, with a 7500 deductible, for the cheapest bronze HDHP I can get.

Yes, I forget. We are a family of 5, and our subsidy cap is $154k. I can make $250k and stay under that with 401k, deductible IRA (spouse), HSAs and deductible health insurance for 5. Our 3 kids will all be living off their 529 money when youngest goes to college this summer. We live in a LCOL area.

2.) No taxable funds left. Don't have enough millions$ for Roth IRA conversions like some here. I spent down our taxable brokerage account to help pay for dear daughter's college and then graduate school, and then covering some withdrawals last year while unemployed and funding an HSA with the remnants. 95% of our retirement money is in traditional IRAs. And of course those withdrawals are taxable income that count against the cap.

This too. More than half of our savings/investments are in taxable.