A NEW CHAPTER. A CLEARER PICTURE.
Early retirement creates financial opportunities—and unexpected tradeoffs.
Leaving full-time work gives you more control over your income. But Roth conversions, capital gains, and retirement withdrawals can affect both your federal income taxes and health insurance costs.
Explore those decisions before you make them.
Free to explore. Annual planning for the decisions ahead.
BUILT FOR THE YEARS BETWEEN
For people considering early retirement, already living it, or finding a different balance between work and life.
GapYears Lab helps make the financial decisions that come with greater freedom easier to understand. Our first tool, the Income Planner, brings income, federal taxes, and healthcare costs together so you can explore your options with greater confidence.
The planner does not determine comprehensive insurance eligibility or replace professional financial or tax advice. Payroll and self-employment taxes are not modeled; consulting-income situations may require additional review.
SEE WHY THE CONNECTIONS MATTER
Supported planning year: 2026. The Income Planner currently models 2026 federal income tax and ACA rules, using 2025 poverty guidelines for 2026 Marketplace coverage.
Selling appreciated investments can affect more than your taxes. In this validated 2026 example, one cent of additional realized long-term capital gains crosses a modeled ACA income threshold, eliminating $23,191.44 in estimated annual premium tax credits. Modeled federal regular income tax stays at $0 in both scenarios.
Increase in modeled annual cost $23,191.44 Entirely from the lost premium tax credit in this specific example.
At the modeled threshold
One cent above the modeled threshold
Qualified dividends and eligible long-term capital gains may receive preferential federal tax rates. In this investment-income mix, the standard deduction and 0% rate band leave no modeled federal regular income tax. But realized gains still count toward ACA modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), which can change the premium tax credit.
These are realized taxable gains, not gross sale proceeds. Realizing gains is not inherently a poor decision; the example shows why it helps to consider taxes and healthcare costs together.
A specific threshold effect, not a universal result. Not every additional dollar of income causes a large subsidy loss. Actual credits depend on household eligibility, location, age, premiums, and other circumstances. This one-cent boundary illustrates the continuous planning model; IRS whole-dollar reporting, final-year instructions, eligibility determinations, and Form 1095-A records may change filed results. It is not individualized advice or guaranteed Marketplace eligibility.
A LITTLE EXPLORATION GOES A LONG WAY
Bring together income from different sources and explore a Roth conversion within a single planning year.
Compare annual scenarios to see how income choices can affect estimated federal income taxes, ACA premiums, and premium tax credits.
Consider overall estimated annual financial outcomes and tradeoffs, rather than looking at taxes or healthcare costs in isolation.
THE YEARS BETWEEN ARE DIFFERENT
The stretch between leaving work and drawing traditional retirement benefits comes with its own questions.
Savings, part-time work, and future benefits may each play a role at different times.
A taxable Roth conversion can change annual income, with consequences for income taxes and ACA premium tax credits.
Withdrawals can affect taxes and healthcare costs. A useful plan looks at the connections.
PLANNING TOOLS
The GapYears Income Planner brings annual income sources, federal income tax estimates, ACA costs, and Roth conversion opportunities into a scenario comparison. State income taxes and payroll/self-employment taxes are not currently modeled. Launch the live application to explore your own annual scenarios, or read the product overview to learn more.
Launch Income PlannerThe Income Planner focuses on annual decisions. It does not currently provide comprehensive multi-year retirement projections, portfolio longevity calculations, or Social Security optimization.
LEARN AT YOUR OWN PACE
YOUR NEXT CHAPTER
Start by seeing how the pieces might fit together.
Launch Income Planner