You can afford to retire. The question is whether you can afford the years between your last paycheck and age 65. This page covers exactly that bridge, and nothing past it.
Early retirees bridge to age 65 with COBRA from their old employer, a marketplace plan, or a spouse’s coverage. Retiring is a qualifying event, so a 60-day special enrollment window opens when employer coverage ends. In 2026, with the subsidy cliff back, how you draw retirement income largely determines what that bridge costs.
Why the pre-65 bridge deserves real planning:
An unsubsidized silver plan runs about $1,600 a month at 60 and rises with each birthday until 65.
Since enhanced credits expired, going one dollar over 400% of the poverty level costs the entire subsidy. Withdrawal strategy is now premium strategy.
Eighteen months at full premium plus 2%. Retire at 62 and it quits before Medicare arrives.
The years before 65 carry rising health risk, and 2026 plans carry record deductibles. That gap lands on savings.
And the income math that decides between them:
| COBRA | Marketplace (silver/gold) | Bronze + supplemental stack | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost shape | Full group premium plus 2% | Full price unless income is under the cliff | Lower base premium plus modest supplement costs |
| How long it lasts | 18 months, then it ends | Renewable to 65 | Renewable to 65; supplements can continue past it |
| Subsidy interplay | None | Credits if income stays under 400% FPL | Same credits, smaller premium to subsidize |
| Best when | Retiring at 63.5+ or mid-treatment | Long runway, income can be managed | Healthy, deductible-averse, cash-flow focused |
Which build wins depends on your age, state, and withdrawal plan. We price all three in one call: (214) 396-9356.
Unsubsidized monthly silver premiums by age, plus the rules that move them:
| Benchmark | Figure |
|---|---|
| Average silver premium at 60, unsubsidized | $1,598/month |
| At 62 | $1,691/month |
| At 64 | $1,766/month |
| COBRA duration and cost | Up to 18 months at 102% of full premium |
| Subsidy cliff | 400% of federal poverty level, back in effect for 2026 |
| HSA before 65 | Cannot pay marketplace premiums (COBRA and unemployment-period premiums excepted); $1,000 catch-up at 55+ |
Sources listed at the bottom of this page.
These pay cash directly to you alongside whatever bridge plan you choose, and unlike the bridge itself, they do not have to end at 65.
Set cash benefits for injuries, at the age when a fall stops being a funny story.
Explore Accident A per-day cash benefit for hospital stays, purpose-built for pairing with a high-deductible bronze plan.
Explore Hospital Indemnity
Scheduled cash benefits across care you actually use. Predictable costs for fixed-income planning.
Explore Fixed Indemnity
A lump sum on serious diagnosis, protecting the nest egg the bridge years are supposed to preserve.
Explore Critical Illness
Employer dental and vision end at retirement too. Standalone plans keep both covered without a group.
Explore Dental & Vision
Locking in term coverage before another birthday is one of the cheaper moves on this page.
Explore Term LifeSupplemental and fixed indemnity plans are not comprehensive health insurance and don't replace an ACA-compliant medical plan. We'll always tell you which is which.
Losing employer coverage at retirement is a qualifying event, which opens a 60-day special enrollment window for a marketplace plan. COBRA is the alternative, but at 62 its 18 months run out before Medicare begins, so the marketplace is in your plan either way. The real work is structuring income so premium credits apply.
Unsubsidized, roughly $1,600 to $1,800 a month for a silver plan between 60 and 64 in 2026. With income under 400% of the poverty level, premium credits can cut that dramatically. That is why withdrawal strategy, which accounts you draw and when, is effectively premium strategy for early retirees.
A timing rule decides most cases: COBRA lasts 18 months, so retiring at 63 and a half or later lets it bridge you straight to 65, keeping your doctors and deductible progress. Retire earlier and you will land on the marketplace anyway, so starting there usually beats paying full group premium first.
Yes. Subsidies are based on income, not assets. A seven-figure portfolio does not disqualify you; a large traditional-IRA withdrawal might. Roth withdrawals and cash savings do not count toward marketplace income, which is the entire basis of the bridge-year planning we help clients with.
In 2026, you lose the entire premium credit, which can mean repaying thousands at tax time. The cliff returned when the enhanced credits expired. Anyone bridging on marketplace coverage should know exactly where their line sits and leave margin under it.
Mostly no. HSA funds cannot pay marketplace premiums before 65, with narrow exceptions for COBRA premiums and premiums paid while receiving unemployment. HSA dollars can still pay deductibles, dental, vision, and other qualified expenses tax-free, which makes them a strong companion to a bronze-plan bridge.
Yes, through the loss of your employer coverage rather than the retirement itself. The window runs 60 days from losing coverage, and you can also enroll up to 60 days before a known end date, which avoids any gap. Voluntarily dropping COBRA mid-stream, though, does not reopen the window.
That is the job of the supplemental layer: hospital indemnity pays set cash per hospital day, accident coverage pays for injuries, and critical illness pays a lump sum on diagnosis. Cash benefits below the deductible line let a lower-premium bronze plan behave more like a richer one.
Premium-by-age figures from ValuePenguin analysis of 2026 marketplace data. Subsidy cliff and enrollment shifts from KFF 2026 analyses. COBRA rules from Department of Labor guidance. HSA rules from IRS Publication 969. Figures current as of July 2026.
Supplemental and fixed indemnity products pay fixed cash benefits and are a supplement to health insurance, not a substitute for major medical coverage. Champion Benefit Advisors does not sell Medicare products, and nothing on this page is Medicare guidance; plan your age-65 transition separately. This page is general information, not tax or investment advice.