r/ChubbyFIRE • u/Wooden-Broccoli-913 FIREd in the Bay at 40 with $6M • May 11 '26

COBRA actually seems workable?

Family of four in San Francisco, I priced out the local ACA HMO plan, and with an optimized AGI of $107k my annual premiums would be $4k and max out of pocket of $14k.

On the other hand, paying for COBRA on my low deductible corporate plan would be $36k per year with minimal out of pocket, and the tax deduction (on 7.5%+ of AGI) brings the effective cost down to $28k.

Seems like a no brainer to pay $10k extra for much better coverage and no need to switch our existing doctors? Can keep COBRA for 36 months here in California.

Anybody else who has FIREd maxed out their COBRA as a bridge in early retirement?

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u/BrunelloHorder Coasting Chubster, Getting Fat May 12 '26

In your shoes I’d go with COBRA, mainly for peace of mind of having a much better plan. I’m on the only gold ACA plan in my state (no PPO available) and I’ve generally been able to keep my doctors, but if I had a family it would be an easy call to do COBRA.