Calling for 2025 Year-End Wins!!
My favorite ChooseFI episode each year is our “Year End Wins” episode where we play voicemails and read emails from the community celebrating your biggest wins from the past 12 months.
If you want to share your wins with the community on this 9th annual wins episode, send in a voicemail or write out your wins in the feedback section of our website (at the top click “share a win” and then “year end wins”) and tell us the details of all your FI wins from 2025!
We're recording this in late November, so please get them in ASAP!
2026 ACA Premium Tax Credits and Catastrophic Plans
Sean Mullaney published an article that I think is timely and essential, titled “2026 ACA Premium Tax Credits: Embrace Solutions!”
The situation around the government shutdown and the 2026 Premium Tax Credits is uncertain and continues to develop, but Sean, “assess(es) the lay of the land for ACA medical insurance and Premium Tax Credits in 2026. I then move onto planning as early retirees consider their ACA medical insurance options for 2026 in late 2025.”
He reminds us that starting in 2026 all Bronze plans qualify as “high deductible health plans” and are eligible for HSA contributions.
Developing news to me: There’s a new rule that allows those with incomes above 400 percent of the poverty level to enroll in “ACA Catastrophic” medical insurance plans.
Sean has an entire section on that and I suspect this will be of interest to many of us in the FI Community!
Trying to Avoid the Leading Cause of Death
I avidly follow Dr. Peter Attia and his book ‘Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity’ has sold millions of copies.
He talks about the “four horsemen” of chronic disease, which are the leading causes of death in the US, and ASCVD (atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (basically heart attack and stroke)) is the leading cause.
Dr. Attia talks repeatedly about getting two biomarkers checked: ApoB and LP(a)
I recently had a series of blood tests done and found out my levels of ApoB and LP(a) are much higher than they ideally should be.
In doing some research I came across this article called ‘Ticker: Don’t Die of Heart Disease’ on ASCVD which is the best summary of what I’ve found in the cutting-edge research on this topic.
(Essential Note: I’m a CPA and decidedly NOT a medical expert or doctor. Please consult your doctor before making any changes, but since this topic is so important, I had to include it in the newsletter. If it helps even one person other than me, it will be more than worth it.)
ChooseFI Reminders:
Two reminders for the week:
- Join a local group: If you haven’t joined your ChooseFI Local Group, here’s your reminder! Create a free account here, select your group and you’ll get email notifications of all local events in your area.
- Travel Rewards Credit Cards: I keep my Top Ten Recommended Cards page constantly updated, so it should always be your first source for travel rewards cards. The best-ever welcome offers on my #2 and #3 cards end this week: 11/13 at 9am ET.
(Note: We earn a commission if you sign up for credit cards through our site. In order to keep it an amazing listening experience, I don’t advertise on the podcast. Your support makes that possible. Thank you!)
ChooseFI Community Taking Action This Week
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My fancy oven stopped working and the appliance repair guy mentioned that the manufacturer might pay for parts. I called on the spot and saved $900. — Tracy |
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I would love to share a FI success story that is hot off the presses. Last week, I was able to flex my Financial Independence muscles and say goodbye to a job that I did not particularly enjoy or find fulfilling. They employed a particularly brutal yearly performance management process that forced a significant number of strong performers into a category they were undeserving of (mostly employees that were new and/or those that refused to engage in nasty office politics). I was ranked in a way that I felt was neither fair nor deserved and was expected to fight for the chance to keep my well-paying but miserable job. For most people, there would be no real choice, but having reached Financial Independence by every reasonable measure, my decision was easy. I took the little-known (and somewhat hidden/downplayed by management) option to refuse and voluntarily leave the company. This came with a generous severance, which is allowing me to ease into early retirement. My managers were absolutely floored...it may have been the first time they ever witnessed someone take this option and left them in quite the bind when it comes to the extremely heavy workload I'm leaving behind. My FI journey allowed me the empowerment to say "no thanks" and turn my back on a job and company that employs practices I don't agree with. I put my money where my mouth is and my first week of freedom has been incredible. The ChooseFI podcast has been informative and entertaining as I progressed through the final stages of FI. — Chad |
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My 1% better (well feels like a lot more than that) is using fasting to lose some body fat. I've been fasting every 3rd day for the past 3 months and I'm very close to reaching my goal weight and optimal body composition. This is a frugal win because I look at it as burning food/fuel that I've already paid for in the past and stored on my body!!! I am in the best shape of my life and it cost me exactly $0. No fad dieting, no calorie counting, no extra time doing cardio at the gym. It has been a useful journey to sit with discomfort (feeling a bit hungry) and learn that we do not NEED to eat 3x big meals per day, every day. I have also experienced the other benefits of fasting such as improved mood and mental clarity. Once I reach my goal weight, I will maintain by fasting every once in a while. Thought I would share this because it's surely a FI-lense through which to view weightloss! — Holly |
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I recently received bills for an urgent care visit, an X-ray, and a specialist follow-up. The total came to over $900, all out of pocket since I haven’t met my deductible this year. As a longtime listener, I knew it’s sometimes possible to get medical bills reduced by calling the billing department. I tried the two most common strategies I’d heard about—asking for a cash-pay discount and requesting an upfront payment discount—but neither worked. As a last resort, I asked them to review the coding for my urgent care visit, which had been marked as “medium complexity.” To my surprise, they got back to me later that same day and agreed to reclassify it as “low complexity,” saving me hundreds of dollars! — Ryan |
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My 1 % this month is opening my own consulting LLC. I am a member of a national organization and volunteer for them. This month, I was asked if I would be interested in consulting on different topics I teach in my spare time (like Billing and Coding for Health Care Professionals). The work involves reviewing ICD-10 codes for specialties and editing a one-page document. I agreed and thought about all I have learned since starting this FI journey in 2020. I opened up an LLC and took the consulting offer. My next step is consulting with my CPA on the best strategy to invest that income without increasing my tax responsibilities. I am researching SEP IRA, Solo 401(k), and Traditional IRA. Since starting this journey, we broke up with our "advisor" who charged an AUM fee, maxed out our 401 & TSP, stored up our accelerated savings account, travel with points (and pay off our card every month), and continue to look at life through that 1% lens. — Michelle |
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My 1% better has been being able to roll with the punches and be able to cover my graduate stipend being cut off due to research taking longer than the allocated two years. I've have been saving throughout my masters for a sabbatical trip and can dip into these savings to cover my simple expenses while I finish my research. I am also currently drafting an email to see if the stipend is negotiable and justify the delays to my supervisor (after mustering up the courage from reading others 1% better negotiations just now - thanks Becca!). — Ben |