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What Is MAGI? The Number That Actually Decides Your Benefits
Not your paycheck. Not your take-home pay. There's one specific number that Medi-Cal and Covered California actually check — and almost nobody explains what it is.
What Is the Benefits Cliff? (And Why It's Not Your Fault)
A small raise can cost you thousands in lost benefits. Here's exactly how the cliff works, why it exists, and why turning down a raise to avoid it is a rational response — not a failure.
Traditional Retirement Accounts 101: The Tool That Bridges the Cliff
Now that you understand MAGI and the cliff, here's the actual tool that makes the strategy work — what a Traditional IRA or 401(k) is, how it reduces your MAGI, and how to get started.
The big picture
Half of America Isn't Invested in the Stock Market. You Can Be.
Larry Fink says we have a retirement crisis. Social Security is strained. But people at the bottom of the K-shaped economy can start building wealth right now — and nobody is telling them. Until now.
How I Almost Turned Down a Raise — And What I Did Instead
The dread of earning more when you're on benefits. The math that doesn't work. And the thing nobody told me until I found it myself.
The K-Shaped Economy: Why Two People Working the Same Hours Have Completely Different Futures
It's not about effort. It's about which system you're plugged into — and whether that system is designed to let you build wealth.
Investing basics
What Is the Federal Poverty Level — and Why Does It Determine Your Benefits?
Almost every California benefits program uses the FPL as its yardstick. Here's what it is, how it's calculated, and why it's the number your entire eligibility revolves around.
Stocks, ETFs, and Savings Accounts: What's the Actual Difference?
Three places to put your money, three completely different jobs. A cute chart comparing decades of returns, plus why Warren Buffett's "invest in what you know" rule still matters for beginners.
Inflation Is a Thief
Money sitting still is quietly losing value every year. Here's why that matters most for families managing the cliff — the same dollar that stops the theft can also protect your benefits.
Getting Off the Hot Girl Hamster Wheel — One Share at a Time
Why every choice is really two choices, and how skipping a small beauty expense — or making bread at home — and buying a share of a dividend ETF instead turns a recurring cost into a recurring habit that pays you.
Understanding the benefits cliff
Can I Have a Retirement Account and Still Get Medi-Cal?
Yes — and not only can you have both, the right retirement account can actually help you keep your Medi-Cal when your income rises.
Accounts & tax strategy
Roth vs. Traditional: The Choice That Decides Whether You Keep Your Benefits
They sound similar. But for the benefits cliff, one protects your Medi-Cal — and the other does absolutely nothing for it.
Already Contributed to a Roth? Here's the Fix Before the Tax Deadline
There's a simple IRS process called recharacterization that can switch a Roth contribution to Traditional — even after the money's already in. And if you're safely under your cliff, Roth has real advantages too.
The Self-Employed Cliff: How a SEP-IRA Can Protect Your Benefits
If you have any self-employment income, you have access to a retirement account with limits far larger than a standard IRA — and a far bigger MAGI impact.
FSA & HSA: The Other Way to Lower Your MAGI (and Pay for Braces Tax-Free)
Health spending accounts let you pay for braces, sunscreen, tampons, contacts, and hundreds of other items with pre-tax dollars — and they reduce your MAGI the same way a retirement account does.
FSAs: Genuinely Great, Genuinely Tedious
Awesome for a known big expense like braces. A real hassle for small recurring stuff like vitamins that need a doctor's note. The honest tradeoffs nobody puts in the brochure.
Practical how-to
How to Read Your Pay Stub and Find Your MAGI
Your pay stub has everything you need to calculate your MAGI — it's just not labeled that way. Here's exactly which numbers to look at.
The January Checklist: How to Update Your Retirement Contributions When the FPL Changes
Every January, benefit thresholds shift. Here's your 30-minute annual ritual to make sure your contributions still protect your benefits for the new year.
Gig workers & self-employed
How to File Taxes When You're Self-Employed and on Benefits
Gig workers on Medi-Cal face a unique tax situation. Here's how to file correctly, take every deduction, and protect your benefits in the process.
Intermediate — once you've got the basics down
Time in the Market vs. Timing the Market — Why Consistent Beats Perfect
Nobody rings a bell at the bottom. Here's why dollar cost averaging beats trying to pick perfect moments — and what watching IRA balances fall during the pandemic and soar after taught us about staying in.
Options, Explained: Why Selling Puts Is My Favorite Way to Buy Stock
What are options, and why all the hype? A plain-language intro plus a conservative strategy I use in my own IRA: selling cash-secured puts and covered calls.
Diversification, the Magnificent 7, and the "Unmagnificent" 493
Seven tech giants drove most of the market's gains for years — until the other 493 companies quietly started outperforming. Why diversification protects you from guessing wrong.
Advanced — read the basics first
The Backdoor Roth, and the Year-End Roth Conversion
The backdoor Roth is a high-income strategy that honestly doesn't apply to most readers here — and we say so. But a related move does: using leftover MAGI room at year-end to convert a little Traditional money to Roth, on purpose.
More articles on the way — including investing basics, index funds, and dollar-cost averaging.
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