{ "id": 467, "date": "2026-09-22T10:03:07", "date_gmt": "2026-09-22T08:03:07", "guid": { "rendered": "https:\/\/cursiqa.com\/en\/blog\/what-to-do-financially-after-a-layoff\/" }, "modified": "2026-09-22T10:03:07", "modified_gmt": "2026-09-22T08:03:07", "slug": "what-to-do-financially-after-a-layoff", "status": "publish", "type": "post", "link": "https:\/\/cursiqa.com\/sk\/blog\/what-to-do-financially-after-a-layoff\/", "title": { "rendered": "What to Do Financially After a Layoff: A 5-Step Triage Plan" }, "content": { "rendered": "

Getting laid off compresses about a month of financial decisions into roughly a week. The hard part of what to do financially after a layoff<\/strong> is not budgeting \u2014 it is that three separate clocks start on the same day you are least equipped to read fine print: your severance deadline, your health coverage election window, and your unemployment claim. Miss them and you lose money that was legally available to you. What follows is a triage order, not a pep talk.<\/p>\n

The First 72 Hours: What to Do Financially After a Layoff<\/h2>\n

Do these five things before you rewrite your resume. They take an afternoon and they protect every decision that comes later.<\/p>\n

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  1. Write down three dates.<\/strong> Your last day worked, your last day on payroll, and the last day your health coverage is active. These are frequently different. Coverage often ends on the last day of the month, but some plans end it the day you separate. Do not assume \u2014 ask.<\/li>\n
  2. Pull your documents before access is cut.<\/strong> Offer letter, severance agreement, latest pay stub, benefits summary, equity or option grant documents, PTO policy, and the employee handbook section on separation. If company email is already locked, request copies from HR in writing.<\/li>\n
  3. Put every question to HR in writing.<\/strong> Email creates a record. Phone calls do not.<\/li>\n
  4. Count your actual cash.<\/strong> Checking, savings, and any money market you can reach in two days. Exclude retirement accounts and credit limits \u2014 those are not cash.<\/li>\n
  5. Calculate your lean monthly number.<\/strong> Housing, utilities, food, insurance, transportation, minimum debt payments. Nothing else.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Worked example: you have $11,400 in reachable cash and a lean monthly number of $3,800. That is three months of runway before severance or unemployment. If severance is six weeks of gross pay at $7,500 gross, budget the net \u2014 call it $5,300 after withholding \u2014 which extends you to roughly four and a half months. That single number decides how aggressive your spending triage needs to be.<\/p>\n

    Review the Severance Agreement Before You Sign Anything<\/h2>\n

    Severance is almost always offered in exchange for a release of claims. That is a legal trade, and the first version is rarely the only version.<\/p>\n

    You usually have more time than the meeting implied. Under the federal Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, workers age 40 and over must be given at least 21 days to consider an individual agreement (45 days for a group layoff) plus 7 days to revoke after signing. Under 40, there is no federal minimum \u2014 but you can still ask for time, and employers routinely grant it.<\/p>\n

    Ask these before signing:<\/p>\n