Severance, savings, and monthly burn — see how many months you've got, the date the money runs out, and what unemployment adds.
The runway math
runway = (severance + savings) ÷ monthly burn
with unemployment: burn shrinks by the weekly benefit × 4.33 while it lasts
Runway is the only number that converts a layoff from a crisis into a project with a deadline. It sets how selective you can afford to be, whether a stopgap contract makes sense, and when spending cuts stop being optional — all before any of those decisions gets made under panic.
A worked example
$15,000 severance after tax, $20,000 savings, $4,500/month burn: 7.8 months of runway — enough for a real search. Add a $450/week state benefit for 26 weeks and the first six months only burn ~$2,550/month, stretching the runway past 11. Same person, $2,000 of cuts... every $500 trimmed from the burn adds roughly a month.
Stretching it
File for unemployment week one (it isn't charity — you paid for it), decide COBRA vs marketplace inside the 60-day window, and cut the burn early, not when the balance forces it. If a package is still being negotiated, the severance calculator prices what's standard — and when the next offer lands, the offer comparison keeps a runway-shortened search from taking a bad deal.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to find a new job after a layoff?
Plan on 3–6 months as the honest baseline — longer for senior roles and single-industry towns, shorter in hot fields. The runway number above is most useful compared against that range: runway comfortably past six months buys a real search; runway under three means the search starts today and spending cuts start tonight.
Does severance affect unemployment benefits?
It depends on your state — some delay unemployment until the severance period runs out, some reduce it, some ignore severance entirely. Check your state's unemployment office (it's a ten-minute read) before assuming the two stack. This calculator lets you toggle unemployment on and off so you can see both worlds.
What about health insurance after a layoff?
COBRA lets you keep your work plan but at the FULL premium plus 2% — often $600–2,000/month, the single biggest shock in post-layoff budgeting. Losing job coverage also opens a 60-day special enrollment window on healthcare.gov, where a marketplace plan is often much cheaper. Whichever you choose, put it in your monthly spending here.
Is severance taxed?
Yes — it's ordinary wages, and lump-sum payouts are typically withheld like bonuses (flat 22% federal on most). Enter your severance AFTER tax for an honest runway; our bonus tax calculator gets you the take-home figure fast.