2026 tax year · laid off

Layoff runway calculator

Severance, unemployment and health costs chained into one number: the months before your money runs out.

Your money & burn

From the other calculators

$

From the severance calculator.

$

From the unemployment calculator.

$

From the COBRA vs marketplace calculator.

Your situation

$
$

Rent, food, utilities, minimum debt, not the health premium.

$

Partner's income, side work.

Your runway

Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere. Press Calculate to see your runway.

You are on a countdown from the day the severance letter lands. Enter your savings plus net severance, topped up by unemployment for as long as it lasts, against your essential spending and health premium, month by month, until the balance hits zero. You get your runway and the month you need a paycheck by. Run the other three calculators first and carry their net figures in here.

Worked example

$15,000 savings + $27,000 net severance, $2,200/mo unemployment for 26 weeks, $3,800 spending + $600 health premium:

MeasureValue
Starting balance$42,000
Monthly burn$4,400
Unemployment runs out at month6
Months of runway12
Need income by month13

That's 12 months of runway, comfortable while unemployment lasts, then the balance falls faster once it ends at month 6. The job search has a deadline: income by month 13.

Questions

Why does my balance fall faster later?

Because unemployment ends. While it's paying, it covers a chunk of your spending; once it runs out (here at month 6), your full burn comes out of savings, so the curve steepens. That inflection is the point to plan around.

Should I enter unemployment before or after tax?

After tax. Unemployment is federally taxable and most states tax it too, so use the net figure for an honest runway. The unemployment calculator shows your state's treatment.

What counts as essential spending?

The things you can't stop: rent or mortgage, food, utilities, transport, insurance, minimum debt payments. Keep the health premium separate, the calculator adds it. And leave out discretionary spending you'd cut in a pinch.

Size up each piece

The full layoff toolkit

Severance pay tax Severance is withheld at a flat 22%, which rarely matches your real rate. See the true take-home on your package. Take-home Unemployment benefits Your weekly benefit amount and how many weeks it lasts in your state. The after-tax figure to carry into runway. Weekly · weeks Health coverage after layoff COBRA keeps your plan but at full price; the marketplace may be far cheaper with a subsidy. Compare the monthly premium. COBRA vs ACA Trim the monthly burn A 50/30/20 budget to find the discretionary spending you can cut, which stretches every month of runway. 50/30/20 Will severance bridge the gap? How far a lump-sum package carries you against your real spending, before unemployment or savings. Bridge Negotiate the next offer When the search pays off, a script to anchor higher. The fastest way to close the gap the layoff opened. Offer

Turning the gap into freelance work?

If contract or 1099 work is your bridge back, size up the self-employment tax and quarterly payments before the first invoice goes out.

See the 1099 picture

Give the job search a deadline, not a guess

Not knowing how long you have is the hardest part of a layoff. Feed in severance, unemployment, savings and your real monthly burn, and you get a number of months plus the month by which you need income. Work out each piece with the tools above, carry the net figures in here, and replace the anxiety with a date you can plan against.

Start with your severance take-home

An estimate on your own numbers, no inflation or investment growth modeled. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere. Not financial advice.