2026 tax year · laid off
Layoff runway calculator
The one number that matters after a layoff: how many months until the money runs out. This chains severance, unemployment and health costs into a single answer.
A severance letter comes with a countdown. This is the calculator that reads it: 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. It tells you your runway and the month you need a paycheck by. Run the other three calculators first and carry their net figures in here.
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.
Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere, it runs in your browser.
Worked example
$15,000 savings + $27,000 net severance, $2,200/mo unemployment for 26 weeks, $3,800 spending + $600 health premium:
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Starting balance | $42,000 |
| Monthly burn | $4,400 |
| Unemployment runs out at month | 6 |
| Months of runway | 12 |
| Need income by month | 13 |
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.
The full toolkit
- Severance tax your net check
- Unemployment weekly benefit and weeks
- Health coverage the monthly premium
- 50/30/20 budget trim the burn
An estimate on your own numbers, no inflation or investment growth modeled. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere. Not financial advice.