Laid Off? Your First 30 Days

The day you lose your job, three clocks start — and nobody hands you a list of them.

30 days to join a spouse's health plan.

60 days to elect COBRA.

60 days to enroll in a Marketplace health plan after losing coverage.

Miss one, and the option is usually gone for the year. Meanwhile the unemployment claim, the severance agreement, the final paycheck, and your 401(k) are all asking for decisions in the same two weeks.

Laid Off? Your First 30 Days turns the official rules — U.S. Department of Labor, HealthCare.gov, IRS, and your state agency — into one ordered checklist for your first month after a layoff. No fluff, no motivation talk. Just: what to do, in what order, by when, and how to check the parts that depend on your state.

WHAT'S INSIDE (9 sections, 16 pages)

Section 0 — Your 30-Day Action Calendar. The whole month on one page: what to do on Day 0, Days 1–3, and Weeks 1–4, and how you know each step is done.

Section 1 — The Last-Day Checklist. The four dates to get in writing before you walk out, what federal law does and doesn't say about your final paycheck and unused PTO, and why you should never sign a severance agreement in the room — including the 21/45-day consideration period and 7-day revocation right federal law gives workers 40 and over.

Section 2 — Unemployment Insurance: Do You Qualify? The four gates every state tests: the base period, the reason you separated, able-and-available, and work search — plus where to file (the state where you worked) and why filing anyway is the right move when you're unsure.

Section 3 — Filing, Step by Step. Filing in your first week, the unpaid waiting week, identity verification, weekly/biweekly certification, the three mistakes that stop payments, what to do if you're denied — appeal, on the deadline printed on the letter — and the tax withholding choice most people skip.

Section 4 — Health Insurance: The Decision That Can't Wait. COBRA vs. the Marketplace vs. a spouse's plan vs. Medicaid, side by side: deadlines, costs, retroactivity, and the two-way COBRA trap (enrolling in a Marketplace plan ends COBRA; dropping COBRA voluntarily usually does NOT open a new Marketplace window). Includes the six questions to decide with — instead of deciding in a panic.

Section 5 — Your 401(k), HSA, and FSA: Slow Down Here. All four options for an old 401(k), the real math of cashing out (income tax + 10% additional tax under 59½ + mandatory 20% withholding), the 60-day rollover trap, the Rule of 55, the one true deadline if you have a 401(k) loan, and why your HSA is yours to keep while your FSA is use-it-or-lose-it.

Section 6 — Your State Is Different: The Self-Check Method. The five state-specific facts you actually need (benefit amount and weeks, waiting week, final-paycheck deadline, appeal deadline, work-search rules), where each one lives on official sites, and eight questions to ask in one call to your state agency.

Section 7 — Red Flags. The scams that target the newly unemployed: fake filing sites that charge fees for a free claim, COBRA billing scams, identity-theft claims filed in your name, and "guaranteed approval" helpers — and the three moves to make if it happens to you.

Section 8 — The Last Page. A master checklist plus a fill-in table for every key date and number: claim confirmation, certification day, and all three health-coverage deadlines, on one printable page.

WHO THIS IS FOR

- You were laid off, downsized, or let go in a restructuring — today, last week, or any day now

- Your hours were cut to zero, or a contract role ended early

- You're holding a severance agreement you haven't signed yet

- You want the deadlines and the order of operations, checked against official sources, without spending your first week bouncing between agency websites

WHO THIS IS NOT FOR

- Your key deadlines passed months ago and your situation now turns on an appeal, a hearing, or a dispute — you need a local employment attorney or your state's legal aid, not a handbook

- You need personal legal, tax, or financial advice, help filing your actual claim, or someone to tell you whether you personally qualify — only your state agency can decide your case

- You quit voluntarily with no change in your job circumstances and want a workaround — there isn't one in here, and anyone selling one is selling fiction

PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU BUY

This handbook is general information only, as of November 2026. It is not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it is not a filing service. Unemployment insurance, final-paycheck timing, and several other rules are set by your state and vary; federal rules cited here were checked against official sources. Before acting on any deadline, confirm it on your state's unemployment website, at HealthCare.gov, or in the agency letter in your mailbox. The letter always wins.

DELIVERY

Instant download after payment: one PDF, 16 pages, A4 — readable on any device, and Section 8 is designed to be printed.