Job loss runway calculator: know your financial runway.

Estimate how long your money may last,what benefits may help, and what choices matter after job loss.

Calculate My Runway
No accountNo name or emailSaved on this deviceEstimates onlyOfficial sources

Review Dates

Last updated July 7, 2026.

Last reviewed July 8, 2026.

Calculator Assumptions

Blank numeric fields are treated as zero. Unemployment, COBRA, Marketplace, severance, PTO, and job-offer estimates depend on entered values and visible planning assumptions.

Sources & Freshness

State unemployment estimates use stored state configuration reviewed July 8, 2026. COBRA, Marketplace, tax, and job-offer figures use entered values or displayed planning formulas.

Income & Money

What you have now and what may still come in each month.

Money Available$0+
Income Still Coming In$0+
Benefits, Health Coverage & Assumptions+

These assumptions affect confidence, healthcare deadline reminders, risk flags, scenarios, stress tests, and audit traces. They are educational planning inputs, not official benefits or insurance determinations.

Advanced CalculatorsImprove accuracy for unemployment, COBRA/Marketplace, severance taxes, and first job offers.+

Quick Answer stays simple. Open these only when you want the calculator to estimate key job-loss numbers instead of relying on rough guesses.

State unemployment estimator+

Estimated weekly benefit: $0

Estimated monthly benefit: $0

Total estimated benefit available: $0 over 26 weeks

This is an educational estimate. State unemployment agencies make the final decision.

State agency source
Severance / PTO after-tax estimator+

Taxes are personal โ€” this is not a tax calculation.

Your actual tax rate depends on your total income for the year, filing status, state, withholding elections, and how your employer taxes severance and PTO payouts. This tool does not calculate your tax rate for you โ€” it only does the math on whatever percentages you enter. If you're not sure what to enter, a pay stub from a recent bonus or severance payment, a tax professional, or the IRS withholding estimator can give you a more accurate number than a guess.

Total net exit cash: $0

Net severance: $0

Net PTO: $0

Net bonus/commission: $0

Gross severance is not the same as usable cash. Taxes, timing, and unemployment rules can change the real value.

A lump sum may arrive later than expected and may have taxes withheld before you can use it.

COBRA vs Marketplace estimator+
OptionMonthly Cost3 Months6 Months12 MonthsKey Risk
COBRA$0$0$0$0Enter employer and employee premium shares to estimate COBRA.
Marketplace$0$0$0$0Actual quote requires HealthCare.gov or state marketplace.
Spouse/partner plan$0$0$0$0Employer special enrollment window is not confirmed in this result.
Medicaid/CHIP$0$0$0$0Medicaid and CHIP eligibility are not checked in this result; income change or covered children can affect eligibility.

Lower entered estimate: Enter COBRA and Marketplace estimates to compare

Use Healthcare.gov or your state marketplace for actual quotes. Enter the monthly premium after subsidy if known.

Doctors, hospitals, medications, and networks are not confirmed in this result. Monthly premium is not the whole cost; deductible, out-of-pocket maximum, and prescription costs are not compared in this result.

First job offer decision estimator+

Financial stability score: Negative

Monthly net after job costs: $0

Runway if you decline: Ongoing

Health insurance gap: 0 days

Financial / safety / career scores: 0 / 60 / 50

Financial stability score is negative for the offer relative to runway and market confidence, under these assumptions.

The offer becomes more acceptable if take-home pay covers burn, health coverage starts sooner, relocation/commute costs fall, or role fit improves.

Runway may give some negotiation room.

How did we calculate this?+

Estimated weekly unemployment benefit

Formula: min(state maximum weekly benefit, highest quarter wages x state quarter multiplier) - estimated partial income reduction

Inputs: stateCode: CA; highestQuarterWages: 0; maxWeeklyBenefit: 450; approxQuarterMultiplier: 0.038461538461538464; weeklySideIncome: 0; weeklyPartTimeIncome: 0; partialIncomeReduction: 0

Result: 0

Assumptions: California generally reviews wages in a base period and uses the highest quarter to estimate weekly benefits.; Partial earnings may reduce weekly benefits. Report all earnings to EDD.; This simplified estimate does not determine eligibility.

Warning: This is an educational estimate. State unemployment agencies make the final decision.

Net severance amount

Formula: gross severance x (1 - federal tax rate - state tax rate - payroll tax rate)

Inputs: grossSeveranceAmount: 0; federal: 12; stateTax: 5; payroll: 7.65; totalEstimatedTaxRate: 24.65

Result: 0

Assumptions: Tax rates are user-entered estimates.; Withholding and final tax outcome may differ.

Total net exit cash

Formula: net severance + net PTO + net bonus/commission

Inputs: netSeveranceAmount: 0; netPtoAmount: 0; netBonusCommissionAmount: 0

Result: 0

Assumptions: Only entered exit-cash fields are included.

COBRA monthly premium

Formula: (employee premium + employer contribution) x (1 + admin fee percent / 100)

Inputs: employeePremium: 0; employerContribution: 0; adminFeePercent: 2

Result: 0

Assumptions: COBRA often means paying both old employee and employer shares plus up to a 2% administrative fee.

Marketplace net monthly premium

Formula: marketplace monthly premium estimate - expected subsidy estimate

Inputs: marketplaceGross: 0; subsidy: 0

Result: 0

Assumptions: Actual Marketplace premiums require HealthCare.gov or state Marketplace plan data.

Monthly net after job costs

Formula: estimated monthly take-home pay - new job health premium - commute cost - care cost

Inputs: estimatedMonthlyTakeHomePay: 0; employeeMonthlyPremiumNewJob: 0; commuteCostMonthly: 0; childcareOrCaregivingCostMonthly: 0

Result: 0

Assumptions: Take-home pay may differ based on taxes, deductions, and benefits.

Runway if decline

Formula: current monthly runway - expected weeks to next offer / 4.345

Inputs: currentMonthlyRunway: Infinity; expectedWeeksToNextOffer: 8

Result: Infinity

Assumptions: Expected time to another offer is a planning estimate, not a prediction.

Educational estimates only. State agencies, HealthCare.gov/state marketplaces, employer plan documents, tax rules, and qualified professionals are the sources of record for major decisions.

Expenses & Debt

What drains runway: essentials, debt pressure, flexible spending, and one-time bills reserved now.

Essential Monthly Expenses$0+
Credit Card & Debt PressureDebt: $0 ยท Min: $0+

Debt payments can shorten your financial runway significantly.

Lightweight runway estimate

Card 1

Total credit card debt$0
Estimated monthly interest$0/month
Minimum monthly payments$0/month

Interest is estimated for planning purposes only. Actual lender interest may differ because lenders may use daily balances, statement cycles, fees, compounding, grace periods, and payment timing.

Add debt details to estimate debt payment pressure.

High-interest debt can quietly drain your runway. This is a rough pressure check, not a full debt payoff plan.

Where payment pressure goes

Add debt details to estimate debt payment pressure.

Flexible / Cuttable Monthly Expenses$0+
One-Time Bills To Reserve Now+

Upcoming one-time bills are reserved immediately for a conservative estimate.

Upcoming expense 1

Upcoming expense 2

Upcoming expense 3

What Extends My Runway?

Runway extension ideas will appear after you click Calculate My Runway.

Shared Journeys

Real stories are being collected.

Shared Journeys will feature approved stories from real visitors. Until then, the library stays open for new submissions instead of showing sample story cards.

Share a job loss journey

Job Loss Articles

Read next when the numbers are clear

Helpful Resources

Official sources to check after you estimate your runway.

One step at a time.