Comments on: 5 Ways To Survive a Layoff

By: The Tri-Level Emergency Fund | Frugal Dad

The Tri-Level Emergency Fund | Frugal Dad — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:39:22 +0000

[...] are the types of emergencies that might require you to live off this fund for a short time. Think job layoff, medical disability, a serious accident, etc. My mom suffered an aneurysm and stroke about a year [...]

By: The 2009 Personal Finance “How to” Roundup | AllFinancialMatters

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:32:43 +0000

[...] 8. How To Prepare For a Layoff [...]

By: Kaye

Kaye — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 02:56:46 +0000

We borrowed from our 401k years ago. We researched it carefully, and decided we would rather pay ourselves back at a lower rate of interest than owe a bank and pay higher interest. We paid it off with no problems. I agree that it shouldn't be a first step, but there are times when it is a very practical step. Another note on it - in this weird economy when many businesses are having problems, it might even be a way to protect your own money. I know one person who is still waiting a year after losing his job. The company still hasn't given him his 401K and it is now worth much less than if he'd gotten it when he first left. Kaye’s last blog post..Sandwich Generation: What We Don’t Read Can Be Harmful To Our Pocketbooks!

By: Jeff Rose

Jeff Rose — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 20:57:40 +0000

@ Dee Trust me, I agree. Even in my post I state, “This goes against everything all that I stand for”. I even have another post that says to “never borrow against your 401k”. But recently I’ve had a few clients that needed to tap their 401k after the fact and had to pay the 10% penalty. Had they known the rules, they could have borrowed the amount and saved the 10%.

You make an excellent point on paying back the loan. It tends to vary from employer. I’ve had clients that were told they had to pay it back immediately and others that had 90 days. So yes, definitely double check with your employer first. Because your comment, I just added a Warning message to the post. Thanks for the input!

By: Dee

Dee — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:12:22 +0000

I have to be honest, the 401k advice seems like bad advice.

If you borrow the money while you’re employed, you have to repay it to yourself within about 5 years, I believe. But if you lose your job, that money must be repaid within a few weeks of the layoff or else you have to pay the penalty and you will be taxed on the money.

(what I’ve learned from Suze Orman, so take from that what you will)

By: Choice Articles of the Week | Financial Independence in Your 20s | Studenomics

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:21:43 +0000

[...] Rose at Good Financial Cents provides 5 ways to survive a layoff. I believe that the most valuable tip from the article is to ensure that you have an emergency fund [...]

By: studenomics

studenomics — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:17:27 +0000

Just the thought of a layoff motivates me to put more money into my emergency fund. I’m so thankful I have learned about emergency funds over the years because I have a decent enough chunk of cash saved that if I ever lost my job I would at least have enough money to live life until I found a new job.

studenomics’s last blog post..How the Weekends Could Make You Rich

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:25:40 +0000

Good list — the part about not paying off your credit card debt is pretty important. Take it from the companies these days that don’t have [much] debt, but would LOVE to issue some — *cash is king*. Definitely don’t get behind, since you won’t get any sympathy, especially now, but focus on keeping up to date with the minimums. I made that mistake once, and oh boy…

I found http://www.freeagentnet.com to be a pretty good place to start when I got laid off. It’s a group a people that are unemployed, so I’ve met a bunch of others and gotten some pretty good tips. Also some good info in the forums about stuff like unemployment, COBRA, etc.

Andrew’s last blog post..The Power of Ignorance, or, What an 8 Year Old Can Teach You About Risk

By: Craig

Craig — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:39:20 +0000

Good tips an never an easy situation to handle. Health insurance is probably the most important thing to make sure you can afford somehow. After that the budgeting begins, and there are prob certain areas to cut costs, but that can only buy minimal time.

By: the weakonomist

the weakonomist — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:37:18 +0000

COBRA insurance is something I have never fully understood. I hope to never have to learn about it either.

Thanks for the tips Jeff. I’m seeing people around me drop like flies.