What should you do in the first 48 hours after job loss?
File the unemployment claim today — in most states the waiting week starts when you file, not when you were separated, so a week of delay is a week of benefit you do not get back. Then sign nothing for at least a day.
The full picture
Four things in the first 48 hours, and only one of them is urgent because of a clock you do not control.
What is not urgent, despite how it feels: the 401(k). Leaving it where it is costs nothing for now, a rollover to an IRA is free and can be done in a month, and cashing it out is the one move that is genuinely hard to undo — income tax plus a 10 percent penalty before 59½, and the balance removed from compounding at exactly the moment contributions also stop.
Also not urgent: cancelling everything. Call lenders and servicers before a payment is late rather than after — hardship and forbearance programmes are far easier to obtain on a current account than a delinquent one — but that is a first-week task, not a first-48-hours one.
The filings, in order of deadline
Unemployment first. It is a joint federal and state programme, and you file with the state where you worked; that state sets eligibility, the weekly amount and the number of weeks (DOL). Filing late does not usually backdate, so this is the item that costs real money to defer.
Health coverage second. The continuation election period is 60 days, and the employee guide sets out the notice, election and payment deadlines and how they interact (DOL, An Employee's Guide to Health Benefits Under COBRA, DOL). Running alongside it, losing job-based coverage opens a special enrollment period on the marketplace, generally 60 days, and you can apply before the old coverage actually ends (HealthCare.gov, HealthCare.gov).
The severance agreement third, because its deadline is set by the document rather than by statute unless you are 40 or older, in which case minimum consideration and revocation periods apply (EEOC).
The retirement account last, and deliberately so. There is no 48-hour deadline on an old plan balance, and a rushed cash-out is expensive to undo; the rules for moving it are worth reading before acting (IRS on rollovers).
Common questions
What should you do in the first 48 hours after job loss?
Four things have deadlines and the rest do not, so do the dated ones first. File the unemployment claim with the state where you worked, because in most states benefits run from the week you file rather than the week the job ended. Read the severance agreement for its dates before signing anything. Find out when health coverage actually ends and what the continuation notice says. Then, and only then, deal with the budget, the network and the search, none of which expire.
Should I elect COBRA immediately after losing my job?
Not on the first day, in most cases. The election period is 60 days, and coverage elected inside that window reaches back to the date the old coverage ended, so the decision can be made deliberately rather than in the first week. Use the time to get a real marketplace quote based on the income you now expect for the year. What you must not do is let the election deadline or the first premium deadline pass, because neither can be recovered.
Related questions
How long does unemployment last? →
Can you negotiate a severance package? →
Losing Your Job: everything in one place
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Walk the decisions 2
Run your numbers 6
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- How long does unemployment last?
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