Layoff Financial Triage Skill
The first week after a layoff has three jobs: know the runway number, catch the deadlines that expire silently, and stop the optional bleeding. Grief and job-searching come after solvency. This skill runs the triage in that order — numbers first, calmly, with dates.
What This Skill Produces
- The runway number — months of survival at triage spending, computed
- The deadline list — everything with a clock: unemployment filing, healthcare election, equity exercise windows, 401(k) loan repayment triggers
- Spending triage — keep / pause / cancel, with the monthly recovery totaled
- The one-week checklist — ordered, dated, small enough to do while stunned
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
- Cash and near-cash — checking, savings, anything liquid (not retirement)
- Monthly spend — rough is fine; the triage refines it
- The exit terms — final pay date, severance if any, healthcare end date, unvested/vested equity and its exercise window
- Household — partner income, dependents, anything on employer benefits (insurance, phone, disability)
- Jurisdiction — unemployment rules and timelines vary; never guess
Framework
- Runway before feelings: runway = liquid cash ÷ triage-level monthly spend. Compute it in the first section — an actual number beats dread every time.
- Deadlines are the emergency: unemployment filing (file week one — eligibility often starts at filing, not at layoff), healthcare election windows, equity exercise windows (the classic five-figure silent expiry — bold it), FSA spend-down, 401(k) loan acceleration.
- Triage tiers: Keep (housing, food, insurance, internet) · Pause (subscriptions, memberships — chain to
subscription-auditor) · Cancel/renegotiate (the discretionary layer). Total the recovery per month.
- Do NOT list: panic-selling investments, raiding retirement (penalties + taxes — flag as last-resort with the real cost computed), and paying off low-interest debt early "to feel lighter."
- Income bridges, honestly ranked: unemployment first (it's insurance, not charity — say so), severance negotiation (chain to
severance-agreement-decoder), then gig/contract stopgaps.
Output Format
Financial Triage: [date]
Runway: [n.n] months at triage spending ([current] → [triage] $/mo)
The clock ⏰
| Deadline |
Date |
What expires |
Action |
Spending triage
| Item | $/mo | Verdict | Note |
Recovered: $[n]/mo → runway extends to [n.n] months
Do-not list
[The panic moves, each with its real cost]
This week, in order
Mon: … Tue: … (file unemployment day 1–2, always)
Quality Checks
Anti-Patterns
1---2name: layoff-financial-triage3description: The first-72-hours money plan after a layoff — runway computed, deadlines caught, bleeding stopped, in priority order. Use when asked I just got laid off what do I do about money, build my layoff budget, how long can I last, or what needs to happen this week. Produces the runway number, the deadline list (healthcare, unemployment filing, equity exercise windows), the spending triage, and a one-week action checklist.4---5
6# Layoff Financial Triage Skill
7
8The first week after a layoff has three jobs: know the runway number, catch the deadlines that expire silently, and stop the optional bleeding. Grief and job-searching come after solvency. This skill runs the triage in that order — numbers first, calmly, with dates.
9
10## What This Skill Produces
11
12- **The runway number** — months of survival at triage spending, computed
13- **The deadline list** — everything with a clock: unemployment filing, healthcare election, equity exercise windows, 401(k) loan repayment triggers
14- **Spending triage** — keep / pause / cancel, with the monthly recovery totaled
15- **The one-week checklist** — ordered, dated, small enough to do while stunned
16
17## Required Inputs
18
19Ask for these if not provided:
20- **Cash and near-cash** — checking, savings, anything liquid (not retirement)
21- **Monthly spend** — rough is fine; the triage refines it
22- **The exit terms** — final pay date, severance if any, healthcare end date, unvested/vested equity and its exercise window
23- **Household** — partner income, dependents, anything on employer benefits (insurance, phone, disability)
24- **Jurisdiction** — unemployment rules and timelines vary; never guess
25
26## Framework
27
281. **Runway before feelings:** runway = liquid cash ÷ triage-level monthly spend. Compute it in the first section — an actual number beats dread every time.
292. **Deadlines are the emergency:** unemployment filing (file week one — eligibility often starts at filing, not at layoff), healthcare election windows, **equity exercise windows** (the classic five-figure silent expiry — bold it), FSA spend-down, 401(k) loan acceleration.
303. **Triage tiers:** Keep (housing, food, insurance, internet) · Pause (subscriptions, memberships — chain to `subscription-auditor`) · Cancel/renegotiate (the discretionary layer). Total the recovery per month.
314. **Do NOT list:** panic-selling investments, raiding retirement (penalties + taxes — flag as last-resort with the real cost computed), and paying off low-interest debt early "to feel lighter."
325. **Income bridges, honestly ranked:** unemployment first (it's insurance, not charity — say so), severance negotiation (chain to `severance-agreement-decoder`), then gig/contract stopgaps.
33
34## Output Format
35
36# Financial Triage: [date]
37**Runway: [n.n] months** at triage spending ([current] → [triage] $/mo)
38
39## The clock ⏰
40| Deadline | Date | What expires | Action |
41|---|---|---|---|
42
43## Spending triage
44| Item | $/mo | Verdict | Note |
45**Recovered: $[n]/mo → runway extends to [n.n] months**
46
47## Do-not list
48[The panic moves, each with its real cost]
49
50## This week, in order
51Mon: … Tue: … (file unemployment day 1–2, always)
52
53## Quality Checks
54
55- [ ] The runway number leads, computed both pre- and post-triage
56- [ ] Unemployment filing appears in the first two days of the checklist
57- [ ] Equity exercise windows are surfaced and bolded if present
58- [ ] Every triage verdict shows its monthly recovery; the total is stated
59- [ ] Retirement-raiding appears only in the do-not list with its true cost
60
61## Anti-Patterns
62
63- [ ] Do not open with reassurance — open with the number; calm comes from arithmetic
64- [ ] Do not let shame delay the unemployment filing — it's an insurance claim on premiums already paid
65- [ ] Do not cut health insurance to extend runway — one ER visit undoes years; it's in Keep
66- [ ] Do not build the plan on a hoped-for job date — runway assumes zero income until real income exists
67- [ ] Do not moralize about past spending — triage looks forward only
gabrielmoreira