After reviewing my COBRA benefits information, instructions for rolling over my 401(k), and details about the loss of my RSUs (ugh), I noticed one more document. It stated that my PTO would be paid out with my last paycheck from the company. What a welcome piece of news! I had not realized that my not going on vacation was going to give me a nice little bonus as I walked away from my job. Fast forward a decade. I was leaving another job, fully prepared to enjoy that PTO p

Losing your job is stressful enough without having to figure out how you are going to afford basic medical care with no income and now potentially no insurance coverage. The good news is that you have several ways to stay covered, and at least one of them is almost always more affordable than people expect.

Either way, you join the call and see that HR joins not long after. Then you hear the word “restructuring” — or “position elimination” — and everything else becomes background noise. Your mind races. Your stomach drops. You might nod along, say “I understand,” and hang up twenty minutes later having absorbed almost nothing that was actually said. If you are me, you probably start sobbing not long after and messaging your family and coworkers to let them know what just happene