Laid Off at 45? Don't Sign Anything Yet

Laid off at 45, or quietly afraid you will be? This is the order to do things in during the first 30 days, wherever in the world you live. A layoff starts five clocks, and the costliest mistakes come from missing one in a panic: 1. Sign: how long you have before signing the severance or settlement agreement, and whether to get advice first 2. Register: the deadline to sign up for unemployment or job-seeker support 3. Health: when your employer health cover ends, and the window to replace it 4. Shares: what happens to unvested shares and stock options 5. Savings: the one to leave alone Examples from the US, the UK, Germany, Singapore and India show what each clock looks like in practice. Then: your runway in months, telling your family the plan, the one advantage a 45-year-old has in a job search, and how to run the search like a project. Chapters 0:00 Cold open 1:14 Day 0: Don't sign today 3:00 Days 1 to 3: Find your clocks, then your number 5:48 Week 1: Say it out loud 7:06 Week 2: Your unfair advantage 9:13 Weeks 3 to 4: Run it like a project 10:42 Day 30 11:45 Your five clocks, today Sources US BLS, unemployment duration by age (2025): https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat31.htm US BLS, Worker Displacement 2023–2025: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/arch... US Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, 29 U.S.C. § 626(f): https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/te... UK Employment Rights Act 1996, s. 203: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/... Germany, Bundesagentur für Arbeit, SGB III § 38 and § 159: https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/datei/f... Singapore, SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support: https://www.wsg.gov.sg/home/media-roo... US DOL, COBRA: https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/ebsa/he... HealthCare.gov, Special Enrollment Period: https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage-o... CBPP, weeks of unemployment benefits by state: https://www.cbpp.org/research/economy... AARP, age discrimination survey (2024): https://www.aarp.org/advocacy/workpla... This is general information, not legal or financial advice; rules differ by country and change over time, so check your own. Dana, Alex and their story are a made-up example. #Layoffs #CareerAdvice #SoftwareEngineering #JobSearch #EngineersMotivation