6 key financial steps to take after a layoff

Those may include other streams of income such as a partner’s salary, as well as emergency savings, company stock and financial accounts including a 401(k) or individual retirement account (more on this in a bit).

Your resources may also include company benefits like severance pay or cashing out unused leave like vacation and sick days. Workers should also check to see if they can continue receiving benefits like company-sponsored health and life insurance.

Households should also update their budgets to get a sense of current spending and how that could be adjusted without your paycheck.

“You want to get clarity,” said financial advisor Winnie Sun, co-founder of Sun Group Wealth Partners in Irvine, California, and a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council. “We all think we don’t spend that much.

“But most of us probably do.”

These factors — your budget and money stash — will help dictate your timeline for finding a new job.

Applicants generally submit a claim for benefits in the state where they worked, according to the Labor Department. You can consult the DOL’s state directory or CareerOneStop.org for agency contact and application information.

Further, be prepared with relevant information like employment records for about the past two years, Nightingale said.

“Don’t just pick up the phone and say, ‘I was working at XYZ Company,’ because you need more than that to apply,” she said.

You may not be immediately eligible for unemployment insurance if you’re receiving severance pay. But you may be eligible for full or partial benefits depending on your individual circumstance and state rules. If you’re deemed ineligible, file a new claim once severance pay stops.

There may be some wiggle room to negotiate on severance and other company benefits, Sun said. (Not all businesses offer severance, though.)

If you are in good standing with your company, ask your manager if you can get a few extra months of severance pay, and an associated extension to medical and dental benefits.

Or, similarly, ask if you can extend your employment (and delay the layoff) by a few months. This becomes especially important if you’re close to being — but aren’t yet — fully vested in benefits like a 401(k) match or company stock, Sun said.