Prepare Your Finances for a Job Leave

Working people depend on having an income to live. You need to pay for housing, food, health care and many other things. Nevertheless, there may come a time when you want to be able to Leave a Job. The most common reasons are either retirement or a temporary leave to change jobs or careers. Whatever your reason for wanting to leave work, you will need to make financial plans. You will need to set aside some savings and make changes to your spending. Your mortgage and insurance costs will be an important part of the picture as well. With adequate planning, you can make it happen.

Steps

Setting a Target

1. Choose a date. Some people may decide at the start of their career that they want to work to age 50, or 55, or some other number. If you would like to make this a goal, you need to set your target and then work toward it. Claiming to have a goal means nothing unless you take steps to get there, but your first step is to decide what you want.
2. Identify an event. Your target to leave your present job may be some event, such as reaching a particular level of expertise or the day your supervisor leaves. Some of these targeting events may be under your control, and some may not. The less certain the event, the more prepared you will need to be.
   • For example, you may have decided that you want to leave your present company if they ever sell out or merge with some other company. Since you cannot control something like this and may not know when it is coming, you should try to have some alternative source of employment at least in mind for when the time comes.
   • In the event of a maternity leave, you may not know for years exactly when it is coming, but then in the final nine months (or so) you will know almost exactly. You can plan in general to have some savings set aside, and then when you get pregnant you can begin making some specific last-minute preparations.
   • Sometimes, the "event" that triggers a temporary leave might be a long-term illness, either yours or someone you need to care for. This can come with almost no advance warning. You need to plan for the general contingency and make some emergency preparations.
3. Plan a savings target. This is probably the most controllable concept. You can sit down with a financial planner and decide how much money you would need to have in savings to allow yourself and your family to survive adequately without your income. Then work toward setting aside that amount of money. As time goes by and interest rates fluctuate, you may need to adjust your plans accordingly. However, setting the target and doing the work up front will help you be as prepared as you can be.
   • If your target is to retire early, financial experts recommend that your savings target should be about 25 times your annual salary. You will then be able to withdraw money at the rate of about 4% per year.
   • If you target is to be able to leave work temporarily to look for a new job or another reason, then your target will be whatever amount you need to meet your expenses for that time. For example, the average job search is approximately four to six months, so you should plan to have savings to cover your living costs for that long.

Reaching Your Target

1. Work with a financial adviser. If you want to plan for leaving your job, you should enlist the help of a qualified financial adviser. Someone with expertise in investing can help you decide how much you need to save and can help you find the best ways to invest. If you want some help with finding a qualified financial adviser, read Hire a Financial Advisor or Select a Financial Advisor.
2. Invest your savings carefully. Working with your financial adviser, you will want to do more than just place your earnings in a bank account. Simple savings accounts earn very low interest. You will do better to invest in bonds, stocks or other securities, in accordance with your adviser’s opinions.
   • Investing works best when you begin as early as possible. Your best ally when saving is time. Your interest compounds more effectively when you begin early.
   • If your focus is to be able to take a temporary leave at some time, then you may need to have your savings in a readily accessible account. Long-term IRA savings are good for retirement planning, but you may need to be able to withdraw money sooner. Work with your adviser to find the best investment or savings plans for your needs.
   • If you want to plan for a lengthy, temporary leave, such as for a maternity or family illness, you will want to have savings in some readily accessible account. A short-term bond or money market may be the best bet, or even a simple savings account that you earmark for such an emergency.
3. Cut your expenses as much as possible. Many people live their lives from month to month and use a great deal of their income. If you manage a budget this way, you will do fine from month to month, but you will greatly delay your savings plan. If your goal is to be able to leave work, you should begin by cutting expenses as much as possible.
   • To begin cutting expenses, start by listing them all. Then review how you spend your money over a one- to three-month period and identify the expenses that you believe you can live without. Perhaps you can reduce the number of times that you go out to dinner. Maybe you can cut some entertainment expenses.
   • Manage your utilities. Try to reduce some of your monthly expenses by reducing utility usage in your home. Manage the heat, turn off lights, and do what you can to save water. These sound like small steps, but over time they can all add up.
   • Cutting expenses is a powerful financial tool for any job leave, whether permanent/retirement or a temporary leave for illness, maternity or some other reason. You need to consider the absence from work as an overall change in your lifestyle.
4. Plan to spend some on your new job search. Part of setting your target, if you are anticipating leaving your current job, should be to have some savings available to spend on a search for a new one. You will need money for correspondence, printing resumes, travel, parking, and possibly one or two new interview suits. You should anticipate these costs, estimate the amount of money that you will need, and set this aside as part of your target savings.

Handling Your Mortgage

1. Recognize the importance of your mortgage. For most people, housing payments make up the largest expenses they have. If you are paying rent, rather than owning your residence, those monthly payments are effectively doing nothing for you. If possible, purchase a property and get a mortgage. In this way, your monthly payments will be building equity for you. At the end of your mortgage, you will own the property outright in your own name.
2. Aim for your target date. As much as possible, try to align your mortgage to your target retirement date. That is, if you are relatively young and just starting out, then you may want to get a 30 year mortgage to last the duration of your career. However, if you can afford the monthly payments of a shorter mortgage, you will be setting aside money toward your equity at a faster rate.
3. Refinance when possible. When mortgage interest rates go down, you should try to refinance. By refinancing, you will get a lower interest rate and reduce your monthly payments. You may also take that opportunity to refinance into a shorter term. For example, if you started out with a 30 year mortgage, you may be able to refinance to a 20-year or even 10-year mortgage, for roughly the same (or even lower) monthly payment amount. More of the money, that way, will be going to pay down the principal loan.
4. Downsize after retiring. When you do leave your job, whether for permanent retirement or as a temporary leave, you may want to consider changing your residence. Many retirees choose to move to a smaller house with a lower expenses and mortgage costs. You may also wish to move to a different part of the country with lower overall costs of living.

Making Other Miscellaneous Arrrangements

1. Investigate your employer's maternity leave benefits. Some employers will offer paid maternity leave for some period of time. Others may stick to the allotted unpaid leave that is required under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. However, many small employers are even exempt from this. You need to find out what policy your employer has, and use that information to help you determine what financial help you will need.
   • For a maternity leave, you can also investigate whether you can be covered under short term disability insurance. This could provide a portion of your salary during your leave. To investigate coverage, you should talk with your employer or human resources personnel, or your own insurance company.
2. Plan some alternative, temporary income. If you are out of work temporarily, either looking for a new job, on a maternity leave, caring for an ill family member or for some other reason, you may want to plan for some temporary work that you can do. Find something that gives you the flexibility that you need to go along with your leave, but still provides some income for you and your family. For example:
   • Even with a new baby or an ill family member, you can probably find some time to tutor a few students a week or teach music lessons (if you have that talent).
   • You might be able to do some freelance writing or editing.
3. Transfer your company-based savings plans. If you participated in an employer-based savings or retirement plan, you should transfer that plan when you leave. Your financial adviser may be able to help you set up a personal IRA, or you might talk to an investments adviser at your bank.
4. Collect any payout benefits. If your company allowed you to accrue vacation time or sick time, you might be able to cash that in and collect an additional payment in accordance with your contract. In some cases, this can be a valuable payoff amount.
   • In some cases, you may be able to collect a partial cash payout for unused sick or vacation days to provide some cash for a temporary emergency leave, such as a family illness or bereavement leave. Even if such a benefit is not standard, you may want to talk with your employer and come up with some creative possibilities.
   • If you are not aware whether or not you have such a benefit, contact your company’s human resources department and ask.
5. Maximize stock options, if any. If you were granted the option to purchase stock in the company, and you have not exercised that option to its fullest potential, you should do so before leaving. These options can often be very valuable and will not be available to you later.
   • Depending on your contract, you may have a set period of time to purchase such options upon your separation from the company.
6. Plan for health insurance. One of the primary benefits of employment is having health insurance. When you plan to leave, whether for permanent retirement or a temporary leave for a job change, you will need to make plans for some replacement health insurance. You may wish to investigate the following options:
   • If you are under age 26, your parents may be able to add you to their health plan.
   • If you participated in the insurance plan through your employer, you may be eligible through COBRA to continue on that plan for up to 3 years by making your own monthly payments.
   • Your spouse or partner may be able to add you to their health plan.

References

See also

• Calculate Your Annual Salary when You Work Part Time
• Help an Unemployed Person
• Live With an Unemployable Person
• Be Dignified in Job Loss
• Take Care of a Jobless Person
• Survive the Jobless Phase
• Retain Your Job in Crisis
• Rejoice at Being Sacked
• Recover From Unemployment
• Take Action to Reduce Unemployment

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