Career Change & Job Transition Planner
A guided walk-through of a job change or a job loss, in the order the questions come, with one set of your own numbers carried from stage to stage. Nothing is uploaded — every calculation runs in this browser, and your numbers stay on your device unless you choose to hand them to an AI assistant.
Your plan so far
Your choices appear here as you go.
Stage 1 of 4
Where do I stand?
What do I earn, spend, keep and owe before the change?
Your situation sets the first steps in your plan (unemployment and health cover). The runway figures are worked out the same way for all three.
Your current gross salary
Total recurring monthly spending, not counting the debt payments you list below
Cash, checking and savings accounts
Your current employer plan balance
Federal and state combined
Where you stand
Monthly Net Income
Gross income less your effective tax rate
Savings Rate
Share of take-home pay left after spending and debts
Emergency Fund
Savings in months of spending and debts
Total Debt
Balances of the debts you list
Your debts
Each minimum payment is counted in full in your monthly spending during the gap.
| Debt | Balance ($) | APR (%) | Min. payment ($) | Remove |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Spending to keep and spending you can pause
Your runway comes down to two numbers: what you have saved and what leaves your accounts each month. Monthly expenses here are your living costs. The minimum payments on your debts are listed separately and counted in full, because a spending cut does not lower a required minimum payment.
When money is short, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s bill worksheet asks which bills you need to pay to protect your housing and income, keep your insurance, and meet any court-ordered obligations. The rest of your spending, such as dining out, subscriptions or travel, is where the spending cut in the next stage can come from. Your take-home pay and savings rate show how much room you have before the change starts.
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Prioritizing bills (Your Money, Your Goals) (as of June 2020)
What this means for you
Your figures, in plain words, appear here.
Go deeper
- Money Flow Visualizer where each dollar of your income goes today
- Paycheck Calculator take-home pay worked out by bracket
- Net Worth Calculator everything you own set against everything you owe
Stage 2 of 4
How long can I last?
How many months do my savings cover, with no paycheck and the changes I can make?
Using the figures from Stage 1.
How long you expect to be between jobs
Months of gross pay; added to your savings after tax
The monthly premium you would pay: COBRA from your employer, or a marketplace plan
Your state sets the amount and how long it is paid. Enter the weekly figure your state agency gives you, or leave this empty.
How many weeks your state says the benefit is paid
Find your state’s program, how to apply and what it pays: CareerOneStop Unemployment Benefits Finder (U.S. Department of Labor), by the state where you worked.
How much of your living expenses you could cut during the gap; debt minimums stay in full
Income you expect during the gap, after tax
Your runway
Runway
Months your savings cover
Savings Pool
Savings plus severance after tax
Monthly Draw
Spending during the gap, less any income
Min. Viable Income
After tax, to cover spending and debts
How your runway compares with the gap you expect appears here.
Health coverage and unemployment benefits
COBRA lets you keep your job’s group health plan for a time. After a job loss (other than for gross misconduct) or a cut in hours, the law requires 18 months of continuation coverage, at a premium of up to 102% of the plan’s cost, which includes the share your employer paid. It applies to plans of private employers and of state and local governments with 20 or more employees; many states have similar rules for smaller employers. You have at least 60 days to choose COBRA, counted from the later of the date of the election notice or the date the coverage would end. A marketplace plan is another option. Enter the premium you would pay.
Each state runs its own unemployment program, so the amount and how long it is paid depend on where you worked. The U.S. Department of Labor says the first check generally takes 2 to 3 weeks after you file. Generally, you must include in income all unemployment compensation you receive. You can ask the payer to withhold 10% of each payment for federal income tax with Form W-4V; that is a prepayment, not the tax you owe.
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, A Worker's Guide to Health Benefits Under COBRA (read September 29, 2026); U.S. Department of Labor, How do I file for unemployment insurance? (read September 29, 2026); Internal Revenue Service, Tax Topic 418, Unemployment compensation (updated September 24, 2026)
What this means for you
Your figures, in plain words, appear here.
Go deeper
- Emergency Fund Calculator how large a cushion to rebuild afterwards
- How much emergency fund do you need? the months-of-spending approach explained
- Money Flow Visualizer which costs are fixed and which you could cut
Stage 3 of 4
What moves the runway?
Which changes stretch my savings furthest, and what happens to my 401(k)?
Using the figures from Stage 2.
Your savings, month by month under each scenario, appear here once the planner has your figures.
Show the savings table
| Month | Current path |
|---|
- Current path
Transition Cost
Your monthly draw over the gap
Savings After the Gap
What is left when the gap ends
Recovery Time
To rebuild your savings at the new salary
Your minimum payments and the interest each debt costs a month appear here.
The gross salary you are aiming for in your next role
- The steps after you land a role, with the months each takes at your new salary, appear here.
Your 401(k) when you leave a job
Leaving a 401(k) in your former employer’s plan keeps it tax-deferred, and so does moving it to an IRA in a direct rollover, where the plan pays the new account and 0% is withheld. If the plan pays the money to you instead, it withholds 20% for federal income tax, and you have 60 days from receiving it to roll it over; to roll over the whole balance, you add the withheld amount from other money.
The taxable part you keep is income for the year. Before age 59½ it can also owe a 10% additional tax unless an exception applies; one covers leaving the employer in or after the year you turn 55, for the plan but not an IRA. A rollover to a Roth IRA is taxable. Withholding is a prepayment toward the tax, so what you owe when you file can be more or less.
Sources: Internal Revenue Service, Rollovers of retirement plan and IRA distributions (updated May 31, 2026); Internal Revenue Service, Tax Topic 413, Rollovers from retirement plans (updated September 24, 2026); Internal Revenue Service, Tax Topic 558 (updated September 24, 2026)
What this means for you
Your figures, in plain words, appear here.
Go deeper
- 401(k) Early Withdrawal Penalty Guide the additional tax and its exceptions
- IRA Early Withdrawal Rules what changes once the money is in an IRA
- Debt Snowball vs Avalanche the order in which paying debts down saves the most
- Roth Conversion Calculator the tax on a conversion in a lower-income year, by bracket
Stage 4 of 4
Your plan
What comes first, what salary covers my costs, and how long until I am back on track?
Using the choices in your plan so far.
Opens your plan in a preview you can print or save as a PDF. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Salary Floor
Gross salary that covers your spending and debts
Reserve Floor
Two months of your monthly draw
Your plan, step by step
Connected Calculators
- 401(k) CalculatorYour balance over time
- Emergency FundThe cushion to rebuild
- Debt Snowball vs AvalancheThe order to pay debts down
- Credit Card PayoffHigh-interest balances
- Savings CalculatorRebuilding after the gap
- Paycheck CalculatorTake-home pay in the new role
Educational estimates only — This planner works out estimates from your inputs and standard formulas; it is not financial, legal or tax advice. A financial professional or a tax advisor can check the figures against your situation.
The first steps after a job loss
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s to-do list after a job loss runs in this order: file for unemployment, take care of your health insurance, take care of your rent or mortgage, deal with student loans, get a handle on your bills, watch over your spending, keep an eye on your credit, and consider your retirement savings. The plan above starts the same way: its first phase covers unemployment and health coverage, and the next turns to your debts, your 401(k) and the salary you need.
For a bill you cannot cover, the CFPB’s bill worksheet says to call the person or company you owe and explain that you will miss a payment and why, and its job-loss page points to your mortgage servicer, your landlord and your lenders for help. The salary floor is the gross pay that covers your transition budget at your tax rate, a figure to hold beside a job offer.
Sources: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Unexpected job loss (modified May 7, 2025); Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Prioritizing bills (Your Money, Your Goals) (as of June 2020)
What this means for you
Your plan, in plain words, appears here.
Go deeper
- Salary Negotiation Guide setting a salary floor before the offer
- Building an emergency fund a month-by-month plan to rebuild the cushion
- 401(k) Withdrawal Rules penalties, exceptions and tax
Assumptions applied
How this planner calculates
- Take-home pay. Your annual income, less your effective tax rate, divided by twelve.
- Transition budget. Your living expenses after the spending cut, plus every debt’s minimum payment in full, plus the health coverage premium you enter. Side income is not netted into it.
- Draw on savings. The transition budget less your side income. An unemployment benefit you enter lowers it for the weeks the benefit is paid, converted to a monthly amount by the weeks in a year.
- Savings pool and runway. Your liquid savings plus any severance after your tax rate. The runway is the number of months the pool covers the draw; when your income covers the draw, it is open-ended.
- Salary floor. The transition budget grossed up by your tax rate, as a yearly salary.
- Recovery. What the gap draws from savings, divided by what the new take-home pay leaves after your spending. A goal the new pay does not reach is shown as not reached rather than as a number.
- 401(k) choices. Income tax at your effective rate on the whole balance for a cash-out, plus the additional tax for an early distribution unless you tick the age exception; the withholding comes from the IRS figures in the stage’s sources.
How to Financially Prepare for a Career Change
A career change is one of the larger financial decisions most people make. Whether you’re planning a move or working through an unexpected job loss, the questions come in an order: where you stand today, how long your savings last without a paycheck, which changes stretch them further, and what to do first. This planner walks through them in that order with one set of your own numbers.
What This Planner Calculates
The walk-through has four stages. It starts with your income, spending, savings, 401(k) balance and debts, then works out how many months your savings cover during the gap you expect, counting any severance after tax, the health coverage you would pay for and any unemployment benefit or side income. It compares cutting spending, adding income and doing both, draws each scenario month by month, and sets out the choices for your 401(k) with the tax each one costs. It ends with a plan you can print: the first steps, a salary floor for your job search and the time it takes to rebuild your savings.
Key Concepts
Savings runway is the number of months your savings, plus any severance after tax, cover your monthly spending during the gap, after any income you still have. Comparing it with the gap you expect shows how much room the plan has.
Minimum viable income is the take-home pay that covers your spending and your debts’ minimum payments. Grossed up by your tax rate, it becomes a salary floor you can compare with job postings.
Your 401(k) when you leave a job — the main choices are to leave it in your former employer’s plan, roll it over to an IRA, or cash it out. Leaving it or rolling it over directly keeps it invested with no tax now; cashing it out is taxed as income and can carry an additional tax before retirement age. The planner shows each option’s figures at your tax rate and marks none as the better one.
Related Calculators
Your career transition connects to many areas of your finances. These tools go deeper on single questions: the 401(k) Calculator for your balance over time, the Emergency Fund Calculator for the cushion to rebuild, the Debt Snowball vs. Avalanche Calculator for the order to pay debts down, the Credit Card Payoff Calculator for high-interest balances, the Savings Calculator for rebuilding after the gap, and the Paycheck Calculator for your take-home pay in a new role.
Frequently Asked Questions
Your savings runway depends on your monthly expenses, liquid savings, severance, and any side income. Use this calculator to model your specific situation — enter your numbers and instantly see how many months your savings will cover.
The main choices are to leave it in your former employer's plan, roll it over to a traditional IRA, roll it over to a Roth IRA, or cash it out. Leaving it in the plan or moving it to a traditional IRA in a direct rollover involves no tax now. A Roth rollover is taxed as income for the year. A cash-out is taxed as income and, before age 59½, can also owe a 10% additional tax unless an exception applies. This planner shows the figures for each choice at your tax rate and marks none as the better one.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes an emergency cushion of usually 3 to 6 months of expenses. For a career change, the figure to compare with it is the gap you expect between jobs: this planner works out how many months your savings, plus any severance after tax, cover your spending during that gap.
Your minimum viable income is the amount needed to cover your essential monthly expenses plus debt minimum payments. This calculator computes it from your specific numbers, giving you a concrete salary floor for job negotiations.