Latest / Becoming Financially Confident / Laid Off With $50,000 in the Bank. Why Do I Feel Frozen Instead of Relieved?

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Laid Off With $50,000 in the Bank. Why Do I Feel Frozen Instead of Relieved? · Becoming Financially Confident

• 0:37
  She lost her job on a Tuesday.
• 0:39
  Not laid off with a package, not eased out over a few months.
• 0:43
  Tuesday morning, badge deactivated, box in the car by lunch.
• 0:49
  And here's the part that surprised me.
• 0:51
  She wasn't broke.
• 0:52
  She had $50,000 sitting in a savings account.
• 0:55
  That's more cash than most people will ever see in one place at one time.
• 1:00
  She still didn't sleep that night because she posted online the next morning, asking a question I've heard in my office for 330 years.
• 1:07
  I have money.
• 1:09
  I have no idea what to do with it first.
• 1:12
  That's the whole thing right there.
• 1:14
  Having the money was never actually the hard part.
• 1:17
  Knowing what it's for, that's the hard part.
• 1:20
  And nobody teaches you that until that Tuesday morning shows up.
• 1:24
  That's what we're talking about on today's show.
• 1:36
  Hey, friend, Ralph Estep Jr.
• 1:37
  Here.
• 1:38
  Welcome to Financially Confident Christian.
• 1:40
  This is the show where we break that cycle of financial shame and give you confidence.
• 1:45
  Now we've got a real world example today.
• 1:49
  Today's topic is about getting laid off with real savings in the bank and still feeling completely frozen.
• 1:56
  And if you've got a question for this show, I would love to answer your question on this show.
• 2:00
  You can go to FinanciallyConfidentChristian.com/question.
• 2:04
  We'll put a link right in the show notes.
• 2:06
  But again, it's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/question Let's get right to today's listener question.
• 2:13
  Listener wrote this.
• 2:14
  I got laid off two weeks ago and I actually have $50,000 sitting in savings, which I know sounds like I should be relieved.
• 2:22
  Instead, I feel completely frozen.
• 2:25
  Do I treat this as an untouchable emergency money and start job hunting hard, or do I give myself permission to live off part of it while I try to figure out my next move?
• 2:35
  Ralph, I don't want to panic and I don't want to be careless either.
• 2:39
  What's actually the right first move here?
• 2:42
  What a great question.
• 2:44
  And I love what she says here.
• 2:46
  She said the money was never the hard part, the plan for it.
• 2:50
  That's the hard part.
• 2:51
  And this isn't some hoarded or spend it choice.
• 2:54
  It's a specific runaway calculation.
• 2:57
  And I'm going to walk you through exactly what to do with the savings and and the search at the same time.
• 3:03
  Here's the thing we're going to start off with.
• 3:05
  If you found yourself in this same position, you've got to calculate your real Runway, not some rough guest.
• 3:12
  We're going to talk about this.
• 3:13
  We've talked about this.
• 3:14
  The last couple of days, the first thing you've got to do is total your essential monthly expenses.
• 3:20
  I'm talking about essential ones.
• 3:22
  Housing, utilities, groceries, insurance, and those minimum debt payments.
• 3:30
  And then I'm going to encourage you to do something super simple.
• 3:33
  Divide that number by the usable portion of that $50,000 number.
• 3:38
  Where am I getting the 50,000 from?
• 3:40
  She said, I've saved 50,000 now.
• 3:42
  I would subtract out of that the true emergency fund, but make that division.
• 3:46
  That single calculation is going to turn frozen panic in the concrete workable numbers.
• 3:52
  And again, don't count the entire $50,000 as spendable.
• 3:56
  Some of it may already be your existing emergency fund.
• 3:58
  You don't want to cut into that.
• 4:00
  But that vague $50,000 is scary if you don't have a plan to figure out where it needs to take you.
• 4:06
  A calculated number of months is a plan.
• 4:09
  But then you've got to be realistic here.
• 4:12
  If you just got downsized, if you just lost your job, you've got to know this year's real hiring timeline.
• 4:19
  National data, this is in the United States, shows the average job search now runs around six months.
• 4:25
  Yes, you heard me right, six months.
• 4:28
  In some sectors, it's even longer than that.
• 4:31
  That's not a reflection of your qualifications.
• 4:34
  That's the reflection of a genuinely slower hiring market.
• 4:37
  That's where we are right now.
• 4:38
  That's the reality.
• 4:40
  Budgeting your way around this year's real timeline, not some outdated assumption where, I'm gonna get a job in 30 days, I'm gonna job is 60 days.
• 4:48
  Removes that painful surprise later.
• 4:50
  And if you know the number up front, it changes how you pace yourself spending from week to week.
• 4:57
  You got to plan for this year's job market, not the one from a few years ago.
• 5:01
  Here's the thing a lot of people won't tell you.
• 5:03
  Number one thing, as soon as you hear about this, go file for unemployment coverage.
• 5:08
  And also look at your health insurance.
• 5:10
  A lot of people don't think about that health insurance.
• 5:13
  File for unemployment benefits right away, even if you've got savings in the bank.
• 5:17
  So you might be thinking, ralph, wait a minute, I've got money.
• 5:19
  Why do I need unemployment?
• 5:21
  Go get those benefits.
• 5:22
  Because that's going to stretch that Runway longer.
• 5:25
  The more time you can give yourself, the more money that you've got coming in, the less of that $50,000 you're going to have to touch.
• 5:31
  But at the same time, don't lose sight of this one.
• 5:34
  A lot of people don't think about this with most people's job goes their health insurance.
• 5:39
  You'll probably be given the option for something called cobra.
• 5:42
  That's continuing benefits.
• 5:44
  But let me tell you right now, COBRA is expensive.
• 5:47
  So this is a time to go compare that cost against the marketplace, the ACA marketplace.
• 5:51
  You got to plan for that coverage.
• 5:54
  Every dollar that you don't have to pull from savings is going to extend how long that $50,000 actually lasts.
• 6:01
  So use every resource available, not just the savings account.
• 6:04
  Get unemployment, reduce your expenses.
• 6:08
  Every dollar you don't pull is going to extend that Runway, extend that time that you're going to be able to stay safe.
• 6:15
  But then I'm going to encourage you to do one more thing, and that's separate the money into two buckets.
• 6:20
  You got to decide, and I mentioned this a few minutes ago, you've got to decide what is your true untouchable emergency reserve.
• 6:27
  That money needs to stay carved outside.
• 6:29
  That's got to be set aside.
• 6:31
  But then you can also earmark what this transition money looks like, what I call a search fund.
• 6:37
  If you've got a clear purpose, that's going to feel a lot different than watching one account slowly drain with no plan.
• 6:44
  And it also removes that all or nothing feeling between hoarding everything and spending carelessly.
• 6:49
  Name the money's purpose.
• 6:51
  You know, if you listen to me like Ralph, you always want to name stuff.
• 6:53
  I just think that is a smart way to do things.
• 6:56
  Because then you say, okay, here is my real emergency fund.
• 6:59
  Here's what I don't have the ability to spend money with a job.
• 7:04
  We're going to be talking about that a lot in the future.
• 7:06
  Money with a job to do feels different than money you're just watching disappear.
• 7:12
  Here's another thing that I share with every single person I talk to who goes through a job.
• 7:16
  You gotta treat this search like a job with a schedule.
• 7:20
  If you lost your job, tomorrow morning you get up and your new job is to find a job that is your day in and day out job.
• 7:29
  You should be working a set number of hours.
• 7:31
  You should be building your applications, working on networking, go on finding new skills.
• 7:37
  The good news is you've got that savings that's going to buy you some calmness.
• 7:41
  But don't let that become this time where I'm just going to kind of goof around and not worry about it.
• 7:46
  Structured life protects against the frozen feeling that brought you to this question in the first place.
• 7:53
  This is the thing I think a lot of people don't think about.
• 7:56
  If you lose Your job.
• 7:57
  You get back up the next day.
• 7:58
  You dress for work, you sit at your desk, you make a desk.
• 8:02
  And let's say you don't have a desk at home.
• 8:03
  Figure out what that's going to look like.
• 8:05
  Your new job is to find a job.
• 8:07
  Everything you do should be focused on that.
• 8:09
  This isn't the time to go lounge on the couch.
• 8:12
  This isn't time to go catch up on the news, go catch up on the TV shows you missed.
• 8:17
  Build your schedule, build that motion.
• 8:20
  Because if you don't, you know what's going to happen.
• 8:21
  You're going to be in this anxious drifting stage.
• 8:24
  That savings is going to buy you time.
• 8:27
  But structure is what makes the time actually count.
• 8:30
  And it'll help you get past that feeling of being frozen.
• 8:34
  But I want to go a little deeper, because I want you to.
• 8:36
  I want to tell you about what I think is really going on here.
• 8:39
  You mentioned that you felt frozen.
• 8:41
  Now, you didn't choose the word broken.
• 8:43
  You said frozen.
• 8:44
  And I've sat across the desk from enough people in the exact moment to tell you what frozen usually means.
• 8:51
  Frozen is not a math problem.
• 8:53
  It's an identity problem.
• 8:55
  Because for so many of us for years, that paycheck was the thing that answered the question, and am I going to be okay?
• 9:03
  Because you got that paycheck every Friday, every other Friday, whatever that looks like for you.
• 9:08
  But on Tuesday morning, that answer got taken away.
• 9:12
  And that savings account can't answer in the same way because it doesn't replenish itself.
• 9:18
  Yes, money can cover a mortgage payment, but it was never built to carry your sense of security.
• 9:24
  That's why that $50,000 doesn't feel like relief.
• 9:28
  It's sitting in the chair that God was supposed to be.
• 9:32
  Scripture doesn't say don't plan.
• 9:34
  Proverbs is full of planning.
• 9:36
  We talk about proverbs on this show all the time.
• 9:38
  It says, don't let the plan become the thing you trust.
• 9:42
  A job is a way God provides.
• 9:45
  It was never the source.
• 9:47
  The source didn't get laid off on Tuesday.
• 9:50
  So, yes, this season is going to be uncomfortable.
• 9:54
  But it's honest.
• 9:56
  It shows what you're actually leaning on.
• 10:00
  So here's what I want you to hear.
• 10:02
  And anybody else sitting in a quiet house on a Wednesday morning that used to be a work day.
• 10:07
  The $50,000 is a tool.
• 10:10
  Use it well.
• 10:12
  But it was never your security in the first place.
• 10:15
  Your security has a name, and he didn't lose his job this week.
• 10:21
  Let's get right to Our Bible verse, it comes from the book of Psalms, chapter 121, verses 1 and 2.
• 10:26
  It says this.
• 10:27
  I lift up my eyes to the mountains.
• 10:30
  Where does my help come from?
• 10:32
  My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
• 10:38
  See, that's the big secret today.
• 10:40
  The panic after a layoff sends most people looking for answers everywhere, except for that one place that actually holds the answers.
• 10:49
  And this verse redirects that search before the spreadsheet even gets open.
• 10:54
  Look to who the true provider is.
• 10:57
  You've got time, you've got a plan, and not just your money sitting there.
• 11:01
  So here's your win for today.
• 11:03
  Calculate your real Runway number this week.
• 11:06
  Your essential expenses divided by the usable amount of your savings.
• 11:10
  That will give you a number of months that can replace that frozen panic with an actual plan.
• 11:16
  And then get to work.
• 11:17
  Get to work finding work.
• 11:19
  I know it sounds silly, but that is the key to people who are successful.
• 11:23
  They make it their full time position to find their next position.
• 11:28
  Let's pray together.
• 11:29
  Heavenly Father, I just want to thank you for providing this listener even in this disorientation of a sudden layoff.
• 11:35
  This one they weren't expecting, Lord.
• 11:37
  And I just ask right now that you would calm that frozen feeling that came with this unexpected change.
• 11:43
  Give her clarity as she calculates her real one way, Lord.
• 11:45
  And separate her savings with a purpose.
• 11:48
  Provide favor, Lord, and open doors during her search in a genuinely slower job market.
• 11:54
  Remind her and all of us that our security was never in our paycheck.
• 11:59
  It's in you, Lord.
• 12:01
  And give us all peace and that steady focus each day of this new season of our lives.
• 12:06
  And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.
• 12:10
  I want to go back to what you said.
• 12:11
  Having the money was never the hard part.
• 12:14
  Having a plan for it is.
• 12:16
  So today, build that calculated Runway, secure that health insurance coverage, get those unemployment benefits, and schedule that search so that you can turn that frozen panic into forward motion.
• 12:29
  This year's job market is generally slower, but your savings are meant to buy you time while you do that.
• 12:35
  So calculate your real Runway.
• 12:37
  Do know this timeline.
• 12:38
  File for unemployment, separate those savings, and treat the job search like a job with real hours and real structure.
• 12:47
  You'll see it'll make a big difference.
• 12:49
  Now, maybe you're going through a struggle or maybe you've had a triumph that you want to share with me.
• 12:52
  I like both things.
• 12:54
  Why don't you record a voicemail message for me?
• 12:56
  It's super simple.
• 12:57
  I encourage you to do that today.
• 12:59
  Go to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/voicemail.
• 13:03
  We'll put a link right in the show notes, but again, that's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/voicemail thank you for joining me today.
• 13:11
  If you're going through a job loss, remember who your provider is.
• 13:15
  This may be a difficult season, but I'm here to help and the Lord is with you.
• 13:20
  So stay financially savvy.
• 13:21
  May God bless you and you have a great day.