Severance package
evaluator.
A severance offer has multiple components: weeks of pay, benefits continuation, equity acceleration, non-compete terms. This tool calculates the total value and highlights what is typically negotiable.
The question it answersHow much is my severance package actually worth?
Rules: United States. Privacy: runs in your browser. What you enter stays on your device unless you copy a share link, which puts your inputs in the link.
- Request a review period. ADEA releases for workers age 40 and older: 21 days + 7-day revocation verify×DON'T TRUST, VERIFYClaim: Under the ADEA (Older Workers Benefit Protection Act), workers 40+ get 21 days to consider a severance release and 7 days to revoke after signing.Verify at: EEOC on ADEA ↗ Source 1 in the list belowOWBPA amended ADEA. Group layoffs may extend to 45 days..
- Read the release line by line before signing: which claims you waive, non-disparagement and non-compete terms, clawback triggers, and whether pay is a lump sum or salary continuation.
- File for unemployment, and check your state's rule on severance: many states reduce or delay benefits for the weeks severance pay covers[2].
- Continue health insurance via COBRA or ACA marketplace.
- Roll over 401(k) to IRAIndividual Retirement Account (IRA)A retirement account with tax advantages and eligibility rules. Traditional IRA contributions may be deductible; taxable withdrawals generally enter income. Roth contributions use after-tax money, and qualified Roth withdrawals are tax-free.Full definition to avoid losing track of it.
- Update LinkedIn carefully; do not reveal dismissal details.
Estimate, not tax or legal advice. It applies the current rules listed in the assumptions to the numbers you enter. Details this tool does not model can change the result.
What this tool assumes
- The typical range shown runs from 1 week of pay per year of service up to 4 weeks per year for senior roles (minimums of 1 and 2 weeks). That range is a rough site estimate, not a published figure.
- COBRA value uses your plan's full monthly premium if you enter it, otherwise the 2024 MEPS-IC average private-employer premium for the tier you pick, at the 102% COBRA maximum, minus what you pay each month. The tier average will differ from your plan's actual premium.
- Weekly pay is base salary divided by 52. Bonus, commission and accrued PTO payout are not included.
- Negative entries are read as 0, and the result says so.
- Values are before tax. Severance is taxable wages either way it is paid[3]. The difference between a lump sum and salary continuation is timing: a lump sum lands in one tax year and can be withheld at the flat 22% federal supplemental rate[3], while salary continuation spreads the same pay over later paychecks, possibly into the next tax year. State unemployment rules on severance vary: many states reduce or postpone benefits for it, and some do not[2].
Not legal or financial advice. Non-compete enforceability varies significantly by state. California: nearly unenforceable. Florida: strongly enforced. Check your state's non-compete statute before signing.
HOW THIS IS CALCULATED
This tool runs entirely in your browser: no data is sent to any server. It uses no outside data; the COBRA premiums by coverage tier are fixed values in the page code, taken from the survey cited below.
- Every number field reads a negative entry as 0, and a note under the total names each field read that way. A blank field also counts as 0.
- Weekly pay = base salary ÷ 52. Severance pay = weeks offered × weekly pay.
- COBRA value = months × (full monthly premium minus the monthly cost you pay), floored at $0. The full premium is your plan's premium when you enter one above $0; otherwise it is the tier average: AHRQ's MEPS-IC 2024 private-employer average total premium, $8,486 a year for single coverage, $16,931 for employee-plus-one and $24,540 for family[4], times 1.02 (a plan can charge COBRA enrollees up to 102% of its cost[5]) and divided by 12: about $721, $1,439 and $2,086 a month. COBRA usually lasts up to 18 months[6]; a longer entry is used as typed.
- Equity acceleration = unvested equity value × 0, 0.5 or 1.
- Total = severance pay + COBRA value + equity acceleration + outplacement. Weeks equivalent = total ÷ weekly pay, shown only when base salary is above $0.
- Typical range shown: 1 week per year of service up to 4 weeks per year (minimums of 1 and 2 weeks). This is a rough site estimate, not a published figure. Negotiation items appear when the weeks offered are below the greater of 2 or your years of service (rounded), COBRA months are under 6, acceleration is less than full on nonzero equity, outplacement is $0, or a non-compete has any duration. The option exercise-window item always appears.
- Non-compete risk: Low with no duration or no scope, or under 3 months at local or regional scope; Medium under 12 months at up to national scope; High otherwise.
Not modeled: income tax and withholding on severance, unemployment benefits, and state non-compete law. Verify the methodology or inspect the source code in your browser's dev tools.
Where to go from here
Sources
Bracketed numbers and verify badges in the text link to these sources. Figures, rates and rules change: check each source’s date before acting on it.
- EEOC on ADEA ↩
- U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Comparison of State Unemployment Insurance Laws 2023, Chapter 5, Table 5-18: Wages in Lieu of Notice and Dismissal Payments. Checked 2026-09-26. ↩
- Internal Revenue Service, Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide. Checked 2026-09-26. ↩
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Health Insurance Benefits at Private Employers, Estimates from MEPS-Insurance Component: 2008-2024. Checked 2026-09-26. ↩
- U.S. Department of Labor, Continuation of Health Coverage (COBRA). Checked 2026-09-26. ↩
- U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, COBRA Continuation Coverage. Checked 2026-09-26. ↩
Calculators are educational estimates, not financial advice. Disclosures · How pages are reviewed