Just looking for some advice. Got riffed this week. Wondering how long it take to get the Honeywell severance package in the mail (FEDEX) after your last day at work. Any previous experience with this would be greatly appreciated.
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Re: 401k. If you are 55 or older in the year you are laid off, you can withdraw 401K money early without the early tax penalty. But only if it is still at the company you were laid off from. It’s called the rule of 55. So while you can roll over your 401k to an outside qualified plan, you won’t be able to access it without early penalty if you are under 59.5. Be sure to confirm with your tax advisor, but google Rule of 55.
I was a Honeywell RIF victim about 3 years ago, and I have to say that it was a blessing in disguise. Like others have mentioned, you are no longer at Honeyhell anymore!
In addition to some great advice others have posted here, especially regarding the unemployment benefits and 401K, I would also like to add the following:
- Don’t get or solicit advice from people who’ve never been in your shoes (laid-off or RIFed). Although some people who’ve never been laid-off have good intentions, all can’t relate to the physical and emotional toll that getting laid-off takes on you. The people who’ve helped me out the most when I was laid-off were the ones who went through the same experience at one point in their careers.
- Rather than putting your energy into helping Honeywell make more money, you can now put your energy into yourself. Work on your personal branding (resume, LinkedIn profile) and applying to your next career opportunity. Don’t forget to hit up the gym or go for a run around the neighborhood.
- Temporarily disconnect yourself from current Honeywell people, no matter how close you’ve got to some of them. It’s like going through a break-up. Some of your Honeywell friends and former colleagues might offer you words of encouragement, and you can reply with a brief thanks to them. You can always connect back with them as needed when you’ve found your next opportunity.
- Network, network, network. Utilize LinkedIn to connect and network with other professionals in your industry. Who knows , one of them may be instrumental in helping you land your next gig.
Good luck!
1oyq - you are right. My advice is valid in FL, where my experience lies. Good of you to point out my less than accurate statement.
1but - your 401K is yours. You can move it anytime, including now. Don't take posession of it directly or you will set yourself up for significant taxes and penalties if you do not complete a rollover to an other company in a very timely manner. Fidelity and Vanguard are very good choices with good investor tools. You want to be sure to do a Trustee to Trustee transfer and keep your hands off of it, for your own good. You open an account with a company and depending on their process will either PULL the money into your account from Honeywell or you PUSH the money to them from Honeywell. In any event, do not take a check from Honeywell with no idea as to where you are going to put the $$$. Do your research! For now it is safe with Honeywell and you may continue to manage it as you always have. The only difference now is that there are no more automatic deductions from your severance (it is not "pay" as you are not employed by them) .
If you have an HSA, be sure to fund that up to 9/12 (plus whatever time you spend on severance) of your yearly allowed amount...an HSA is like a Super IRA. Read up on that, too. Beware of overfunding it with total annual allowed $$$ as you will see a small, recurring penalty for that on your Federal Taxes. I made this mistake and had to pull some out the following year to stop those penalties.
Best of luck to you. Your health will start improving very soon, even if worried about your next job. The stress reduction will be amazing.
Anyway, I'm just an anonymous yay-hoo on the internet. Don't blindly believe me...do your research...just understand how to and how not to do the roll-over. You'll be fine.
In MN you cannot collect unemployment insurance benefits while receiving severance. See this:
https://minnesotaemployer.com/2013/04/05/how-does-severance-pay-affect-eligibility-for-unemployment-benefits/
Different states have different policies regarding this.
Another question - when does your pension start? The day you are let go or after Severance ends? Thanks a lot!
1tsa - thanks a lot for the useful information. Can you please let me know if you can take the 401k with you when you are RIF’d or does it stay at Honeywell until severance ends? Thanks.
Unemployment checks will start 2 weeks after you apply. Any advice that starts with "I think" can be sumarily dismissed. The folks who state that you must delay application, as is so typical on this site, do not know what they are talking about, or work for HR and are hoping to minimize payout. Every state's unemployment system bases the employer's tax rate on the amount of benefits paid to former workers. If you delay and find a job quickly, Honeywell's rates stay low and you are out a lot of $$$$$.
File immediately!
Severance is NOT employment and that is why there is NO 401k deduction...it is NOT compensation for work. It is severance.
I have been through this via voluntary RIF and know from experience. And to your original question, you probably have the paperwork in hand as I type, or will, very soon.
You can get unemployment while receiving severance. Honeywell would rather have you collect unemployment after severance in hopes that you find a job before collecting. Honeywell pays unemployment and saves money if you don’t collect. Get the unemployment money as soon as you can and put it into something that builds wealth for when it’s needed.
Who are these people that are suggesting to delay unemployment.
You can apply for unemployment once the severance runs out.
I didn’t think you can get unemployment since they pay the severance in the same manner as your checks. Ie weekly or biweekly.
If they still offer Wright Management take advantage of it. It’s really good.
RIF in 2016. Got large envelope within a week. Start unemployment ASAP as others have said. Full medical continues until severance runs out. The out placement services were a waste of time. It's all about LinkedIn and sending out lots of resumes, unless you know people. Took a breather after Rif. Got a job offer in about 3 months.
Hey there. Sorry about your RIF. But as someone else who was recently RIFFed congratulations. After getting over my shock of RIFF I felt a sense of relief of being removed from a fundamentally inept organization. Where every day is hectic. My life is calmer now and I am going to take some time before next position to make sure it's a good fit. I sympathize for people who are still at organization. Regarding technical details of severance. I recently emailed my severance info in and have not heard back.
mine took about 3 weeks
I got mine in 3 days.
Absolutely collect unemployment ASAP. You can collect while getting severance.
A week or so. But get unemployment asap, then start the hunt. But try to smile, you're not at honeyhell any more!!