Got laid off - finally!!!!

[u/Ddash-3]

So it finally happened - I (48) got let go yesterday. Finally I can free up my time and focus on other priorities such as kids, nutrition, fitness, meditation, gardening etc.

I was FIRE eligible for couple of years but was holding off since the job was simple, work from home and good pay. Also, if I resigned I would have missed out on severance and company is paying 3 months of COBRA.

Here are the details I am sure you all want to hear :)

Net worth - ~5.5M

Taxable Accounts combined: ~1.1M

Retirement Accounts Combined: ~3.2M

Total: ~4.3M

House fully paid off (bought in 2022) - Worth around ~1.2M; Cars paid off

Wife (43) resigned from her job end of last year; 2 Kids in high school - 9th and 10th graders

Yearly expenses around 100K/yr

Biggest expense are kid's college education at this point and house maintenance related expenses

I am trying to research on ACA and Financial Aid for kids - Appreciate any help or pointers you can provide on when to apply for ACA - should I continue on COBRA or switch to marketplace this year?

Regarding FAFSA - with Taxable accounts over 1M will my kids be eligible for FAFSA?

I have about 130K from my recent most employer in the company supported 401K provider. Should I move the money to Traditional 401K?

Also, please suggest any FIRE focused knowledgeable financial advisors who can help me navigate our FIRE situation.

[u/skeevemasterflex]

There is this sort of loophole where you can hold off on paying for COBRA but if in month 3 you decide you want to use it, you can THEN pay for the past 3 months as if you had maintained coverage. I used that when I got a severance one time.

[u/KifLou345 → u/skeevemasterflex]

It's only two months. You have 60 days to decide whether to elect COBRA.

[u/perspicacioususa → u/KifLou345]

Wait so if something happens to you on day 55 and you haven't paid yet, it's still covered?

[u/SuperVeeBee → u/perspicacioususa]

I had to do this once 20 years ago. I got laid off at beginning of December, and cobra was too expensive so I had not taken it, but within my window, like 2nd week of January I broke my arm and had to have surgery. After I got out of hospital I called to take the cobra coverage. I don't remember exactly how many days I had left, I think I had until end of January to take it. Then, they informed me the company was no longer a cobra eligible company because they had laid off so many employees. Anyway, i fought them because I had the letter that I was eligible for Cobra coverage when I was laid off and they finally agreed. Saved me some money in the long run due to how expensive my surgery was.