Marla J. Hetzel knew the health care company she worked for was struggling and that several employees had been let go, so when colleagues who once sought Ms. Herzel’s input suddenly canceled meetings with her, she started to worry.

“I began seeing signals that were telling me that if there were going to be more layoffs, I was probably a target,” said Ms. Hetzel, 55, who led the company’s innovation efforts.

So she and her husband made some changes. They began tracking every expense, challenging themselves to spend less each month on discretionary items like eating out, and contacting their cellphone and cable providers to find ways to reduce their bills.

“We were educating ourselves on where our money was going and reflecting on our behaviors so that we could be ready to modify them if we were forced to,” said Ms. Hetzel, who lives in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

In May, Ms. Hetzel was laid off, joining a group that now totals nearly 900,000 private sector employees who have lost their jobs so far this year, more than the number laid off through all of 2024. The federal government recently estimated it would end the year with 300,000 fewer workers. Many of these people are late-career employees and not willing or financially able to retire.

Yet finding a new job after age 50 can take months, especially as the labor market tightens. Employers added a mere 22,000 jobs in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fewer than what economists expected. The unemployment rate also rose to 4.3 percent, up from 4.1 percent in June.

When you’re laid off later in your career, financial priorities shift sharply — you’re no longer focused on building retirement savings but on maintaining enough cash flow to cover expenses, said Christopher L. Stroup, founder and president of Silicon Beach Financial in Santa Monica, Calif. Your first step should be figuring how to use the money you have as a bridge to pay living expenses while you look for a job, he said.

Here are five ways to secure your finances while you search for a new job.

Manage any severance package carefully.

If you’re lucky enough to receive a severance package, experts agree it’s important to treat it as an asset, not as a windfall.

Severance packages are typically equivalent to one week of salary for each year of employment, so, depending on how long you’ve worked at the firm, you could receive up to half a year’s salary, or more. For many people, that could be the most money they’ve ever received at once.

“You may feel rich, but that feeling can lead to problems if there’s a lack of financial discipline,” said Josh Andrews, advice director at USAA, a firm that offers insurance, banking and retirement services to the military community. That money, he said, is not for a vacation or for retail therapy but to cover your expenses while you look for another job.

David Haas recalled a co-worker who was laid off and used his severance to take a monthlong vacation. When the co-worker returned, he had trouble finding work. Because he had spent his severance, he liquidated most of his retirement accounts to pay his living expenses, resulting in a huge tax bill and penalties for early withdrawals, said Mr. Haas, president of Cereus Financial Advisors, in Franklin Lakes, N.J. “Fortunately, he was able to find a job by the time the tax bill was due, but he still had a lot of trouble rebuilding his retirement savings in his 50s,” Mr. Haas said.

If your employer gives you the choice to receive your severance in one lump sum or as biweekly payments, consider the latter, to make it easier to budget and less of a temptation to spend, Mr. Andrews said.

Avoid taking money from your 401(k).

When employees leave their jobs, one-third withdraw their 401(k) balance as a cash sum, according to recent Vanguard report, despite cash-outs often resulting in withdrawal penalties.

Before taking money from your retirement account, use any other funds you have, including your severance, emergency fund and savings, Mr. Andrews said. If you have taxable investments, such as a typical brokerage account with stocks and mutual funds, consider selling those before using your retirement fund, despite the potential loss of investment gains. Your retirement accounts should be your last resort because of the potential taxes and penalties involved in withdrawing from them, particularly if you are younger than 59½, Mr. Andrews said.

However, if you made annual contributions to a Roth individual retirement account for five years or longer, you can take out the money you originally put in without a penalty, even if you are younger than 59½. However, you can only take out the money you deposited into the account, not earnings, Mr. Stroup said. It’s a good practice to keep your I.R.S. Form 5498, which tracks I.R.A. contributions, or your year-end Roth I.R.A. statements to show your contributions, he said.

A health savings account is another potential source of income. If you have any prior medical receipts that you haven’t reimbursed yourself for from your H.S.A., you can submit those for payment, Mr. Stroup said. As long as the H.S.A. was open when you incurred the charges, you can reimburse yourself at any time, he said. You don’t have to make the claim the same year that the medical expense was incurred.

Keep an eye on your tax bracket.

If you have taxable investments and your income drops substantially because you’re not working, consider liquidating some holdings. “While you’re in a lower tax bracket, it may be an opportune time to sell some taxable investments and not pay as much tax,” Mr. Andrews said.

An asset such as a stock, bond or mutual fund held for longer than a year is subject to a long-term capital gains tax. The rates are 0 percent, 15 percent or 20 percent, depending on your income — a higher income results in a higher tax rate.

For 2025, the I.R.S. increased the income threshold. For married couples filing jointly in 2025, there is a 0 percent long-term capital gains tax on realized gains up to $96,700 of annual income. Married couples also get a $30,000 standard deduction, which means they could theoretically earn up to $126,700 of income and still be in the 0 percent capital gains bracket. For single people, there is a 0 percent long-term capital gains tax on realized gains up to $48,350 of annual income. Single people get a $15,000 standard deduction, allowing them to theoretically earn up to $63,350 and still be in the 0 percent capital gains bracket. If an individual or couple itemizes their deductions, these thresholds could be even higher.

Don’t forget about health insurance, unemployment and creditors.

If you’re laid off, you’re eligible to apply for state unemployment benefits and to enroll in an Affordable Care Act, or A.C.A., health insurance plan.

If you’re offered continuation of your medical insurance under COBRA, Mr. Haas suggests comparing the costs and benefits against individual A.C.A. plans — those plans might be adequate and cost less than COBRA. If you’re a military veteran, consider tapping into unused benefits, Mr. Andrews said. “If you’re losing your civilian health care, you may be able to get health care at least for the person who served and that would save some money,” he said.

Apply for unemployment benefits in the state where you worked, not the state where you live, according to the Department of Labor. Two key questions to ask: How long would the benefits last and what might jeopardize them? For instance, if you earn money doing consulting, that could reduce or eliminate your benefits, even if it’s just a few hundred dollars a month.

Call your creditors to tell them about your job loss and ask about reducing or deferring payments while you look for work.

Don’t fret about pausing saving for retirement.

Financial experts agree that it’s OK to stop putting money into a retirement savings account while you’re unemployed, because it’s more important to focus on paying your bills and finding a stable job.

“If saving to a retirement account is on the back burner for a year, it’s unlikely to derail your ability to retire in the future,” Mr. Stroup said.

If you have any income from any consulting or freelance work, you might consider contributing to a Roth or traditional I.R.A., Mr. Stroup said. Even if you can’t contribute the maximum, over time that money will grow and compound. “Any amount is better than nothing if you have that capacity, but if you don’t, that’s OK,” he said.

However, before contributing to an I.R.A., make sure you have the cash flow to pay bills. Instead, he recommends putting any income into a savings or checking account. “When you find that stable job, then let’s get back on that retirement journey,” he said.