Saturday, November 20, 2010

Learn Your Rights / Unemployment Benefits

When you are unemployed you need to get to know your rights as an unemployed citizen. You are in a new pond now, you need to learn it.
File for unemployment benefits with your state. You can do this by going to your state's website for unemployment benefits (a Google search will pull up the site). The application process is extremely easy. We like income, so let’s get this flowing ASAP. If you have received a severance you typically can’t file for unemployment until after that time is up.
If you had insurance with your previous employer you might want to consider COBRA. It is pretty expensive though. An alternative that you might want to look at is governmental insurance (Medicaid). You have to fit into a unique demographic to qualify. Go to your states Medicaid website for more information (a Google search will pull up the site). Honestly, if you are single and healthy. You might want to consider forgoing insurance until you find employment. If you have a family, the choice can be difficult.
A number of the things that you will do when you are unemployed will be tax deductible. However, these change yearly so you need to check with the IRS website when you go to file your taxes. Mileage to and from interviews, job fairs, etc… are typically tax deductible as well as various fees and resume related expenses. The point is you need to keep all of your job search related receipts so that when you go to file your taxes you can add the appropriate ones up.

2 comments:

Jobs by Careerjet