Your layoff protection plan

Reports of the death of the U.S. labor market have been greatly exaggerated. In January, 517,000 jobs were created, more than double analysts' expectations, and the unemployment rate was 3.4 percent, the lowest level in more than 53 years.

Not to be a buzzkill, but the resiliency of the labor market makes NOW an ideal time to dust off your personal layoff protection plan. Review these items before the ax falls.

Severance

Many companies offer a standard severance package, defined as a certain number of weeks, others consider your tenure at the organization and also add in unused vacation and personal days.

Before you sign any documents that memorialize severance agreements, know that many companies will negotiate sweetened deals, which may include more dollars. If you work at a firm where you received stock options, ask for an accelerated or immediate vesting for unvested amounts. NOTE: severance is income, which means that it is taxable.

Health insurance

While you are still covered on your employer's health insurance plan, schedule routine medical and dental checkups. If you do lose your job, you are entitled to extend coverage through the federal government's Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), which gives workers and their families who lose their health benefits the ability to continue group health benefits provided by their group health plan for limited periods of time (usually up to 18 months).

The big catch with COBRA is that you are usually required to pay the entire premium for the coverage, which can be steep. Before you freak out about the cost, check out coverage at HealthCare.gov, which can be cheaper than COBRA, especially if you qualify for tax credits.

Other insurance

If you have life, disability, or long-term care insurance coverage through work, find out if it is “portable,” which means that you can take it with you when you leave. Like health insurance, the cost might be more expensive if your employer is subsidizing your coverage, but group coverage is usually cheaper than replacing a policy with private coverage.

Retirement plan

When people lose their jobs, they often cash out of their retirement plans to help with cash flow. That break-the-glass action should not be taken lightly. Generally, if you withdraw money from your retirement account and you are under the age 59½, the government will impose a 10% penalty on the amount withdrawn and also will tax the total distribution amount.

If you lose your job, you can usually leave retirement accounts where they are, a good option, if your company's plan is inexpensive with low-cost index funds. Otherwise, you can roll retirement funds into an IRA Rollover account with any of the big investment companies. If you land a job quickly, you should be able to directly rollover the old account into your new company's retirement plan.