I was recently laid off and received a severance package. I was given the option of a lump sum or a bi-weekly payments. If I take the bi-weekly payments, the company will pay 3 months of my COBRA. I've already filed my paperwork for unemployment benefits. A friend told me that if I take the lump sum, it will look like one week of pay in the eyes of unemployment and I can start receiving unemployment benefits. How should I proceed with this severance package? Any help would be most appreciated.

Thank you.

Have you read this? Nothing is set in stone in it, unfortunately.

One thing I would consider is how much money the COBRA would cost for three months vs. the UI you would get for those three months. COBRA can be terribly expensive.

Colorado will not see it as one week of pay. They will calculate your hourly/salary rate against the amount of severence and then determine when your unemployment can start. As Patty stated, COBRA is very expensive and the amount you would recieve from UI is just a percentage of your pay that won't include the cost of COBRA.

UI is $475 per week. COBRA is about $425 per month.

If Colorado doesn't figure the lump sum as one week's pay, what will it look like?

Is the bi-weekly option then better?

I'm new to all of this.