Federal layoffs
When Cooper went into the voting booth and made her choice to vote for Trump based on his IVF promise, she did not realize the effect it would have on her financial security. She was ultimately laid off from her job at the U.S. Forest Service in February.
“I had gotten a text from our union rep, and he told me that I was going to be fired the next day,” said Cooper. “My heart just sank.”
Her termination was part of a broad effort to reduce the federal workforce, as President Trump instituted a hiring freeze at the Forest Service and fired more than 3,400 recent hires.
While the president did rehire some probationary forest service employees who work on timber management, Cooper was not among them — and the loss of her position only adds to her regret.
“I made a decision that, looking back, I am not proud of,” she said.
Cooper is far from the only one having voter's remorse, as CNN was also in contact with a former worker at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) who was laid off three weeks into her job simply for being a probationary employee, thus being easier to fire.
The CMS worker said her vote had been motivated by a desire for Trump to reduce inflation, and she was not anticipating he would terminate so many probationary workers.
"If I’d known that, I would never have voted for him,” she told CNN.
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Explore better ratesMistakes to avoid when you lose your job
Cooper and many other fired federal workers are in a vulnerable place. Losing a paycheck suddenly can wreak havoc on your finances — especially if you don't make the right moves when they count.
Some key mistakes to avoid when losing your job include:
- Not knowing your rights: If you were part of a union, as many federal workers are, workplace protection laws may prevent you from unjust termination. If you don't understand the laws that protect you, or if you don't realize that there are rules in place that entitle you to unemployment benefits, you could miss out on the opportunity to fight for your job or to get paid while you look for new work.
- Continuing to spend as normal: Since you may not know exactly when you'll find new work, you can't afford to maintain your old spending habits — even if you have an emergency fund or savings to live on. Cutting back spending to a bare-bones budget is a good idea until you have a steady paycheck again. Recalculating your net worth may be a good place to start when deciding on your new spending caps.
- Failing to update your resume or LinkedIn: If you have an old, outdated resume or LinkedIn profile that doesn't reflect all that you accomplished at your recent job, it will be harder for you to find new work. Update your credentials and be as detailed as possible about the skills your last position helped you develop so you can attract a new employer as quickly as possible.
- Not getting the right contact details: If you’re leaving on good terms with your manager, be sure to ask for their contact information so they can serve as a reference. You may even want to ask them to write you a letter of recommendation before you leave. Don’t hesitate to reach out to past colleagues, either. Staying connected to those at your last place of work is a good way to stay relevant in your industry.
- Not making the right choices with retirement plans: You may not want to cash out workplace retirement plans when you leave work as you could face penalties and lower your chances of retirement security. Instead, you may want to move the money over to an IRA so you can take it with you, as a Capitalize study analyzed by the ASPPA found that as much as $1.65 trillion in retirement funds have been forgotten at past jobs. You don't want your account to be one of them.
If you avoid these mistakes, hopefully, you can make sure that your job loss doesn't do any more damage to your finances than necessary.
With so many federal workers finding themselves out of work, competition for new positions may be tough and it could take time to find new employment. That’s why smart financial moves are going to be the key to withstanding these tough times.
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