Couple of suggestions to add to the above: If the payout will be a lump sum, and it occurs close to the end of the year, consult someone NOW about your tax liability - the lump sum could be tax'd all in this year, giving you a big tax bite. Consult a tax expert, financial planner, acconutant, etc.. Non-Compete agreements: Consult a labor lawyer and see if that's even legal in your state (Indiana) and if tehre's any limits of what a company can impose. Soem are only for geographic areas, some for time limits, some just in industries. If the company is based elsewhere, and trying to impose state law from its home state, that is probably illegal in Indiana. That's what happened to me and soem fellow RIF'd employees 10 years ago, and it got thrown out of court (I'm in Calif, with no non-competes, and the company was in South Carolina, which DOES have non-competes, and all of us had always worked in Calif.). And if you find another job, notify teh new employer, AND copy to your old one, in writing, that you will not disclose any proprietary info from your former employers activities. Good luck, being RIF'd sucks.