I Got Laid Off at 55. Now What? (2026)
The short answer
Plan your money for a long search. And do not move your 401(k) until you make one phone call.
In September, half of women 55 to 64 who were out of work had been out about ten weeks or less. One in five had been out over six months. That is the government's own table.
If your job ended in the year you turn 55 or later, that job's 401(k) can skip the extra 10% tax. An IRA cannot.
And a federal lawsuit says Workday's hiring software turns down applicants over 40 more often. In May 2025, a court let applicants over 40 join it. Workday denies it.
What this guide answers
How long does the search really take at 55?
Quick answer: of women 55 to 64 still looking, one in five is past six months. Plan for the long end.
You closed the laptop at eleven at night and sat at the kitchen island longer than you meant to. The house was very quiet for a weeknight.
In September, 228,000 women aged 55 to 64 were out of work. Half had been out about ten weeks or less.
At the other end, 46,000 had been out 27 weeks or more. That is over six months, and about one in five. Those are weeks so far, and some are still counting.
And so plan for the long end, not the middle.
Twenty minutes, and you decide nothing on the call
Working out what comes next? Book the twenty minutes. I will answer whatever you ask.
You can always say no.
You rewrote the resume three times. One job said you were too experienced. One email came at two in the morning to say they went another way.
You put up the open to work banner and took it down. The search started running you, not the other way around.
None of that is a verdict on your work. A federal lawsuit says part of it is the software that reads your application first.
Who reads your application before a person does?
Quick answer: often Workday's software. A lawsuit says it turns down applicants over 40 more often. Workday denies it.
The job form you fill out may run on Workday. The lawsuit says its tools sort you before a person decides.
How many job forms? Workday's own court filing from July 2026 admits the number. In May 2023, "by at least one calculation," its customers used its software to process "2.2 million job requisition transactions." Its words: "nearly 22% of all U.S. job openings that month."
That is more than one opening in five.
The man who brought the case is Derek Mobley. He says he applied to more than 100 jobs at companies using Workday's screening since 2017. He says he was turned down for every one.
Four more applicants over 40 say they applied for hundreds of jobs and were turned down almost every time.
In May 2025, a federal court in California let the age claim go forward as a group case. Workday guessed the group could reach "hundreds of millions" of people.
The court wrote back: "that is because Workday has been plausibly accused of discriminating against a broad swath of applicants."
In June 2026, the same court kept the case going, age claims under California law included.
Nobody has proven anything yet. And your money still has to last while the search runs.
Can you use your 401(k) at 55 without the extra tax?
Quick answer: often yes, from the plan at the job that just ended. Not from an IRA.
Take money out of a retirement plan before 59 and a half, and you usually pay an extra 10% tax. The IRS lists a way around it. The extra tax does not apply when "the employee separates from service during or after the year the employee reaches age 55."
That is often called the rule of 55. Separates from service means your job ended. And the year is what counts. Your last day is in March and you turn 55 that December? You still qualify.
Two catches. You still owe regular income tax. And the same IRS table says no for IRAs.
And so if that 401(k) gets rolled into an IRA first, the rule stops covering it. Here is the record. The third row goes against me, and I left it in.
| What you hear | What the record shows | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|
| Most searches end in a few weeks | For women 55 to 64, one in five out past six months | Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2026 |
| A person reads every application | By Workday's own count, nearly 22% of US job openings in May 2023 ran through its software | Workday's court answer, July 2026 |
| The software turns away older applicants | A claim. Workday denies it, and no court has decided it | The same answer |
| Your 401(k) is locked until 59 and a half | Not if the job ended in the year you turn 55 or later. An IRA does not get this | IRS |
Nobody hands you that table with the exit papers. Keep it, then ask the fair question.
Isn't this just another pitch?
Quick answer: partly, and here is the part I will not dress up.
No court has found that Workday did anything wrong. It denies shutting out applicants over 40. It told the court that employers may "enable, disable, use, or ignore its many features."
The numbers cut both ways. Half had been out about ten weeks or less. You may be back at a desk by spring.
Building something of your own is not a paycheck. Keep searching for one. What you build sits where no hiring software gets a vote.
Switch to America sells straight from the manufacturer. No middlemen and no markup. No minimums, no maximums.
You pay what a brand new shopper pays. And there is no list of ten people you know. I do not teach that.
I will not hand you a number to expect either. Nobody honest can.
What would I do first on Monday?
Quick answer: make one call before any money moves. Then start something beside the search.
Count the long months
Add up your savings, any severance and your unemployment checks. Divide that by what one month costs you. Put the number on the fridge. If it covers fewer than six months, cut costs first.
Make one call before you move a dollar
Call the number on your 401(k) statement. Ask four things. Does the rule of 55 apply to me? Can I take part of it, or only all of it? How much will you hold back for tax? What changes if I move it to an IRA?
Start something beside the search, not instead of it
Write down what people came to you for at work. The problems you fixed. The questions only you could answer.
No hiring software reads that list. Something of your own can start there, while you keep applying.
Shannon's Advice
Straight talk from ShannonI do not call them grocery stores. They are poison centers meant to do you and your family harm. It is not just the brands who are doing the harm, it is the stores themselves. They allow these toxic products on their shelves. People are sick and dying. This is a very serious matter. How can we ever trust them again?
We can't trust them. That is where Switch to America comes in. We are a new supply chain, built on family values, trust and affordability.
You do not have to take my word for it. The proof is in my blog posts, the recalls, the lawsuits and the fines. Also, inside my Switch Circle private community, we talk about real solutions.
Women come to me exhausted, in pain, stressed out, and on a list of prescriptions they never wanted. I have spent over 20 years helping women get off prescription medications. I help families reclaim their health.
We cannot stop them. I have stopped expecting to. However, we can stop walking into their stores. We are linking arms and together taking our control back. Control of our health and our finances.
Start by clicking the link below and booking the twenty minutes.
Where to check me
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table A-36, September 2026. Women 55 to 64 out of work: 228,000. Average time out so far, 26.5 weeks. Half, 10.4 weeks or less. Out 27 weeks or more: 46,000. The page updates monthly. Plain translation: plan for the long end.
- IRS, exceptions to the tax on early distributions. The age 55 exception says "yes" for plans like a 401(k) and "no" for IRAs. Plain translation: where the money sits decides the 10%.
- Mobley v. Workday, order of May 16, 2025. Lets the age claim go forward as a group case. It rules on the group, not on whether Workday did it. Plain translation: a court took the claim seriously.
- Mobley v. Workday, order of June 22, 2026. Keeps the California age claims in the case. Plain translation: still alive this year.
- Workday's answer, July 15, 2026. Admits "nearly 22%" of US job openings in May 2023. Denies its tools "disproportionately exclude" applicants over 40. Plain translation: the gate is big, and Workday says it is fair.
- EEOC, age discrimination. The law "forbids age discrimination against people who are age 40 or older." Plain translation: at 55, you are covered at employers with 20 or more workers.
The Workday case is not decided. The claims about the software are the plaintiffs', and Workday denies them.
Who do you become?
It is a Tuesday in March. You still check the job boards with your coffee. You are not holding your breath anymore.
The number is on the fridge. The 401(k) is where it was, because you called first. The thing you started sits beside the search, and it is yours.
Your next move no longer waits on a stranger's software. That is who you become.
Twenty minutes, on video, no slides
You ask, I answer, including the awkward ones. If it is not for you I would rather find out on the call.
You can always say no, and there is no follow up if you do.What else are women asking me about this?
How long should I plan to be out of work?
Plan for the long end. In September, one in five women 55 to 64 who were out of work had been out over six months.
Should I take money out of my 401(k) now?
Not before one phone call. The age 55 rule covers the plan at the job that ended, if it ended in the year you turn 55 or after. You still owe income tax.
If I never hear back, is that age bias?
Not by itself. The Workday case is a claim, not a ruling, and Workday denies it. What is settled is federal law: from 40 on, you are protected from age bias in hiring and layoffs at employers with 20 or more workers.
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