Financial runway
How many months your accessible cash and redundancy pay cover your outgoings with no salary. This is the number that sets your real deadline.
Free Career OS™ tool
How long does your redundancy money last —and what does waiting to start a new job really cost?
Adjust your salary, redundancy package, monthly spending and next-job start date. The calculator compares how quickly your cash erodes against estimated UK Income Tax and employee National Insurance, so a lower tax bill is never confused with being financially better off.
I Wish I Had Been Able to Map This Properly
In 2019, when I was made redundant, I wish I had been able to map this properly. I had always worked. I did not particularly want to stop, and I did not want to sit back while around 1,500 other highly capable engineers were entering the market that year. I went to the network I had built through my career and, as it happened, secured two senior job offers.
At the time, taking another senior role quickly meant a substantial amount of income falling into the same financial year. The tax bill felt painful. What I did not properly appreciate was the other side of the equation: paying more tax because I was earning more could still leave me substantially better off than waiting simply to reduce the tax.
That experience matters again now. Thousands of experienced people across JLR and its supply chain are having to make decisions about redundancy, timing, savings and their next role. They deserve a straightforward way to understand the numbers before making a decision. This calculator is designed to help you map those scenarios for yourself — free of charge.
— Dai Jones, Founder & Lead Consultant, Eich Dyn Career Services
Do not optimise your career around the size of the tax bill. Compare the tax, the income you give up, your savings erosion and the opportunity in front of you.
Map Your Runway, Tax and Timing
Work through the four sections. Every field accepts a typed figure, and the sliders move with it. Blank fields are treated as zero, so you can build the picture as you go.
Illustrative example loaded. These figures are a worked example only. Change any field and the comparison recalculates with your own numbers.
Section 1
Your current position
After all normal living and entertainment costs, excluding dedicated holiday savings.
From 6 April of the current UK tax year to your employment end date.
Section 2
Redundancy and termination payments
Qualifying termination payments may include up to £30,000 free of Income Tax and National Insurance. PILON, accrued holiday pay and bonuses are normally taxed as ordinary earnings, so they are treated separately here. This is guidance for scenario planning, not tax advice.
If your employer has confirmed a net figure, enter it and the estimate uses yours.
Default £30,000 — editable if your package differs.
Section 3
Monthly burn while you are not working
Anything already committed, such as a car, a course or a family cost.
Section 4
Your next job
0 to 18 months, in one-month steps. The start date below moves with it.
3months
Projected new-job start date
Derived from your employment end date plus the waiting period.
31 Jan 2027
Advanced assumptions
Estimates assume a standard Personal Allowance and tax code, with no other taxable income, benefits in kind or student loan deductions. Real PAYE operates cumulatively across the tax year, so your payslips can differ from these figures.
Accessible cash at redundancy
£59,254
Savings plus estimated net package
Net monthly burn
£3,100
Living costs less other income
Financial runway
19.1 months
How long the cash lasts with no salary
Cash-zero estimate
3 Jun 2028
Date your accessible cash runs out
Selected new-job start
31 Jan 2027
After waiting 3 months
Cash remaining when the new job starts
£49,954
Runway holds
Estimated Income Tax to 5 April (2026/27)
£15,109
Including taxable termination elements
Net cost of waiting vs immediate start
£19,626
Cash used plus income given up, less tax saved
What this means
Waiting 3 months lowers estimated 2026/27 Income Tax by £7,471, but you use £9,300 of cash and give up £18,677 of employment income. Estimated net financial cost of waiting: £19,626.
Lower tax, but lower income — not a tax saving in economic terms.
Compare the timing scenarios
Every scenario uses the same horizon — to 5 April 2028 — so a delay that crosses a tax year is fully visible on both sides.
| Wait | Start date | Cash used | Cash left | Gross new-job pay | Income Tax | Employee NI | Net new-job pay | End position | Salary forgone | Tax reduction | Net cost of waiting | Runway |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immediate | 31 Oct 2026 | £0 | £59,254 | £105,770 | £39,652 | £4,983 | £71,047 | £130,301 | £0 | £0 | £0 | Runway holds |
| +1m | 30 Nov 2026 | £3,100 | £56,154 | £99,680 | £37,216 | £4,696 | £67,680 | £123,834 | £6,090 | £2,436 | £6,467 | Runway holds |
| +2m | 31 Dec 2026 | £6,200 | £53,054 | £93,386 | £34,699 | £4,400 | £64,199 | £117,253 | £12,384 | £4,953 | £13,048 | Runway holds |
| +3m | 31 Jan 2027 | £9,300 | £49,954 | £87,093 | £32,181 | £4,103 | £60,721 | £110,675 | £18,677 | £7,471 | £19,626 | Runway holds |
| +4m | 28 Feb 2027 | £12,400 | £46,854 | £81,408 | £29,907 | £3,835 | £57,578 | £104,432 | £24,362 | £9,745 | £25,869 | Runway holds |
| +5m | 31 Mar 2027 | £15,500 | £43,754 | £75,115 | £27,390 | £3,539 | £54,098 | £97,852 | £30,655 | £12,262 | £32,449 | Runway holds |
| +6m | 30 Apr 2027 | £18,600 | £40,654 | £69,228 | £25,035 | £3,262 | £50,843 | £91,497 | £36,542 | £14,617 | £38,804 | Runway holds |
| +9m | 31 Jul 2027 | £27,900 | £31,354 | £50,550 | £17,564 | £2,382 | £40,516 | £71,870 | £55,220 | £22,088 | £58,431 | Runway holds |
| +12m | 31 Oct 2027 | £37,200 | £22,054 | £31,873 | £13,773 | £1,502 | £26,510 | £48,564 | £73,897 | £25,879 | £81,737 | Runway holds |
+1m: lower tax, but lower income — not a tax saving in economic terms.
+2m: lower tax, but lower income — not a tax saving in economic terms.
+3m: lower tax, but lower income — not a tax saving in economic terms.
Tax years run 6 April to 5 April. Rates and thresholds used: 2026/27 and 2027/28 (provisional). Income Tax uses progressive bands and the Personal Allowance taper above £100,000. Employee Class 1 National Insurance is approximated on a monthly pay-period basis. Actual PAYE payroll can differ. This calculator is general information for scenario planning and is not tax, legal or financial advice.
Figures you enter are stored locally in your browser and are not automatically submitted to Eich Dyn. See our Privacy Notice for how we handle any personal data you choose to send us, and our disclaimer for the limits of this estimate.
Lower Tax Is Not the Same as Better Off
Tax on redundancy
Estimated Income Tax and employee National Insurance by tax year, including the taxable elements of your settlement and any new-job earnings before 5 April.
Net cost of waiting
The savings you consume plus the salary you forgo, less any genuine tax reduction. This is the honest number when you are weighing a new job after redundancy.
Once the Numbers Are Clear
The financial picture tells you how much time you have. It does not tell you what to aim at. These resources cover career after redundancy, transferable engineering skills and the negotiation that follows an offer.
Redundancy Pay, Tax and Timing Questions
Is redundancy pay tax free in the UK?
Not entirely. A genuine redundancy or termination payment can normally include up to £30,000 free of Income Tax and employee National Insurance. Anything above that is taxable.
Payment in lieu of notice, accrued holiday pay and bonuses are treated as ordinary earnings and are taxed and NI'd in the normal way, even when they are paid in the same settlement. This calculator lets you separate those elements so you can see the difference. It is general information for scenario planning, not tax advice.
Should I delay starting a new job after redundancy to pay less tax?
Usually no. Delaying can lower the Income Tax bill in the current tax year, but only because you have earned less. You give up salary, you consume savings, and the tax reduction is almost always smaller than the income you forgo.
The calculator shows all three effects side by side, including the net financial cost of waiting. There are legitimate reasons to delay — health, caring responsibilities, a genuinely better role in the pipeline — but a smaller tax bill on its own is rarely one of them.
How long will my redundancy money last?
Take your accessible savings plus the net amount you actually receive, subtract any committed one-off spending, then divide by your monthly outgoings less any other income. That is your financial runway in months. The calculator does this for you and projects the date your accessible cash reaches zero, then shows how much cash would be left on the day a new job starts under each timing scenario.
What should I do after being made redundant from an engineering role?
Deal with the numbers first so the decision is not driven by fear: map your runway, understand the tax position and set a realistic date by which you need income. Then work on positioning rather than volume of applications. Experienced engineering and technical skills usually transfer further than people assume — into defence, clean energy, nuclear, rail, water, MedTech, automotive data and AI.
A free Career Diagnosis with Eich Dyn identifies where your experience is genuinely valuable and how to present it for those roles.
Does the calculator handle Scottish Income Tax?
Yes. Choose Scotland or the rest of the UK in the tax region selector and the Income Tax estimate uses the appropriate bands and rates. Employee National Insurance is UK-wide, so it does not change with region.
Are my figures sent to Eich Dyn?
No. Everything you type is held in your own browser's local storage so you can return to it later. Nothing is submitted to Eich Dyn automatically and there is no account, email requirement or payment.
Clearing your browser data removes the saved figures, so export the CSV or print the page if you want a copy.
One thing to do today
Map your scenarios. Then map your career.
Use the calculator to understand your financial runway and the real cost of waiting. Then book a free Career Diagnosis with Eich Dyn Career Services. We will show you where your experience is genuinely valuable, how your skills transfer into adjacent sectors, and how to position yourself for the opportunities that are actually open to you.