WSJ takes a look at the "severance class" - unemployed formerly high-ranking folks burning through their chunky termination pay package to maintain the outward apperance of their pre-pink slip lifestlye.

Intended as a safety net, the hefty cya later pay packages can however seduce ex-employees into thinking that they can continue to spend like everything is hunky-dory—until the reckoning comes.

Commenter Coles_Law put it best:

"Mr. Joegriner, 44 years old, has had several offers. He's turned each down in hopes of landing a position comparable to what he held before."

+

".By Mr. Joegriner's own calculations, the family will be out of money in six months if he doesn't find work."

= *head explodes*

Life on Severance: Comfort, Then Crisis [WSJ] (Photo: JoshuaDavisPhotography.COM)