After a layoff, carefully pick what to cash out first

— -- Unless you got fired for driving your boss's car into a lake, there's nothing funny about losing your job. And unfortunately, 3.6 million people — more than the population of Chicago — have lost their jobs since the recession began in December 2007.

If you're suddenly unemployed, you have a number of unpleasant choices to make. Can you keep your car? Your house? If so, for how long?

Probably the most unpleasant choice: Which assets do you sell first to make ends meet? And how do you go about liquidating the savings you'd hoped to spend on something else?

Financial planners generally say you should have three to six months' expenses in an easily accessible account in case of an emergency. And getting laid off is a financial emergency if there ever was one, particularly if you only have one income.

This is a rule of thumb that's probably more often said than done, however. Let's say that you make $80,000 a year and that your expenses are about 60% of your gross pay. We're just talking about the money you need to pay the bills, here. You won't be contributing to your 401(k) plan, and, since you don't have income, you can pass on tax withholding, too.

Nevertheless, we're talking about salting away $12,000 to $24,000 in a low-interest savings account, and for many families, that's a tough amount to save.

After you've exhausted your emergency fund, your next candidate should be any taxable investments you have: stocks, bonds and mutual funds. If you're at this point, you should also consider selling some of your stock funds, says Gary Schatsky, a New York financial planner.

"Your risk tolerance is obviously different now," Schatsky says. After all, this money is no longer being saved for a far-off goal: It's being used now, which means you should be careful with it.

True, stock funds have gotten clobbered recently, and you can argue that stocks are cheap. On the other hand, by looking at it that way, you're making a market-timing decision, not a cash-flow decision, Schatsky says. By moving to less risky investments, you'll give up some potential gains, but you'll also sidestep some potential losses. And you'll have a better idea of how much cash you have to use in the coming months.