Financial Readiness: Preparing for BRAC (Base Realignment And Closing)
The recommendations for military base closings have been released and the news is not good. If the recommendations are accepted, you will lose your job. So what do you do? Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.
There is a benefit to this situation. Unlike many individuals who suffer the loss of employment, you have advance warning. This is an opportunity to prepare yourself and your family. Use this time to create a financial plan.
The importance of a budget can not be stressed enough. A budget is a tool that helps you track your income and expenses, giving you a snapshot of your overall financial picture. Know where your money goes. Identify areas where you can cut back. Knowing your financial obligations will be critical while planning for the loss of income.
The next piece of the planning puzzle is net worth. Your net worth is what you would have leftover if you sold all of your assets (what you own) and used them to pay off your liabilities (what you owe). This will require sitting down and making a list of those assets and liabilities. This may sound like an overwhelming project, but it is important that you know exactly where you are financially. Knowing your net worth is essential for planning for an emergency such as unemployment.
Ideally you will have a rainy fund that will cover six months of living expenses. If not, don't panic. Start putting a portion of your paycheck aside each month. Putting away a little money now will provide a financial cushion if you don't find a new job right away.
The last piece of advice is start paying down your credit card debt. Getting rid of credit card payments will help your emergency fund go farther. It will also save you money on interest, money that you can add to that fund.
You will find forms on this website to help you complete a budget and net worth analysis as well as set financial goals, such as setting up an emergency fund.
It is never easy to find out you are losing a job. But you do have an advantage over the worker who gets a pink slip on Monday and watches the factory get boarded up on Friday. You have time. Use this time to get control of your finances so that you will be prepared. And in the event that your base is spared, you will have significantly improved your financial picture.
Leslie Linfield is a national expert on adult financial literacy education and the consumer credit counseling industry. She has advised governmental, educational and non-profit organizations alike, and she has been quoted by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal as an expert on budgeting and consumer credit. She has also presented literally hundreds of seminars and lectures on personal financial management.
Personal Finance: Booking Bamboozle Washington Post If you are making travel arrangements online, be sure to keep an eye out for a questionable but growing trend on booking Web sites: 'pre-checked' boxes that ...
PersonalFinance: Your guide to Coverdells FOXBusiness (Linda Stern is a freelance writer. Any opinions in the column are hers. You can follow Linda Stern's financial notes on Twitter at ...
The week's 10 best Personal Finance stories MarketWatch By MarketWatch With no federal tax credit to entice buyers, today's home sellers have to get even more serious about making a deal. ...
Pet insurance is no laughing matter Telegraph.co.uk Having made four claims in four years, The Telegraph's Personal Finance Editor decides the time has come to write about pet insurance. ...
Google News
RELATED ARTICLESBudgeting is Essential for a Single Mothers Success
Today many women are struggling with debt and it's even harder if you are a single mother trying to support your family. According to the Census Bureau single mothers far outweigh single fathers.
How To Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft
Identity theft is a serious crime that continues to grow. If you become a victim of identity theft, you may spend months, or years, trying to repair the damage.
Budgeting -- The Critical Flaw That Causes Most Budgets to Fail
Budgeting. It's a word we're all familiar with.
Adverse Debt Levels Blight UK Consumers Personal Finances
Debt levels are at an all time high in the UK. The younger generation tend to be feeling the pinch the most, but parents are increasingly being required to bail them out, often at great expense to their own limited mortgage or retirement savings.
Safely Save for Your Childs University Studies Using An Education IRA!
This investment retirement account (IRA) is useful to you as an investor to understand because it may be a good way for you to save for your kid's education AND save on taxes. These plans are now called Coverdell Education Savings Accounts in honor of the late U.
Tips To Save Money At The Supermarket
Are you interested in saving money off your grocery bills? If so, then a few "Smart Shopper" tips are all you need to start saving hundreds off your grocery bills!However you must make a few changes in the manner you shop for groceries. If you are willing to do so, just follow these shopping tips and you'll be well on your way to saving a pocketful.
The Benefits of Banking Online
How many drawers did you have to look through to find a bank statement the last time you needed one? Chances are you did not lay your hands on it as readily as you would have liked. If that is a familiar scenario in your home, help has arrived in the form of online banking.
Understanding and Controlling Your Finances
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be able to have complete control over your finances?If you are like most normal people, you have a job. You go to your job every day.
I Want to Buy a Home - Now What?
If you were to ask 100 women "What would you like to achieve financially?" Buying a home or apartment is usually one of the answers. Some women think that they can never own a home - which is not true! In fact, there are so many success stories of home buyers who never thought they would get there.
Strategies for Success
Holy Shenanigans! More STUFF?Loosing one's business due to lack of personal control is a sad thing. I've watched many people do just exactly that.
Top 10 Ways Managing Your Money Is Just Like Riding a Bike
An avid cyclist and bike racing fan, I sit transfixed during the many hours of Tour de France coverage every July when the race rolls around. This year, during some of the less-than-scintillating early miles of the sprint stages, my mind wandered a bit, and it occurred to me that there are some interesting parallels between winning the Tour de France and winning at personal finance.
Chex Systems - Why Every American Needs To Guard His Checking Account With His Life
Most Americans have been brought up to be concerned about a good personal credit rating, because of the role a positive rating can play in your long term plans; purchasing a home, buying a car, getting a business loan, etc. They have also been made to understand that the premier organizations that pretty much hold the key to their financial futures are Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.
Reporting Identity Theft
Would you know what to do if you suspect that your personal information had been stolen and used by thieves to open new accounts? It's important that you take the right actions to clear your name as quickly as possible.In 2005, the laws were changed to allow anyone to review their credit report yearly without having to pay a fee.
Personal Finance - Have Consumers Had a Belly Full of Personal Debt?
For months, we were trigger-swipe happy, putting our groceries, clothes, holidays and service charges on our credit cards. We wanted mortgages, we took out loans, we watched Property Ladder and What Not To Wear.
Understanding Your Finances Can Give You Power And Choice
What is finance and what do you need to know? Finance can mean different things. It may refer to your personal financial situation.
Financial Fitness - Are You Exercising the Right Muscles to become Financially Fit?
Are your financial muscles well toned and healthy or flabby and weak? Do you want to change your relationship with money so you can have control over your financial future or do you want to continue to complain that you don't have enough? Exercise these 10 muscles to achieve Financial Fitness.1.
Identity Theft is a Major Problem: Whose Responsibility is It to Protect the Consumer?
We have heard a lot about consumers' personal information getting into the hands of identity thieves. More and more people are taking steps to minimize their exposure to such theft by reducing information on personal checks, refusing to share social security numbers with just anyone who asks, being prudent in their use of credit cards, and shredding "junk" mail that might allow another person to pose as them.
Developing a budget? Watch out for Those Budget-Bursting Gremlins
If you've developed a household budget to get your spending back in line or to just reduce stress, good for you! Creating and sticking to a budget isn't easy by all means. But it represents the best way by far to manage your finances so you can relax and worry about other things.
Can You Afford Not To Look After Your Personal Finances?
Investing is a subject a lot of people don't want to think about. And there is good reason for that.
Save On Food - Ten Tips
To save on food, be an opportunist. Buy what you like, but buy on sale.
