pond - safe money in tough times; everything you need to know to survive the financial crisis (2009)

[...]... adjust them, if Get Your Financial Act Together • 13 • • • necessary, to reflect changes in your financial situation or outlook If you re not into budgeting, accomplish the same objective of improving your financial position by increasing your savings through automatic transfer from your paycheck or bank account into an investment or savings account (See Chapter 5.) Evaluate your sources of income... effect of the recession on your finances The remainder of the book is divided into four sections: “Coping with Tough Economic Times,” “Investing in Tough Economic Times,” “Tackling Special Situations,” and “Planning for a Secure Financial Future.” Since the Internet can be a wonderful resource for guidance and software to help you deal with your financial challenges, I have listed my favorite financial. .. page intentionally left blank Part I Understanding the Economic Crisis 1 WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE ECONOMY? What’s going to happen to me? here’s no doubt about it: these are tough times for Americans—indeed, for families throughout the world Safe Money in Tough Times will help you and your family deal with the challenges Whatever problems the bad economy dishes out to you, you will find help in these... records so that you have ready access to important family documents and personal financial information If you need to address a pressing financial problem, the last thing you ll want to have to spend your time on is locating and organizing your records INSURANCE You don’t want to risk an expensive uninsured loss in the midst of a weak economy Review your insurance policies to make sure you have adequate,... that you ll worry a lot less about what’s going to happen to you and your family If you ve already been putting money aside regularly, that’s great If you re particularly concerned about your financial wellbeing over the next year or so, you may want to increase your savings rate a bit If you haven’t been saving up to this point, it isn’t too late to start In fact, it is crucial that you begin to set... need to maintain a good credit rating so that you can access credit if you need it during the tough times Dipping into savings is preferable to incurring debt if your income drops or if you have to meet unexpected expenses But your circumstances may dictate that you have to borrow temporarily to make ends meet Don’t let poor credit make your life even more difficult Chapters 7 and 19 will help you maintain... maintain or restore your good credit standing 4 MAINTAIN YOUR INSURANCE COVERAGE Unfortunately, many people reduce or eliminate essential insurance coverage when they are confronted with a family money 20 • Safe Money in Tough Times crisis It may seem to be a relatively painless thing to do at the time For example, they may drop their renter’s insurance or they may decide to go without health insurance... planning and perhaps some sacrifice The dozen strategies that follow will help you take better control of your financial future, so that you can avoid the avoidable and survive the unavoidable The chapters that follow discuss these strategies in more detail T • 17 • 18 • Safe Money in Tough Times 1 BUILD UP YOUR SAVINGS One of the most important things you can do to protect yourself from the financial. .. considered the keys to building economic prosperity The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 required commercial banks and savings institutions to make 4 • Safe Money in Tough Times loans in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods Subsequent administrations, both Democratic and Republican, built on these programs, which eventually led to the unraveling of the economy The Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety... conditions, the better you will be able to preserve your money now and grow your money once again when the investment markets rebound, which they will Twelve Winning Strategies to Cope with Tough Times • 21 6 CONTINUE SAVING FOR RETIREMENT After suffering devastating losses in their retirement savings plans at work, many people are reducing or eliminating their contributions After all, they argue, . pocketbook. Finally, my special Safe Money in Tough Times reader Web site will keep you up to date on matters affecting the economy and 6 • Safe Money in Tough Times your financial well-being. The address. your personal finances, including sav- ing, managing your debt, budgeting, reducing expenses, main- taining your insurance, and, of course, investing wisely and well after the terrible drubbing. Checklist of Things to Do Now to Get Your Financial Act Together 12 P ART II Coping with Tough Economic Times 4. TwelveWinning Strategies to Cope with Tough Times 17 5. Budgeting for Tough Economic