Condo Media - April 2013 - 22

HOMEOWNER’S
COLUMN NAME CORNER

Homeowner Preparedness
Readying Financials for the Unexpected

W

ith millions of Americans
unemployed, some for an
extended period of time,
those who currently have a
job would be well-served by remembering the Scouting motto: Be Prepared. If
you haven’t been a victim of a layoff, it
is highly likely that someone you know
has. Let this grim reality serve as an
incentive to get your ﬁnancial ducks in a
row in case you’re the next one to ﬁnd a
pink slip in the mailbox.
The National Foundation for Credit
Counseling (NFCC) recommends that
consumers take the following steps to
solidify their ﬁnancial footing before a
job loss becomes a reality in their life:
Don’t be caught off-guard. Listen
to the buzz around the water cooler.
You don’t want to be the last to know
about a pending layoff.
Make yourself indispensable. Come
in early and stay late. Volunteer for special projects. Get face-time with your
boss. Doing these things is not a guarantee that you will survive a layoff, but
they are a step in the right direction.
Update your resume. If you’ve been
at your current job for a while, you
may need professional help updating
your resume. Today resumes are often
reviewed by computers and scanned for
key words, so you’ll want to be certain
to reﬂect your skills in the way that
beneﬁts you most.
Become familiar with the job loss
assistance your workplace offers.
Many companies provide placement
assistance, job retraining, and severance packages.
22

CONDO MEDIA • APRIL 2013

Familiarize yourself with government beneﬁts. Your HR representative
at work should be a good resource.
Stay up to date on beneﬁts changes for
which you may be eligible.
Address any current medical issues and
research medical insurance options. If
you’ve been delaying having that tooth
ﬁlled or your annual checkup, take advantage of insurance coverage while you still
have it. The loss of medical insurance can
be devastating. If you’re married, you may
qualify for coverage through your spouse’s
insurance, but knowing this in advance
will make the transition easier. Also,
inquire about COBRA. This is a costly
option, but is better than going without
health insurance.
Track your spending. The only way
you can know where your hard-earned
money is going is to write down every
cent you spend. Do this for at least 30
days. The goal is to discover any leaks
and plug them so that you can begin
socking money away for the time when
you may not have it.
Build adequate savings. Americans
should ask themselves how they paid
for their last emergency. If it was with
a credit card, that’s a red ﬂag. Begin
putting at least 10 percent of each paycheck into a savings account.
Create a budget. “Budget” is not a fourletter word. If it helps, call it a spending
plan. The point is to be in charge of your
money, not the other way around. After
you’ve tracked your spending, you’ll be
able to assign dollar amounts to each
spending category. This can assist you in
using your money to your best advantage.

Involve your family. Make all ﬁnancial decisions family decisions, and
your likelihood of success will increase
dramatically. Talk about everything from
the bills to the budget. The home is a
great place to teach your children about
ﬁnancial issues, including the inevitable
problems. Remembering when Mom
and Dad worked through the hard times
will be helpful when it’s their turn.
Get your credit report. Review it for
accuracy and address any errors. Why?
Many employers now pull credit reports
as a part of the interviewing process. You
don’t want errors on your credit report
or old unpaid bills to stand between you
and that new job. Consumers are allowed
one free credit report from each of the
three bureaus every 12 months from
www.annualcreditreport.com.
Pay down debt. Find the money to
dedicate to debt reduction by learning to live below your means. Consider
taking on a second job and dedicate that
paycheck to debt reduction. If you were
to lose your job, your ability to service
your debt obligations would obviously
be compromised. Pay down debt while
you still have the income to do so.
Get help. Take action at the ﬁrst hint
that you may be the next one in the unemployment line. Delaying only makes
it harder to ﬁnd a solution. There are
many reputable credit counseling agencies with trained and certiﬁed counselors
waiting to help you. To be automatically connected to the NFCC Member
Agency closest to you, dial (800) 3882227, or go online to www.DebtAdvice.
org. For assistance in Spanish, call (800)
682-9832. CM
http://www.annualcreditreport.com http://www.DebtAdvice.org http://www.DebtAdvice.org
Condo Media - April 2013

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