Tips to Prepare for Unexpected Unemployment

1. Be sure to always maintain a cash reserve that will cover your required expenses for at least 3 months and even better, I recommend 6 months. This can give you the time you need to decide what you want to do and to get back on your feet.

2. Manage your debt and budget closely. While you are still working, pay off short-term and especially high-interest debt. Do not spend money you do not have. Live conservatively now and put as much money away as you can.

3. Take the time now to update your resume and references.

4. This can be an opportune time to “reinvent the life you really want for yourself”. Had this not happened you might have stayed in a job that did not provide the life you could otherwise have had. Ask yourself this:

• What did I like about the work I was doing?
• What did I not like about the work I was doing?
• If I could have any career, what (realistically) would be my ideal career?
• What do I need to do to have it?
• Do I need to go back to school?
• If I want my own business, what skills do I need to assure it be successful?