Four Family Related Disasters Your Should Prepare For

Chances that you will experience a major disaster in your area or on a national level is less than your chance of experiencing a personal disaster. Yes, natural disasters do happen on a nearly daily basis, perfect example is the tornado’s that have recently hit Texas, Alabama & Mississippi as well as the rains and flooding in Oklahoma and Missouri as well as bad weather in other parts of the United States. Yes, these things do happen, and you should prepare for them.

Today however I would like to talk about preparing for the things that are more likely to happen to you such as a job loss, a long illness or broken bone. Other things to prepare for is a divorce, death of a loved one including a pet. It is the day-to-day things that we need to prepare for first before preparing for the large events such as a EMP, global economic collapse or some other national or global event. Plus, planning for the things that my occur in your own life will help you also be prepared for the larger events.

Here Are Four Things You Should Be Preparing for & Tips On How To Do It:

Job Loss

• Job Loss: You may think it can’t happen to you, you would never get laid off. I am sure that is what those it has happened to though as well. It is best to always be prepared to look for a new job.
  • Make sure your resume is up-to-date,
  • That you have a solid and up-to-date LinkedIn page.
  • You should have at least three months, six is better, of living expenses in savings. Now if you are rolling your eyes wondering how you are going to do that, then you may also need some coaching on your personal finances. Ideally, part of being prepared is also living a debt free life, check out Life & Finances for tips on that.
  • It is also a good idea to have a little side business, maybe selling on Ebay, I have a neighbor who runs a lawn mowing business on the weekends. He has invested in the proper professional equipment and is prepared in case he loses his job, he can start mowing lawns.
  • Always good to have some stored food on hand. Any food you buy now will be an investment and won’t go to waste because you can always eat it. Food costs are only going up, so having food put back is a good idea regardless of the reason

Illness/Broken Bones

• Illness or broken bone: You never know when you are going to get sick. Don’t wait til it happens, plan for it.
  • Again, have at least three to six months savings in the bank
  • Make sure you have good health insurance
  • Make sure you have great disability insurance, if you are out of work for weeks, you will need disability insurance to supplement your lost income
  • If you live alone, make sure you have someone, a friend or family member, who will come in and check on you, maybe do some shopping, prepare meals, do some laundry.

Divorce

• Divorce: Nobody gets married thinking you will get divorced. You get married thinking it will last forever and I pray it will. The fact is, one in two couples will get divorced, that is a 50/50 chance it will be one. In my case it was me, it happens.
  • Have a savings account that is just yours. This is easier for those who get married when they are older and more established. I am not condoning keeping secrets from your spouse, but it is always a good idea to have your own little savings account set aside “just in case”. Remember, savings is just that, if you stay married, think how much of a great surprise you will have when you both retire to have that extra little savings accounts.
  • Keep something in your name rather than a joint account, good for a vehicle, even a credit card.
  • Keep your own set of friends. Yes, it is good to have joint friends, but you need your own support network that is “on your side” rather than putting joint friends in a position to chose sides.

Death

• Death of a loved one or pet: There are two things in life that are guaranteed, death and taxes. You know it is going to happen, plan for it before it does, when you are not emotional over the event.
  • I know I keep saying it, but always have a savings in place. I am not one who agrees with paying for the funeral and plot ahead of time. For one, you may not even be in the state where you made the arrangements when the death occurs. It is better to be setting aside some savings for such an event.
  • Talk ahead of time with our loved ones about their wishes and let them know yours. Do they/you want to be buried, cremated. Maybe even write our the obituary. Yes, this all sounds morbid and most don’t like talking about it, but it is better to talk about it now when everyone is calm.
  • Same with your pets, make sure the family know the plan if a pet gets sick. How much care and expense will the family give to the sick pet before making the very tough decision of putting the pet down. Remember to make the decision based on the comfort and quality of life of your pet, not your selfish emotions of wanting to keep them around as long as possible. As pet owners, we have the responsibility of act on behalf of our pet, always make the decision in their best interest. Regardless, decide now as a family so everyone is on the same page.

Won’t Go To Waste

These are just four things in life we hope won’t happen but need to prepare for just in case they do happen. Preparing for these things won’t go to waste, because that preparation can also help you for the larger events are well, especially having a good savings in place.

I am sure there are other things the may hit close to home that we should be preparing for, please share in the comments some things I missed that we should all be focused on that are more family related disasters.