Dealing With The Unexpected

The current economic situation has proven trying for even the most fiscally careful.  Nobody Many people including Greenspan expected this kind of turnout.

Lesson learned?  Unexpected things can happen at anytime without notice and without prejudice, so it's best to be prepared for anything to the extent possible.

Right now is the perfect time for companies to take a look at their business continuity plan or if they don't have one, create one.  A business continuity plan is a documented set of procedures designed to maintain continuous operation of critical functions in the event of a disruption.

Similarly, homeowners and renters can take this opportunity to take stock of their physical assets by conducting a home inventory.

What's important to remember is that most of us have 'tightened the belt' in one way or another due to economic forces beyond our control.  If faced with some type of situation that entails an insurance loss, or causes a disruption in our business operations during a down economy, our ability to recover effectively will hinge solely on our level of preparedness.

Comments

[dave]

Hmmm, I think it's inaccurate to say that nobody expected this. Roubini has been predicting this for years, as has recent Nobel prize winner Paul Krugman. (Here'a Roubini post from 2006 http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog/roubini/142759/).

Not only did people predict it, but they predicted it early enough so that action could have been taken to avoid the economic slump we find ourselves in. This was avoidable.

William Nordhaus, Robert Shapiro, and Peter Schiff all went on record in the last few years arguing that the economic climate could not sustain itself, and all predicted something much like what has happened.

[Derek]

Dave,

I appreciate your comment. I've since changed the wording in the post to include the words "many people" since what you said is absolutely true.

Since this blog is not centered on the economy however, I'm not going to say anything further to solicit a discussion aside from the point of the post.

That is that people can and should be prepared for situations that will arise, expected or not.

Actually, your comment is very well positioned as a reminder to us all that certain things are avoidable and things can be done in a preemptive manner to avoid them.

Thanks again and wishing you much success.