The Next Financial Disaster

Think you've avoided the worst of the economic fallout to date? Don't be so sure. You might already be in deep trouble -- whether you realize it or not.

Lots of American families will take huge financial hits this year. In addition to the usual threats to household financial security -- sudden health crises, divorces, rampaging raptors on hoverboards -- millions of households will get hit by one or both of 2010's special offerings:

• An adjustable-rate mortgage that resets, adding hundreds to monthly payments.
• A job loss that cuts income and threatens health-care coverage.

Even if you don't think you're at risk now, the past couple years have shown us how quickly things can go downhill. Millions will continue facing unprecedented -- and unexpected -- financial challenges in the years ahead. Those who aren't prepared for the challenges will suffer the worst.

If you've never paid serious attention to the nitty-gritty of your personal finances, you could be in serious financial danger. If you want to maximize your chances of avoiding financial doom, you need to get your financial act together now.

And yes, I know that sounds like an incredibly boring task. But it can be very easy -- and it could save your financial rear end. Read on.

The margin of error is smaller than ever
Do you know -- off the top of your head, to the nearest $100 or so -- how much your family spends on groceries every month? Do you know how much life insurance coverage you have? Is Quicken a close personal friend? When will you be able to retire?

If you don't know the answers to those questions (and your spouse doesn't either), it's time to get up to speed. With the economy and the markets in the worst troughs we've seen in years, our margin for financial error is smaller than ever.

Think about it. What would you do if a major financial setback hit? Job openings and credit are getting hard to come by. Raises and bonuses are being cancelled or suspended. And the home equity cushions that many had come to count on as an emergency buffer have shrunken dramatically -- and, in many cases, evaporated.

You may not be able to avoid such a setback in coming months, but you can improve your response to it by getting up to speed on your financial situation and options right now.

Is that a sword hanging from your ceiling?
Here's an example: If you have an options ARM or other adjustable-rate mortgage, hopefully you're very aware of the terms and implications by now -- and hopefully, you're taking steps to manage those implications, even if your reset date is still months away. With luck, you'll be able to navigate the triple threat of tighter lending standards, reduced home equity, and roughed-up personal finances and get your loan refinanced.

But lots of people won't be that lucky, and that's the other side of this coin. Staying current on those much bigger post-reset payments will require some drastic rethinking of their personal finances -- rethinking that should start as soon as possible.

Join the frantic-rethinking club
Layoffs already have millions of Americans doing that kind of reconsideration. We're just a few weeks into 2010, and already the list of job cuts is staggering. These are just a few highlights -- or maybe I should say lowlights -- as reported by Forbes:

Source: Forbes.

Despite talk of an improving economy, layoffs don't seem to be slowing down much. And while being laid off can be a blessing in disguise for some, it's never good news for household finances in the short run. Yet the people who will suffer the most are the people who aren't prepared -- and preparation starts with knowing where you're at.

Would you believe that we've come up with a way to make this simple -- and maybe even fun?

A simple way to get the job done
Last year, The Fool's Rule Your Retirement newsletter dubbed 2009 the "Year of Fiscal Fitness." Yeah, it sounds kind of silly -- but a little bit of silly helps this kind of work get done. Advisor Robert Brokamp and his team came up with a whole bunch of resources to help you find the motivation to get your financial house in order -- and to make the process as painless as possible.

Even though 2009 is over, all of those Fiscal Fitness resources are available for you in one special report. They'll show you how better control of your money can give you more freedom now, as well as more options should disaster strike. A written plan? How about a calendar that separates the necessary tasks into small bites and spreads them out over time, with friendly (and infrequent) email reminders to help you keep going? Are you like me, perpetually disorganized? They can help with that, too, with a section on assembling a simple "financial control center" and contributions from productivity guru David Allen, author of the famous Getting Things Done.

It's not too late to get started today. Rule Your Retirement is a paid service, but you can get 30 days of full access absolutely free. Use that time to take a look at the Fiscal Fitness special report and see if its tools are right for you. If not, it costs you nothing but a little time -- and you'll have learned a bit and had some fun along the way. The first step is the most important -- click here to take it now.

Editor's note: A previous version of this article cited a source that incorrectly claimed Verizon plans to lay off 21,000 employees in 2010. The actual number of planned layoffs is around 13,000. The Fool regrets the error.