Home
>
Personal Finance
>
Financial Readiness: Preparing for BRAC (Base Realignment And Closing)

Financial Readiness: Preparing for BRAC (Base Realignment And Closing)

The recommendations for military base closings have been released and the news is not good. If the recommendations are accepted, you will lose your job. So what do you do? Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.

There is a benefit to this situation. Unlike many individuals who suffer the loss of employment, you have advance warning. This is an opportunity to prepare yourself and your family. Use this time to create a financial plan.

The importance of a budget can not be stressed enough. A budget is a tool that helps you track your income and expenses, giving you a snapshot of your overall financial picture. Know where your money goes. Identify areas where you can cut back. Knowing your financial obligations will be critical while planning for the loss of income.

The next piece of the planning puzzle is net worth. Your net worth is what you would have leftover if you sold all of your assets (what you own) and used them to pay off your liabilities (what you owe). This will require sitting down and making a list of those assets and liabilities. This may sound like an overwhelming project, but it is important that you know exactly where you are financially. Knowing your net worth is essential for planning for an emergency such as unemployment.

Ideally you will have a rainy fund that will cover six months of living expenses. If not, don't panic. Start putting a portion of your paycheck aside each month. Putting away a little money now will provide a financial cushion if you don't find a new job right away.

The last piece of advice is start paying down your credit card debt. Getting rid of credit card payments will help your emergency fund go farther. It will also save you money on interest, money that you can add to that fund.

You will find forms on this website to help you complete a budget and net worth analysis as well as set financial goals, such as setting up an emergency fund.

It is never easy to find out you are losing a job. But you do have an advantage over the worker who gets a pink slip on Monday and watches the factory get boarded up on Friday. You have time. Use this time to get control of your finances so that you will be prepared. And in the event that your base is spared, you will have significantly improved your financial picture.

Leslie Linfield is a national expert on adult financial literacy education and the consumer credit counseling industry. She has advised governmental, educational and non-profit organizations alike, and she has been quoted by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal as an expert on budgeting and consumer credit. She has also presented literally hundreds of seminars and lectures on personal financial management.

tidy up service Glenview ..

In The News:

Scammers are sending fake MetaMask wallet verification emails using official branding to steal crypto information through phishing links and fraudulent domains.

Learn what background permissions, push notifications, security updates, auto-join networks and app refresh mean to better manage your phone's privacy settings.

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Financial Readiness: Preparing for BRAC (Base Realignment And Closing)

Personal Finance