Those in the personal finance industry want to encourage people to take steps to disaster-proof their finances so they aren’t caught unaware when another crisis emerges.
“This is an unprecedented situation,” said Cynthia Kett, a principal at Stewart & Kett Financial Advisors in Toronto. “There hasn’t been anything other than the world wars that has affected people everywhere.”
Kett says everyone should have a good idea of their annual spending on a month-by-month basis, and if they don’t, “It’s not bad to have people think about things they should have thought about before.”
She says that creating an emergency fund — the money needed to cover their needs for three to six months — is a necessity, not an option.