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What would you do if you were laid off?

This is one of those situations that you put in the back of your mind with the idea that it could happen but, usually stuff like this only happens to other people.

Citigroup just announced that they will cut more than 50,000 jobs. That's a lot of jobs.

If this were the only company saying they were laying off workers we'd probably walk away from the subject. But, the reality is that we are hearing more and more about job cuts. Several other companies recently have announced mass layoffs, including Morgan Stanley, General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., and Fidelity Investments.

The number of newly laid-off workers is at an all time high since 1992. Todays jobless claim levels are above what is considered jobless level during a recession. According to the Labor Department, unemployment has reached a 14-year high of 6.5 percent (in October). The ranks of the unemployed has swelled to 10.1 million, which means that that more jobless claims can be expected.

My point is, that unemployment is closer than you think. Nobody is 100% immune.

Would you be able to hold your family together under the stress of no income coming in?

No income means no vacation, not much of a holiday season, and possibly losing your home. If you are not working, you probably would have to be. The stress that your unemployed spouse feels will further burden you.

What would you do to get through a financial crisis?