We're in a bit of a unique position. yeah, our shares have halved in value, but they were long term investments so it's not a worry. A few weeks ago I saw a list in the Daily telegraph about groups of careers and their security during economic hardship and DH is at both ends of the scale - traditionally farming is the most secure industry to be in, and the lower the AU$ goes, the better our commodity prices are but because of the drought he also works in the mining industry, which was in the least secure group - but the advantage he has is that it's a gold mine, and in times of crisis people/countries stockpile bullion, so his job is quite safe. Shares in gold mining companies are on the rise when every other mining company is on a downward trend ATM.

Also we are better off with our business mortgage because the fixed term just ended and he renegotiated a rate that was 2% less.

For me, nothing changes because I am a SAHM, and we've qualified each time for the stimulus packages. So I think we'll actually stay pretty insulated from any real hardship at this point.

I too think a lot of people are in for a very big shock and this was some of the point I was trying to make way back when we were discussing the election, that any Gen-Y's (and some Gen-X's) just wont know what hit them. They have had it pretty cruisey thus far and were insulated from the end of the last recession (that we had to have ) simply because they were all too young to know and understand what was going on. The difference between now and then though is that the last recession was almost purely from mismanagement and this one is beyond our control, hence why we as a country aren't doing too bad yet., and now we do have the luxury of interest rates being so low, when back then they were sky high to start with and that's what crippled most people. I think we are yet to see the worst of it though, so there will be intersting times ahead.