Control of your personal economy is vital in protecting against external threats such as redundancy and can also allow you to take advantage of the opportunities that may arise, writes Johnny McNamara.

The current downturn in the global economy has created an environment with an ever-increasing level of threats to all of us. These threats are often outside of your control and therefore, there is little or nothing that you can do to stop them affecting you. However, the degree to which these threats affect you can be limited by taking ownership over the factors that you can control.