The last major world financial collapse was on Monday, October 19, 1987. This day was then referred to as Black Monday. It was the day that the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted over 22% and in turn, had major effects on many countries in the world. By the end of October of that year, Australia fell 41.8%, Hong Kong fell 45.8%, Canada 22.3% and the United Kingdom 26.4%.

What made that day so memorable was the fact that it was the second largest one day percentage fall in recorded stock market history, the largest being the one which occurred on Saturday, December 12th 1914.

The term Black Monday came about from the period of the Wall Street Crash in 1929, then called Black Thursday.

There is still a mystery surrounding the 1987 crash. No notice from the media occurred to notify people as to what was about to transpire. To today, people still discuss the reasons for it and everyone has their individual point of view. The ripple effect of those days took its time to rear its ugly head to the early 1990's with the culmination of thousands of people losing their homes and businesses on a weekly basis.

For the people who suffered the effects of Black Monday, it has taken them several years to get over that disastrous day. In fact, there are many people, even now, almost twenty years later, who have not recovered from this, their financial nightmare. They are generally in the age bracket where they were unemployable from that day onwards.

Even though they had the chance to go bankrupt, they didn't want to take that road. Many people felt that the stigma of being a bankrupt was too much for them to bear and instead 'soldiered on', to nowhere, financially.

Now there are concerns that we may be revisiting the nightmare of that period. Thereforfe, the first thing everyone should do is to ensure that they have taken all steps necessary to protect themselves in advance of another recession. Since the last recession, numerous people have chosen a career or business which is recession proof but that is not the case for many others.

To protect yourself, make a list all your debts. Is there anyway you could spread these over a longer term, thus making the payments more manageable? Find out what possibilities there are for you to generate some extra income. Check what insurance cover you have in the event of your not being able to cover these debts. Double check the small print, as you may be paying for a policy which turns out to be useless when required.

In other words, try your hardest to see if you can cushion the effects of the next potential recession. Take control of the situation before others take control of your life. By doing everything you can to protect yourself and your family, if the worst happens that the next recession puts you into dire straits financially, at least you will know that you tried everything you possibly could have.