Honestly, for anything near a worst-case scenario, no one is even CLOSE to ready. Of course, I'm not one to buy into the crazy worst-case scenarios. My baseline assumptions include the guess that supply-side disruptions shouldn't be terribly severe. (ie, my local Meijer's [or WalMart or CostCo or whatever you have] should still have food on the shelves.) If that assumption proves wrong, we're all screwed. But then it'd be anarchy, so any plan would be thrown out the window, anyhow. No use trying to plan for this.
So, taking reasonable supplies as an expectation during this depression, I'm as ready as I can be. I was smart and have a house I can afford (back when they were approving loans for 6-10x income, I bought a house at the old conventional 3x income price range.)
There's quite a few years left on that mortgage, but that's just because I'm still fairly young. I bought my first house only 5 years ago. But I've managed to build some equity in the place, despite the fact its value has dropped considerably, due to the economy and a couple foreclosures down the street.
I have cash distributed about 15% in regular insured savings, 35% insured CDs, 50% diversified retirement fund. So I have plenty available with minor effort, without completely screwing my chances at retiring some day. (I still have that dream...) I also still have a bit of hard cash hidden away, back from Y2k when everyone was convinced the ATM system would collapse for weeks, as my old "just in case"...
My job is about as safe as any right now. My main contract is up for review in 6 months or so, but, honestly, I can't see it going away. (Its WAY too big to be migrated in that short of timeframe.) I'm diversifying my business network, though, as another "just in case"... It's just a good idea, anyhow. I don't keep in touch with my contacts, references, past co-workers, and past customers as much as I should. If it takes a scare to make me better, so be it.
So, yeah, I think I'm reasonably well prepared. Plus, I'm pretty handy at improvising, fixing, and making stuff up as I go.
As I look around at all the people completely unprepared, I'm hoping the camping saying about bears also applies to bear markets.
"You don't have to outrun the bear -- you just have to outrun your buddy."
That shouldn't be too difficult.
