So, if you don't have enough socked away in your rainy day fund, then what can you do?

First, don't panic, you can start saving today and in less than a year you'll be much better prepared.

Next, and this is hard to do, try to pay yourself first. Set aside a small amount every month before spending or investing. We are notoriously bad about taking action in this way, so continue reading.

Liz Pulliam Weston, an MSN personal finance columnist recommends getting a line of credit from your bank. If you do this, then be careful to avoid using the line to pay for non-emergency expenses. Otherwise, you'll only dig a deeper hole.

By taking a few simple steps, you'll be thankful when the rain starts to pour.

Not funding your living trust.

Too much JTWROS property.

Leaving too many assets to a surviving spouse.

Not equalizing assets through gifts between spouses.

Not having a will.

Improper ownership of life insurance.

Being donor and custodian of a uniform-gift-to-minors-act/uniform-transfer-to-minors-act account.

Not knowing where all the "stuff" is.

Naming the wrong executor.

Not periodically updating an estate plan.

This list should be a helpful reference as you fine-tune your estate plan or work with estate planning experts to create your estate plan for the first time.

For an easy to digest overview of self-employment taxes, visit Wachovia's Self-Employment Tax page with ways to report the self-employment tax to the IRS and available income tax deductions.

For forms and an in-depth review of the self-employment tax, visit the Internal Revenue Service.

To estimate your self-employment taxes, visit H&R Block's self-employment tax estimator. If you are paying self-employment taxes for the first time, then prepare for a shock. The good news is that a portion of your self-employment tax is an income tax deduction.

Finally, Moneysmartz offers a complete list of self-employment tax resources.

If you are in the mood for a financial assessment, then the December issue of Money Magazine offers tools and advice for tracking your financial goals and comparing where you stand to your peers.

For extra motivation to get you started, see how your net worth stacks up with others. Results are by age and income, with the median net worth for youngsters around $400 and for seniors around $175,000.

Additional tools and advice include:

How to Be a Millionaire

How to Own Your Dream Home

How to Afford an Expensive College for Your Children

How to Retire Early

How to Launch Your Own Business

If you don't start now, then it may be another year before you catch your breath and have a chance to plan again.

If you are looking for a brokerage for advice, then StarMine's recent ranking of big brokerage performance is a good place to start.

Wachovia Securities is at the top of the list, in part because of a strong buy on Comcast, with a 46% gain over the rating period.

The remaining top ten includes Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, RBC Capital Markets, JPMorgan, Bear Stearns, Stifel Nicolaus, Deutsche Bank, UBS, and CIBC World Markets.

If you are considering a year-end charitable gift, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund's Securities Donation Calculator will help you measure the tax savings from selling the securities and contributing the proceeds to charity and paying any associated capital gains tax compared to giving the securities directly to charity and avoiding capital gains tax.

The tax savings from contributing directly can be significant, so if you are inclined to give securities this year, consider giving directly to cut your tax bill.

If you are interested in seeing how your are doing, not only your net worth, but in all aspects of financial planning, like college savings, asset protection, retirement planning, and budgeting, then the December 2006 issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine offers a financial fitness test to compare where you are.

The test will show you where you stand compared to others taking the test including a small group of Kiplinger's readers. Tips for staying and getting ahead will help you improve your long-term financial health.

Not surprisingly, the test shows that the meaning of millionaire is changing, with the majority of respondents saying they need to be at least a millionaire to meet their long-term financial objectives.

To answer these questions and learn more about the state of the housing market, the December issue of SmartMoney includes a spreadsheet of housing values in 152 markets and a review of what's happening in real estate now that the bloom is off the housing boom.

If you are willing to feel some pain today with the hope of a brighter retirement, then Fidelity's My Plan, requiring answers to five simple questions, is a relatively painless way to determine how much you'll need when you retire and what you need to do to get there.

The My Plan tool is intuitive and pleasant; delivering good and bad news with a smile while providing concrete steps to change your investment habits and begin preparing for a better retirement.

Our current market downturn has captured the attention of a host of real estate bubble blogs and more recently cover stories from financial and general news magazines.

One of these cover stories worth a read comes from the November issue of Business 2.0, featuring real estate guidance, including where to buy, where not to buy, bubble proof markets, and new rules of real estate.

For the Rich Dad, Poor Dad crowd, the feature provides advice on buying low and renting high including a tidy formula for how to make the rent pay.

With the raft of real estate guidance, you have a fighting chance to protect your home equity or even increase your net worth with a few well-informed moves.