The world economy is changing very fast. The days of jobs-for-life are gone and gone forever. You may have a nice, well-paid, job now but will you still have it in, say, five years from now? You might, but then you might not.

In the light of these gloomy global economic circumstances, it makes good sense that you take concrete steps to secure your personal financial future. You should not wait for the day when your boss calls you into his/her office, fixes you with his/her beady eyes, shakes his/her head and tells you: "Sorry, you gotta go. It is not my fault, it is the recession, blah blah blah".

Probably the surest way you can protect your financial future is to start and operate your own home-based business. If you have a personal computer with internet connection, then you can start and run an online business from home. If you follow the three suggestions below, then you stand a very good chance of achieving success in your home business.

Firstly, watch out for the scams. Sadly, there are many dubious "income opportunities" on the internet. Unfortunately, there are some sharks out there in cyberspace. If you allow them, they would rob you of your hard-earned money so fast you wouldn't know what hit you.

How would you avoid these cyber crooks? The best tip is that you should not rush into handing over your money until you have examined the so-called 'opportunity' very carefully. Read many reviews (from review sites that you trust) about the program being presented to you. Pose questions about the program on relevant online forums to find out what other people think about it.

Secondly, look at the long-term success-probabilities of the opportunities being presented to you. Does it sound like something you can steadily build up into a great source of regular, adequate income? The best programs usually do not come for free, as you are often required to pay to join them.

Many of such pay-to-join programs are well-run and offer you guidance and tools to enable you to build up a financially-rewarding home business in the long term. Decide what your future financial objectives are, and assess the capability of the 'opportunity' being offered you to meet those objectives. If your goal is to earn, say, $7,000 a month from home within a year, ask yourself if this 'opportunity' can help you achieve that goal fully or partially.

Finally, once you have identified and joined a suitable program, make sure you work hard at it. If you just sit back, fold your arms and stare into space, nothing is going to happen. Your financial hopes and dreams will remain just that, hopes and dreams.

You must roll up your sleeves and work hard to promote the programs you have joined. Start small and build up your business slowly but steadily. It will probably take several days or even a few weeks before you see financial results. Rome, they say, was not built in a day. Keep on trying and, sooner or later, the money will come rolling in.