With everyone scrambling to re-establish their financial security amidst the recent recession, many of the conventional wisdoms our parents have followed are changing, according to the experts. Here’s a look at the 2010 version of a few previously followed assumptions regarding our financial safety nets.

Remember when your father told you to keep three months’ worth of living expenses in an easily accessible emergency savings account? Well, here’s the expert take on the new rule: stash at least six months’ worth! With the increased chance of job loss, extended average lengths of unemployment, and the disappearing availability of credit, it is becoming essential that you keep more cash in a separate FDIC-insured savings account.

The days of calling your credit-card company and negotiating a lower interest rate to help lower payments is over. In fact, avoid picking up the phone to call them for any reason! The big reason here is that credit card companies are taking this “customer initiated call” to review your credit worthiness and in many cases will actually raise your interest rate or reduce your credit limit. "So if you still want to make that call, review your credit report [www.freecreditreport.com] thoroughly to catch anything they might find," says Maureen P. Kelly, a certified financial planner. “If there are potential issues, like late or missed payments, or if your credit score is lower than the last time you checked it, ask yourself if a lower rate is worth the possibility of a lower credit line.”

Just because your current mortgage balance is greater than the value of your property, don’t rule out refinancing. Then new rule of thumb is to go ahead with a refinance if the amount owed doesn’t exceed 5% of the home’s market value. Since the government recently put into place the Making Home Affordable program, aimed at helping Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac homeowners with declining property values.

The moral of this story? Financial stability has a new meaning for many Americans, but with little tweaking of the old rules and the invention of a few new ones, homeowners can regain their footing and financial security in no time!