Take Financial Inventory

Have you ever tried to get your finances in order before?

If you haven’t, I bet you’ve at least thought about it.

What you probably came up with in your head was…

“I don’t even know where to start”

“It’s a lost cause”

“I’ll probably be OK with what I’m doing now”

Well good news for you — we’re going to show you where to start!

If you want financial freedom or if you simply want to relieve stress and anxiety, you have to put a plan in place.

But even before doing that, you need to figure out where you currently stand.

This might give you anxiety or make you uncomfortable.

Answer this question honestly: Did you put off getting your finances in order because you didn’t want to know the answers?

When something in life is painful, we tend to avoid it.

It’s human nature.

But, the only way to move forward is through.

If you’re embarrassed or feeling insecure about where you are now – don’t worry.

You don’t have to share these numbers with anyone – these are for your eyes only.

Deal?

Great! Let’s get started.

Assets – Liabilities = Net Worth

First, let’s figure out your assets and liabilities — this will calculate your present net worth.

You can write these on a piece of paper, or create a document in Excel / Google Spreadsheets.

You’ll want to visit this and update it regularly.

Assets (these are things you own or anything you currently possess)

Cash

Checking Accounts

Savings Accounts

Retirement Accounts

Other Investment Accounts

Vehicles (Blue Book Value)

Real Estate/Residence

Other Property/Misc. Assets

=Total Assets

Liabilities (these are things you owe including any debts)

Credit Card Balances

Auto Loans

Mortgages

Student Loans

Other Personal Loans

Other Misc. Liabilities

=Total Liabilities

(Total Assets – Total Liabilities) = Net Worth

See, that wasn’t so bad!

And I can tell you from experience…

It’s extremely encouraging to see progress made when it comes to your net worth number.

And once you have momentum, objects in motion tend to stay in motion.

Ever started a fitness routine?

The hardest day is the first day.

But once you’ve been going for a week or two, you don’t want to break the streak, and you feel better overall about yourself.

You can also use this net worth number as a goal.

For example, maybe you want to hit a certain number by a certain year ($200K by age 60, etc).

In our blog post next week, we’ll go through setting financial goals and how it relates to your financial inventory.

Stay tuned!