Last week we spent some time talking about net worth, and why knowing your own net worth is so important.

Let's begin this week with some more information on the same topic.

Here are some hard and fast tips for figuring out your net worth. See if they don’t work for you:


1. List all of your fixed assets, such as real estate and cars, at their current value. Subtract any money that you owe on these assets, such as your mortgage or car loan.

2. List all of your liquid assets: cash, certificates of deposit, stocks, bonds and bank accounts.

3. List all jewelry, furniture and household items at their current value.

4. Add together all of the above. These are your total assets.

5. Subtract all of your debts (except those you already subtracted in step 1) from your total assets. The result is your net worth.

6. Re-evaluate and update your net worth calculations on an annual or better yet, semi-annual basis.

This exercise should only take an hour or so. The time saved in doing so will prive rich dividends when you begin planning your financial future.

And you can't do that without knowing your net worth.