My Net Worth Statement

Before completing your net worth statement, collect as much information as you can. This will make your job much easier.

If you haven't already, consider taking this opportunity to also Set up a Filing System and complete your Document Inventory and Instruction List.

Asset Information -- Collect information about your assets, including:

• Your most recent checking and savings account statements.
• Your most recent brokerage account statement.
• The current value of all stocks, bonds, and mutual funds that are not kept in your brokerage account or retirement plan.
• Your most recent IRA account statement.
• Your most recent employee retirement plan statements. If you have a traditional pension-type plan, you'll probably need to contact your human resources department to find out the current vested value of your benefits under the plan. The "vested value" is the amount the belongs to you no matter what happens.
• Your most recent statement for each life insurance policy that accumulates cash value -- the amount of money that can be borrowed against while the policy is in force, or that you receive if you cancel a policy. Term life policies do not have cash value.
• Your Household Inventory, which will help you estimate the value of your personal household goods and other personal property.
• The current retail value of your automobile(s). You can access Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com ) or Edmund's (www.edmunds.com ) to get an estimate.
• Your home's current market value. To determine this number, consider using a value that's an average of recent sale prices of similar homes in your neighborhood. You could also check your newspaper real estate section or contact a real estate broker for a valuation.

While you're determining current market value of your home, it would be helpful to determine two valuations. The lowest valuation would be what you could get for the house if you had to sell it in a hurry. The second valuation would be what you could reasonably expect to get for it if you didn't have to rush a sale. When looking at the value of your assets, unless you know now you'll have to sell in a hurry, use the number from a reasonable sale.

Debt Information -- Gather information about all of your debts such as:

• Your most recent credit card, mortgage and bank loan statements. Your monthly statement should include the amount of the outstanding debt, even of your mortgage. If not, check online or call the lender.
• The amount you would have to pay on your auto loan if you wanted to pay it off today. If your statement doesn't include this number, call your lender's toll-free number and tell them you want the "payoff value" on your loan. "Payoff value" is the amount you would pay today to pay off the debt entirely.
• A list of all your other debts, including personal loans and past due bills.

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