Starting Point

To confirm your savings goals in the new year, begin now with a year-end balance sheet. It is like a baseline.

Begin with all those statements that will arrive in January or check for some numbers on line. List your financial assets like savings accounts, savings bonds, mutual funds, and stock values.

In that same column but separate, list real assets like house value, car values, and other things with some resale value. I do not list furniture, clothing, jewelry (I have a few nice pieces but I don't count on reselling them), or collections like coins and stamps as they are too difficult to value.

After assets, list liabilities. Here's the place for your credit card balances, mortgage balances, any family loans, bookie debts, etc.

When you subtotal both sections and subtract liabilities from assets, you discover your net worth.

I maintain my balance sheet quarterly on Excel and add each quarter in the next column. Side-by-side changes are easy to see. Some prefer to let financial software like Quicken track these things and produce nice asset reports and colorful charts.

I will begin gathering 12/31 balances on line over the next 2 days, before the new year activities effect what I will find posted on my bank, Vanguard, HSA, and 401(k) sites.

Start gathering your net worth pieces to establish your starting point.

'til later