Work life balance oops! I mean work life integration has become so cliché and we throw this phrase around without considering for a minute what it really means. My whole career I thought I was looking for balance until I read one of Arianna Huffington’s post and realized I did have it all wrong. It is integration. As one who’s made it a mission to help professional women find balance oops! I did it again, I mean integration, I can say being the evangelist who is also transitioning in mindset it hasn’t always been easy.
Some of the struggles women encounter on our integration journey is financial in nature, so my question to you is “Do You Know Your Net Worth?”
Yes? No? I think so? Well, which is it?
Most people can’t accurately tell you what their Net Worth is because, there’s a big confusion with Net Worth, which is what you own, less what you owe with Assets.
Stating that Net Worth is what you own is close in definition, but there’s still a missing piece to that.
Net Worth is a key measure of an individual or businesses wealth. It is what you own, less what you owe simply put. So you see it’s real easy to get Net Worth confused with Asset.
All the Math You Need To Know
For example, if you have a house worth $200,000; a car worth $25,000 and investments of $50,000, but you owe $20,000 on the car and $125,000 on your mortgage. Your net worth will be $130,000 and not $275,000 (your total assets).
This example is a very simple explanation for describing an individual’s Net Worth. The table below depicts this example, but does not take into account the shifts in the market when looking at your investments. These up and down movements overtime will affect your Net Worth. It’s good practice to review at least once a quarter, if not monthly.
| Description | Asset (What I Have) | Liabilities (What I Owe) | Net Worth |
| Mortgage | 200,000 | 125,000 | 75,000 |
| Automobile | 25,000 | 20,000 | 5,000 |
| Investments | 50,000 | 0 | 50,0000 |
| Total Net Worth | 275,000 | 145,000 | 130,000 |
Alrighty then! That’s enough math for the day. Click here to get a copy of a simple Net Worth spreadsheet template I’ve used over the years. I keep it to five years, so I can see year over year how I’m doing personally. I hope you find it useful. Customize and make it your own as needed.
There are many electronic tools that will do the job just as well. However, I find as a start, doing it this way you’re more vested in what you’re doing and inclined to be in better control of your finances because you have to enter the numbers (assets and liabilities) into the spreadsheet cells or maybe it’s just me. Let me know what you think?
Don’t be alarmed if the first few years of trying to take hold of your finances show a negative Net Worth. The most important thing is that you’re armed with information and a number you’re working to change. Now the work part of the work life integration phrase begins to make sense and you have a sense of purpose and a better handle of things.
The Great Reveal
I remember when I decided to review my finances and see how I was tracking, I cried because the numbers didn’t make sense to me, I had real estate investments and some savings etc., that supposedly meant I should be in good shape. Shockingly, I found out I was going about this the wrong way. Yup! You got it. I was confusing Net Worth and Asset that’s why I emphasize this in my definition above.
Knowing your Net Worth is a great and important step because getting out of the Red and accepting this as part of your journey to work life integration is very important. Your ability to tackle this head on comes when you’re armed with information then your mind is set to slay debt.
5 quick and sure ways to build your net worth is to:
- Reduce your debt load. Stop the bleeding any which way you can.
- Don’t think because you can afford it, that you should have it. Buying that car; purse or shoe because you think you can afford the payments when you have debt is detrimental to your wealth creation journey and is doing things in the wrong order.
- Stick to a budget, which must include debt repayment before any non-essential spending
- Spend less than you bring in as income
- Think about ways you can augment your income.
So you see getting a handle of your money is another step in the right direction to work life integration as you’re less stressed putting in so many hours to solve financial issues that could easily be solved with a tweak here and there.