What’s Your #?

What’s Your #?

Audio Version: Let Me Hear It!

Christy Walton

$41.6 Billion
(think Walmart)
Laurene Powell Jobs $16.6 Billion
(think Apple)
Oprah Winfrey $3 Billion
(think TV)
Beyoncé $???
(think Grammy)
You                 $??
(not sure what to think…)

So, what is it? Net worth.  For some of you, it may take less time to find Beyoncé’s number than your own. Fortunately for her, it’s just a Google away. Unfortunately for most of us, our net worth isn’t exactly “Google worthy.”

If you don’t know your number, take a little time with our cheat sheet to tally what you own (assets), subtract what you owe (liabilities) and, voilà – meet your net worth!  The key to financial success isn’t what you make, but rather what you keep. So, if there is one number you should know, it’s your net worth.

The number itself doesn’t matter as much as how it changes over time, so don’t worry if it’s negative right out of school or after buying your first home.  A trend upward tells you that you’re making progress towards saving for what matters to you.  Revisit your sheet annually (or even more if you’d like) to see how much progress you’ve made.  We can’t promise it will get your number trending online, but it can help keep your priorities in line.