Leif’s Money Makeover Week 1
The first step is to see exactly where you are right now in terms of net worth. This means paying attention and owning up to your situation. The month to month change in your net worth is a good indicator of how healthy your finances are in a chart-able and concrete way. I like charts.
Step 1 – Know your institutions
List every financial account that you have. Here are some non exhaustive possibilities
- Debt:
- Credit Card(s)
- Department Store Card(s)
- Student loan(s)
- Car loan(s)
- Payday loan(s)
- Loan(s) from family
- Line(s) of credit
- Mortgage(s)
Assets
- Checking account(s)
- Savings account(s)
- Investment account(s)
- Retirement account(s)
- CDs
Step 2 – Credit Report
Make sure that you haven’t missed anything. Download your credit report. There are three credit agencies and you can get your credit score from each agency once a year for free. Go to annualcreditreport.com and fill in your information. Get your report from one of the credit agencies and check it against the list you made in Step 1. Update Step 1 if necessary.
Step 3 – What’s your debt number?
Find the latest paperwork for all of your debt and fill in the following chart.
| Loan Name | Website | Username | Password | Due date | Minimum monthly payment | Interest Rate | Amount left | Auto pay? | Interest per month | Order to pay |
Step 4 – What are your assets?
Find the latest paperwork for all your assets you listed in step one and fill in the following chart.
| Asset Name | Website | Liquid Amount | Non-liquid Amount |
Step 5 – Calculate your net worth.
Simple math!
Total Assets – Total Debt = Net Worth
