Know Your Numbers
We’re all about knowledge, transparency, and empowerment here at Verdi and what that really means is that we all need to know some specific things about our financial realities so that we can create healthy money mindsets and financial systems for ourselves.
A few weeks ago we talked about some key metrics that the government uses to track the health of our economy (GDP, unemployment), but we also need personal metrics to track the health of our personal economies (i.e. money realities). Aaaand, because we love you we have a FREE template that you can download and use to track these numbers!
Let’s dive into the metrics:
Account Balances: this includes all of your liquid (easily accessible) and illiquid (would need to sell securities) accounts such as your checking, savings, IRAs and CDs.
Assets: this includes all of your tangible assets such as a home, car, artwork or equipment.
Loans: this includes all of your debt such as credit cards, personal loans, mortgages and student loans.
Net Worth: This number is simply all of your accounts and assets minus all of your debt. If you have more debt that accounts and assets then it will be negative. If you don’t, it will be positive. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing to have a negative net worth, but knowing where you stand will help you see your situation more clearly and therefore help you determine your goals.
Salary: This is exactly what it sounds like!
Other Income: This is any other income you may get from side hustles, personal sales, or investments.
Credit Score: This is a numerical score that shows how well you’ve repaid loans in the past.
None of these numbers is particularly important on its own, but when you track them all together you’ll be able to see your financial health grow and change over time. And if you don’t know where you are now, how will you know how proud to be in the future for all of your hard work?!
XOXO
