Instructions:

Before you can begin setting goals and developing strategies to achieve them, it is important to understand where you are now. The first step in creating your personal financial plan is determining your current financial situation. Having a thorough understanding of your current financial situation will help you to formulate realistic and well-informed goals. Taking a detailed look at your situation may also help you identify specific changes you could make to change your situation and help you achieve the goals you will create later in the planning process.

To gain insight into your current situation, it can be helpful to determine your current net worth. To calculate your net worth, you will need to total your current liabilities and subtract them from your total current assets.

Assets are simply what you own that has value. These include: cash and cash equivalents, such as physical cash on hand, checking accounts, or savings accounts; personal property, such as equity in a home, other real estate owned, or a car; and invested assets, such as stocks, bonds, or pensions.

Liabilities include value of what you owe including current bills and outstanding debt.

Utilizing the Net Worth spreadsheet, calculate your current net worth. Then:

• Write a 200- to 250-word reflection on what you learned from this experience.
• Include one correctly cited reference from your reading in this module.
• You do not have to submit the spreadsheet. (I do not need to know your personal business.)