A Radical Approach to Personal Worth

Most people, even the ones who hated math, can figure out their net worth.  For those of you who aren’t accounting lingo-savvy, your net worth is the difference between what you own and what you owe. 

Add the value of everything you own

Then subtract

The amount you owe to others

Equals

Net Worth

The biggest mistake in figuring net worth is not the inability to subtract one number from the other:  it’s the overestimating of what stuff is worth and underestimating the total amount of debt.  So, don’t do either of those things, and you can get a pretty accurate estimate of your net worth.  And remember, if your debts are bigger than the value of your stuff, your net worth is negative.

 You’re spending waaaay too much money.

Now you know what you’re worth right?  Yes, if you think that your net worth is equal to your self worth.  If that’s the case, stop reading.  While I’d love to engage you in a debate over that principle, this is a one way conversation, and I don’t think the rest of it will crank your tractor. 

Go in peace.

For the rest of us, if you think there’s something of value that wasn’t included in your net worth statement, now what do you do?  How do you assign a financial value to

·         Your loved ones?

·         What you love to do? 

·         Your talents? 

·         Your education?

In a radical departure from generally accepted business practices, why don’t we assign financial assets a non-financial point value that represents how much they contribute to your overall happiness?  Money and other financial assets have value only to the degree that they make you happy.

Interesting concept.

Are you happy?  Then give yourself 1000 “groovy points” spread among the things bring you happiness. 

List them all, in order of the amount of happiness it brings you.  A relatively well adjusted happy person may have a list that looks something like this.