Common areas missed when completing a Personal Financial Statement the first time:

1. Cash on Hand – If you have cash at home, in a safe, or a safety deposit box, remember to list it.
2. Real Estate – enter the market value, not the price paid.
3. Personal Assets – Enter all personal assets that have value. Example: wife’s jewelry, flat screen TV, computers, furniture, lawn equipment, boats, jet skis, collectible items, baseball card collection, artwork, etc…
4. Personal Assets – list the items above or the amount that your personal items are insured for on your Home Owner’s Insurance Policy, whichever is greater.
5. Life Insurance – Enter the Cash Value of the Life Insurance Policy.
6. Budget so that annual expenses are never greater than annual income.
7. Pay off your debt – We all know this in an intellectual way, but do not embrace this concept emotionally. Look at your Net Worth, and then put a zero in the liabilities column.

A Financial Statement is the Road Map to Building/Securing Your Financial Future!

In a nutshell – mathematically your net worth is your assets (what your own) minus your liabilities (what you owe). Basically, if you sell everything you own and pay off everything you owe; net worth would be what is left over. “Is it really this simple?” Yes and no. The basic premise is simple; however putting all the data together to calculate Net Worth is more difficult. This is why the Personal Financial Statement was developed.

In order to begin creating a good financial plan for your future, net worth must be determined first. Knowing your net worth shows a snapshot of your current financial position. This will allow you to begin planning and setting goals for your financial future. Every plan must have a starting point. The development of a financial game plan begins with determining your net worth.

Whether you are applying for a mortgage, looking to get a business or a personal loan – your loan officer will not even begin the process without reviewing your net worth. Imagine the look of surprise on your lender’s face when you walk into his/her office with your personal financial statement in hand. The professionalism this shows puts you at an advantage by presenting an accurate, easy to read Personal Financial Statement.

Lending institutions typically have a standard form they provide. These forms are inaccurately presented to the lender approximately 50% of the time. This is not to fault the individual completing the financial statement, because 85% of them have never seen a Personal Financial Statement form or calculated their net worth.

Once your net worth is calculated – it is tempting to file it away, forget about it, and never use it again. This could be detrimental to your financial future. Your financial position and future is not something to put “out of sight and out of mind”. Finances are constantly changing, so these changes need to be constantly monitored. It is recommended to update your Personal Financial Statement at least once a quarter. This keeps you in tune with your financial situation, and adjustments can be made as needed.

Our boutique real estate agency of veteran professionals, having an average of 18 years experience each, has been selling real estate in the consistently progressing Chattanooga and North Georgia market for 81 years. The present mood and feel of the economy is upbeat, positive and progressive. Supply in homes and condominiums is exceptional and demand remains strong. Chattanooga feels good about itself and it shows all over town. Because of our reasonable average sales prices ($141,000 entire MLS metro area), the incredible beauty of this mountain/valley/river location, low property taxes and lack of state income taxes, the market for those out-of-the-area buyers remains alright as well as there being good local demand. We are in a growing economy in which Volkswagen is building a major new facility and a major new chemical production plant is locating in the area. The French plant Alston is relocating 350 nuclear engineers to its downtown Chattanooga plant.

We at Herman Walldorf and Company have it all for you. I invite your call so I can put you in touch with one of our professionals. We are internationally connected, being longtime members of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World and luxury home specialists who can even have properties shown to you in another city. We can also sell your property, therefore, in any market across the world for you -call and we’ll explain that, too. See our website at www.walldorf.com.