Thursday, January 22, 2009

Fiscal fitness checkup


The rhythms of life have predictable patterns for many of us, including resolutions at the start of a new year. Generally, for middle-age man fitness dudes like me, these resolutions center on fitness and health but can and should include personal finances.

One of my new year rituals is to prepare a personal financial statement of our family assets, liabilities and net worth as of December 31st for the year just ended. It gives me a snapshot of our financial resources and obligations, generally not providing me with new information but merely archiving that information for future reference.

Here's a link to a website providing a free personal financial statement template for preparing a financial snapshot of your finances. I suggest you use December 31st of 2008 as a measurement date because you'll have most of the information about your asset values and liability balances as of that date. Chances are you are already sifting through that data as you accumulate the income and deduction information needed to prepare your income tax returns.

Click here for a free personal financial statement template

My advice is to invest some time this month and get a fiscal fitness checkup.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So, how much are you worth, hmmm???LOL!!
I'll bet it's less than 2007. I know mine is less. I don't want to think about it. Things can only go up, right, right, right????

Have a great day,
Donna

Pierini Fitness said...

Hi Donna,

Thanks for asking. Like many, my paper worth sank a little in 2008, but enough to feed this hungry bear. Enough is the short answer and nothing to worry about. I remind my clients that all is well and they'll just have to find something else to worry about.

Have a great day!