An acquaintance of mine formerly owned a store that sells
“country” products like hand-crafted wood furniture, candles,
and decor inspired by rural living. Twice a year, she recruited
family members and friends to help take an inventory of the
entire store. This process involved many hours of walking
throughout the building and counting items on shelves and in
storage. Even though the computer sales system tracked the
quantities of items so at any time she could identify the number
of wool welcome rugs with a turkey design, someone would count
the rugs on the shelves to ensure the computer was correct. Like
a store, your awareness isn’t complete until you do your own
financial inventory. Just like your name or your occupation
identifies yourself quickly to other people, your net worth —
the sum of the values of all your financial accounts — is a
nominal description of your financial identity. The complete
calculation of a net worth can be convoluted because there are
some important items to include that aren’