Articles > Assets
How your possessions and items
of value are considered to be an asset
What are Assets?
- By Elaine Bechtel
Deuteronomy 8:18 (NAS) “But you shall remember
the Lord your God for it is He who is giving you power
to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which
He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”
Proverbs 10:22 (NAS) “It is the blessing of the
Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.”
If you ask an accountant what assets are, they will
tell you that assets are items of value; which is a
true statement. To Christians it is much more. Assets
include our time, talent and resources. Bill & Maureen
Sitter, in their book Financial Freedom in 7 Weeks Plus,
define prosperity as “Having all the time, talent,
and resources needed to accomplish what God has called
us to do”. This broadens the scope of what assets
are, and speaks to where your heart is. What will you
classify as an asset in your life?
In the accounting realm assets come in two types: Liquid
and Non-Liquid. Liquid assets are those that can be
converted into cash in 1 year or less. A partial list
of examples are:
- Cash in your wallet.
- Cash in your checking or savings accounts.
- Stocks or Bonds.
- Life insurance cash values.
These items when totaled equal your liquid assets.
Non-Liquid assets are those that take longer than 1
year to convert to cash. A partial list of examples
are:
- Market value of your home or land.
- Net worth of a business.
- Vehicles as in cars, RV’s, ATV’s, Jet
skis, boats, etc.
- Furniture.
- Collections like stamps, coins, crystal etc.
- Retirement fund balances.
- Money due to you from others.
These would equal your Non-Liquid Assets.
Together, Liquid and Non-Liquid assets are your total
assets. This information is used to determine your net
worth, which will be discussed in another article.
If you have more assets than you need, consider selling
any surplus or idle assets to reduce your debts, so
you can achieve your financial goals.
|
