How much are you worth?

It’s always a good time to calculate your “net worth”

The market has you holding your breath. Your taxes had you pulling out your hair. The governor wants to eliminate your job.

Now might be a good time to work on something that you have some control over: Calculate your net worth to get a realistic picture of your assets and liabilities and use that to determine your next steps — with your investments, and other parts of your financial life.

Keep this advice in mind.

• Be realistic. Use accurate estimates of your home and car in today’s dollars. As a bonus, such information can be useful in determining whether you are adequately insured.

• For greater accuracy, use the after-tax value of your investments when calculating their worth.

 • Check your credit report to avoid any nasty surprises.

Now you are ready to subtract what you owe from what you own to determine your net worth using the Net Worth Scorecard. Repeat this exercise annually and compare with the previous year’s figures so you will know if you are moving forward or backward.

While there is no “right” net worth number, you might want to compare your results with the figures from the latest Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances to see how you measure up.

If you’re not especially happy with your net worth “score,” then it’s time to take some actions to add to the “own” column and subtract from the “owe.”

Here are two basic strategies.

• Increase your contributions to your 403(b) or other retirement plan.

• Pay down your credit cards. They are a very expensive liability.

Keep in mind that a major cause of current market conditions was the widespread and willy-nilly use of borrowing — whether uncollateralized mortgages or just plain credit card overuse. And, while no one can control the financial markets, you can control your own financial decisions.

— By Nathan Ladyzhensky, Mosher Financial