positive net worth

you do have to show $80,000 net worth at the time of your home study but I know for us that it just helped in general to show them my plan b/c they want to know how you handle debt and what your plans are if any to change it. As for life insurance it depends for instance I have a term policy of a million on my husband but that is not a million in my assets..only if you have that insurance where you get the return of your premiums paid but usually that is not that much. They do like to see life insurance though of any amount. All your assets get grouped into one large sum at the end so your computers, home goods, collections of some sorts can get added together if that makes sense. This was one of our biggest worries too and like I said I think I have it figured it out but we have yet to go through the home study!

Actually I would love to hear any other opinions on this and what you included. How did you calculate your home goods? I was told I could write up to what I was insured for and then my home value on top of that. What did others do? Sometimes being young really sucks!! I feel like our assets to debt ratio is so off!

I would ask your agency to help guide you, we were heading for the Philippines or China depending on what fit us the best...that being said China seemed to fit us. We were told that we did NOT have to include our student loans. So, we didn't. Our insurance did not go into our net worth calculations, but it did go on the financial statement for China. What we did for our assests was to go through each room and estimate what we could sell (very general) them for now. We recieved a great net worth spread sheet from other member on the site, which really helped.

Another idea to calculate the value of your possessions... Our agency suggested we look at the "replacement value" for our possessions on our home owners insurance. We just used that value rather than make a list of goods and calculate. It took two minutes to find our insurance statement and I checked that computation off our list! :)

Can I get a PM about net worth, please? We have a positive one, but noweher near 80K - but maybe it is closer than I think depending on how it is calculated. We don't plan to adopt again - but it would be nice to know "just in case".

That's how it starts, Tracy!!!! LOL

I would calculate net worth the following way: PLUSValue of HouseValue of Cars401k/retirement balancesCash in savings/checking/cd'sInvestments/mutual funds/stocksReal Estate (if other than primary residence)ClothingJewelryAppliances, electronics, other household goods MINUSMortgageCar loanStudent loansHome equity loansCredit card debtAny other debts This should get to your net worth. You can only include insurance if it has some sort of cash surrender value. Usually term life policies are not considered assets.

Applicant(s): Date: Earnings Applicant’s Salary (yearly gross) $ Other (specify): $ Spouse’s Salary (yearly gross) $ Other (specify): $ Total Earnings: $ Assets Cash in bank (current savings) $ Cash in bank (average checking) $ Stocks (estimated value) $ Bonds (estimated value) $ Cash value of life insurance policies (not face value) $ Other $ Automobile(s): Make Model Year Purchase Price $ Market Value Make Model Year Purchase Price $ Market Value Home: Purchase date Purchase price Equity $ Market Value Other assets and estimated value (itemize) $ $ Total Assets: $ Liabilities Monthly Payment Outstanding Balance Home mortgage $ $ Personal loans $ $ Installment accounts (itemize) $ $ $ $ $ $ Real estate loans $ $ Insurance Policy Loans $ $ Automobile loans $ $ Others (specify) $ $ $ $ Total Liabilities: $ List life insurance policies by: Spouse covered Name of Insurance Co. Face Value List disability policies by Spouse covered Name of Insurance Co. Face Value Monthly Expenses (If not monthly, pro-rate monthly amount) 1. House rent or payment, tax, and insurance $ 2. House upkeep – repairs, improvements lawn and garden expense $ 3. Groceries: (Include meals purchased out and any food delivered) $ 4. Utilities: Power $ Gas $ Water $ Phone $ Garbage $ Total Utilities $ 5. Clothing $ 6. Medical and dental-average $ 7. Car expenses: Gas $ Tag and Tax $ Payment $ Upkeep on car $ Total Car Expenses $ 8. Insurances: Life $ Health $ Car $ Household (if not included in #1) $ Burial $ Other $ Total Insurance: $ 9. Reading materials $ 10. Recreation and hobbies $ 11. Church and charity contributions $ 12. Installment accounts $ 13. Club and membership dues; professional dues $ 14. Savings and /or investments $ 15. Child support/alimony if applicable $ 16. Other (specify) $ TOTAL MONTHLY EXPENSES: $ Applicant’s monthly take-home pay $ Spouse’s monthly take-home pay $ Add other monthly net income $ TOTAL: $ Total monthly expenses (subtract) - EXCESS MONTHLY INCOME* $ *Excess should be sufficient to cover needs of expected child

I had to laugh at the clothing reference..I told my husband one day my manolos would pay for themselves...what an investment..haha!

One more suggestion that you may not have thought about... Our agency said to be sure and use the highest balances for the month for your checking accounts. Use the balance on the day that your paycheck is deposited and before you pay your bills for the month. It might not make a big difference, but it could be that little extra that helps you get to the figure that you need.

If you follow all these examples you should be fine. Add everything together that you could possibly sell for your net worth. I have a rare Barbie collection plus the main big item is your house. Usually your house is the main asset and helps alot of people. Also any pension plan is a good asset. I know we all worried when we started filling out the paperwork but truly you will probably be fine. Good luck and welcome to the rollar coaster ride. Oh and just a little side note. Two of our good friends had fertility issues and adopted, one is now pregnant and also adopting again and the other got pregnant waiting. So you just never know.

I almost forgot. If you own your house like we do, we found out our land tripled in value over a 5 year period. So look at your records from the county or call them and see what surrounding land is going for. This will help a great deal.

An asset refers to cash or something that can be converted to cash. TERM life insurance is not considered an asset. At best, all it is worth is the premium you pay in a given year. At the end of that year, the policy expires and is worthless. The only way you will get any money from it is if you die in that year. There is no "savings" function. WHOLE LIFE insurance "may" be considered an asset. With some whole life policies, there is a savings function. That is, you can cash out the policy while you are still alive, and get whatever funds are "saved" for you from year to year. In neither case can you consider the face value of the policy, such as $500,000, an asset. Again, that money is available only if you die. But some whole life plans with a savings function do allow you to accumulate fairly significant savings over a period of many years, and the amount in that "savings account" can be considered an asset. At your age, even if you have a whole life policy, it probably won't be worth very much, since you won't have had it that long. Consult your tax advisor or an accountant for a better explanation. Sharon

What agency said you could exclude your student loans from the calculations? You can PM me if you like. We had crossed China off our list b/c of the asset requirement. Without our student loan debt we have more than enough in assets to qualify. We are currently adopting from Kyrgyzstan, but have talked about adopting a little girl in a couple of years. Karal

We did not include the total of our student loans owed, but only the monthly payments (as liabilities) which are very low. We were not told that we had to include the totals of our student loans. We also claimed credit cards as liabilities, but used the smallest amount to pay on them-even though we pay much more monthly on them to keep them down or balanced to zero.For assets we included the current high market value of our cars, our wedding rings, our other jewelry, my Madam Alexander doll collection (a good value, but will never sell the sets), our furniture, computers, cameras, large kitchen appliances (refrigerator, etc), washer/dryer- all at new value. 401Ks (biggies), savings, checking accounts. We did not own a house before we were DTC, but then again, we were DTC before the more strict rules came into effect. Life insurance (thru our employers) was added as a side, to show that we could provide for our daughters if we were to die. Just an FYI, we were not told we had to submit any bank/loan statements to verify any of our information, with either adoption. I don't know if that's something to expect with all agencies or if it was just our agency that did not require back-up verification of anything we claimed as assets/liabilities-except for the notarized verification of employment, on letterhead.