An asset is anything you own that holds monetary value. This can mean things like your house, your car, even your golf clubs.
It also means things that hold your money such as your checking account or retirement account.
Personal assets are anything belonging to you that can provide current or future financial value. It is what you own and its value. Such assets include everything from real estate property to cash on hand.
Personal assets are often used to help measure a person’s wealth. Having personal assets are helpful when applying for a loan, planning for retirement, and designing your estate plan.
If you have your own business or even a side hustle which brings in money, for example income from being an Amazon Seller on Tiktok, you may have business assets as well. You will want to include those assets as well in your estate planning.
Business assets are anything owned by a company that can provide financial gain or increase a business’s value Like personal assets, businesses own physical assets with monetary value, like real estate equipment, vehicles, or bank accounts. But they also own non-physical assets that most individuals don’t own, like intellectual property or business relationships. A business’s value is determined by their assets both physical and non-physical.
The most common types of assets are tangible, intangible assets, liquid, and fixed (illiquid) assets.
Tangible assets are, to be simple, assets that can be physically touched.
Examples of tangible assets:
• Cash
• Jewelry
• Real estate
• Vehicles and machinery
• Furniture
Intangible assets refer to things that are not physical.
Examples of intangible assets:
• Intellectual property
• Patents and copyrights
• Licenses
• Royalties
• Research
• Social media accounts
• Computer software and apps
Intangible assets typically are more applicable to businesses, but they can sometimes also be owned by individuals.
Liquid assets are any assets that can easily be converted into cash in a short amount of time. These assets are sometimes simply referred to as cash.
Examples of liquid assets:
• Cash and bank accounts (checking and savings)
• Money market funds
• Mutual funds
• Stocks and bonds
• Treasury bills and notes
• Certificates of deposit (CD)
Fixed assets (illiquid) are those that cannot be quickly converted into cash.
Examples of fixed assets:
• Real estate and land
• Retirement accounts
• Tools
• Vehicles
• Furniture
• Jewelry
• Art collection
Contact Andrew Fesler Your Carlsbad Estate Planning Attorney
Knowing what your worth is through the value of your assets is a good start to thinking about what to do to protect your assets and what will happen to your assets when you die. A good estate plan will help you protect assets from probate, certain taxation, and creditors. It will preserve them so that you can pass them onto your loved ones (beneficiaries) in the way you wish.
Let’s get together to figure out a good estate plan for you. Call our office at 760-444-0943.
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