Asset
Actif in French
Quick definition
An asset is anything you own that has monetary value: cash, investments, property, and less obvious items like pension entitlements. Assets form the positive side of your net worth.
The four buckets
Most personal assets fall into four categories, and listing them by bucket keeps a net worth statement organized:
- Liquid assets: cash, chequing and savings balances, and a high-interest savings account. High liquidity, low growth.
- Investments: stocks, bonds, funds, and everything held inside registered accounts like an RRSP, TFSA or FHSA.
- Real assets: your home, other property, and vehicles you own outright or are financing.
- The often forgotten: a workplace pension, especially a defined benefit pension, and the value of a business you own. These are frequently the largest assets people leave off the list.
Appreciating vs depreciating
Some assets tend to gain value over time: diversified investments, and often real estate over long horizons. Others reliably lose value: vehicles, furniture, electronics. Both belong on your balance sheet if they are significant, but only appreciating assets build wealth. A garage full of depreciating assets is stored spending, not savings.
Value it at what it would sell for
An asset is worth what someone would pay for it today, not what you paid for it. The car you bought new for 45 000 $ might fetch 26 000 $ now; 26 000 $ is the number that goes on the list. Using purchase prices flatters the statement and hides the truth.
This is also why a leased car is not an asset: you do not own it. You own the obligation to make payments, which belongs on the other side of the ledger. Small depreciating items are usually not worth listing at all; their resale value is noise.
In Canada
A quirk of Canadian personal finance: registered accounts like the RRSP and TFSA are not assets themselves; they are containers. The assets are the cash, GICs, stocks or funds inside them. In practice everyone lists the account balance, which works fine, but remember that RRSP dollars carry a future tax bill that TFSA dollars do not.
The defined benefit pension deserves special mention. Many Canadian public sector workers hold a pension entitlement worth more than their home, yet never count it. Your annual pension statement shows a commuted value you can use.
Worked example
Karim lists his assets: 8 000 $ in a savings account, 60 000 $ across his RRSP and TFSA, and his car, which he first writes down at the 38 000 $ he paid. Checking resale listings, he corrects it to 22 000 $. Then he remembers his municipal pension: his statement shows a commuted value of 85 000 $, instantly his second-largest asset. His total goes from a flattering guess to an honest 175 000 $.
Reviewed by Alexandre Bernier, CFP®, CIM®, PFP®·Updated August 2026