Blacksburg resident Clare Levison is a Certified Public Accountant. E-mail her with questions or comments. Self-Help is a weekly feature written by guest columnists on various topics, including finance, fitness and nutrition. If there is a topic you would like to see, e-mail us.

Net worth is the most accurate indicator of your true wealth. But everybody already knows what it means to be wealthy, right? It means you've got a lot of stuff, a huge house, an expensive car, maybe a summer home.

Net worth is calculated by taking your total assets minus your total liabilities.

When Thomas Jefferson died in 1826 he had accumulated debt that in today's dollars would amount to roughly 2.5 million.

Jefferson had approximately 10,000 acres of land and a home of more than 10,000 square feet. He loved wine and gourmet food and traveled extensively. He was a seemingly wealthy man.

Yet the third president of the United States, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the founder of the University of Virginia died flat broke. After his death his family was forced to sell his possessions, including his gorgeous estate of Monticello.

So what can we learn from those who lived rich and famous only to become infamous for their lack of good money management?

First, in order to be truly wealthy, you can't just have things; you must own them. There's a big difference.

Do you own the title to your home, or do you have a mortgage on it? Do you own your car, or do you have a car loan? To be in the best financial position, it is very important to pay off your debt, thus reducing your liabilities.

Second, when it comes to your assets, you must make good choices. An asset is worth only what someone else is willing to pay for it, not what you wish they would pay for it.

Remember, assets minus liabilities. If you ignore the liabilities or inflate the assets, you're not fooling anybody but yourself.