Investing is about laying out cash or assets now, in the hope of more cash or assets returning to you tomorrow, or next year, or next decade.

Most of the time, this is best achieved through the acquisition of productive assets.

There’s even something called “net- net investing,” in which people buy when the total market value of a company’s stock is less than the amount by which the company’s current assets— such as cash, receivables and inventories— exceed its total liabilities.In this case, in...

1. Add up the total valued of your cash and other assets. Items could be cash, stocks, bonds, DCs, 401(k), real estate, the money you're owed. Your goal is to determine how much these assets would be worth if you were to convert them into cash.
2. Then subtract all...