An accurate list of your assets and liabilities should look something like this. (Of course, yours won't look just like this, but we would state it in the same format.)

This tabulation shows what you have and what you owe. You have no idea what values these assets and liabilities have to other people. The dollar denominated items simply state the dollars you have and the dollars you owe.

You cannot sum the assets because they have different units.

You can, however, sum your liabilities because you owe all your creditors dollars that have the same units.

 

To set the stage for money transaction, let's first look at a loan transaction that does not involve money.