<title>Troubleshoot homes and assets in the Lifetime Planner</title>
<category>lifeplan</category>
<klink type="trbls">Troubleshoot homes and assets in the Lifetime Planner</klink>
</index>
<content>
<p>What are you having trouble with?</p>
<extend>
<tease>I want to add a second mortgage to my lifetime plan.</tease>
<reveal>
<p>You can add a loan against any asset in your lifetime plan. <alink type="prcdr" href="Changethedetailsofahouseorassetinmyplan.xml"/></p>
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<extend>
<tease>I want to add a home equity line of credit to my lifetime plan.</tease>
<reveal>
<p>A home equity line of credit, though secured by the equity you hold in your home, isn't quite the same as a mortgage or other loan that you take out to purchase an asset. Generally, the Lifetime Planner classifies balances on a home equity line of credit as expenses, although you can change that if you want.</p>
<p>To add a line of credit to your Money file, go to the Accounts & Bills area and set up a new account, choosing <emph>Line of Credit</emph> as the account type. <alink type="prcdr" href="Createanaccount.xml"/></p>
<p>By default, the line of credit will not be included in your debt reduction plan (because of its low interest rate and because it's likely to be used to cover expenses), but you can move it into your debt reduction plan if you want. <alink type="prcdr" href="addanewdebtaccounttomydebtplan.xml"/></p>
<p>Adding it to your debt reduction plan will also incorporate it in your lifetime plan. Any balances you have in the account will appear in your Money file as a liability and will be subtracted from net worth calculations.</p>
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<tease>I don't know if I should add my car as an asset in my lifetime plan or elsewhere in Money.</tease>
<reveal>
<p>The Lifetime Planner records assets that you hope will grow in value over time and that could be sold to fund a goal. Unless your car is a museum-quality Bentley, for example, it isn't this kind of an asset; it's something that you'll use up and eventually replace. The same goes for a washing machine or a computer.</p>
<p>For planning purposes, it's better to think of a car or a similar item as an expense<mdash/>one that you happen to pay for all at once, even though you use the car over time. You can't rely on those items to hold their value, so you can't rely on them to contribute to your long-term financial health. Therefore, it's more sensible to exclude them from your lifetime plan's asset figures. <alink type="cncpt" href="Learnaboutaddingcarsorothervehiclestomyplan.xml"/></p>
