Tangible asset in the context of "Fixed asset"

Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different parties.

The process and mechanics of ownership are fairly complex: one can gain, transfer, and lose ownership of property in a number of ways. To acquire property one can purchase it with money, trade it for other property, win it in a bet, receive it as a gift, inherit it, find it, receive it as damages, earn it by doing work or performing services, make it, or homestead it. One can transfer or lose ownership of property by selling it for money, exchanging it for other property, giving it as a gift, misplacing it, or having it stripped from one's ownership through legal means such as eviction, foreclosure, seizure, or taking. Ownership implies that the owner of a property also owns any economic benefits or deficits associated with the property.

Paper wealth means financial assets or possessions as measured by their monetary value, as reflected in price of assets – how much money one's assets could be sold for. Paper wealth is contrasted with real wealth, which refers to one's actual physical assets. For example, if one owns a house and its assessed value increases (relative to the general price level, i.e., assuming no inflation) then one's paper wealth has increased – the asset has increased in value, meaning it could in principle be sold in exchange for a larger quantity of money, but one's real wealth is unchanged – the real asset is still the same house. It is said that one has "gotten richer on paper," meaning "as an accounting matter": numbers on a balance sheet have changed, but the physical world has not.

The term "paper wealth" is frequently used in popular discussions of wealth, and in some critiques of capitalism, finance, and certain economic theories, but is little-used in mainstream economics, which instead generally identifies wealth with paper wealth. The term "paper wealth" has some pejorative connotations, suggesting "only on paper (but not in reality)", but can also be used neutrally to mean "(simply) as an accounting matter". Related distinctions are sometimes drawn between real assets and financial assets, or between tangible assets and intangible assets, the latter particularly in accounting, as detailed below.

A non-financial asset is an asset that cannot be traded on the financial markets and whose value is derived by its physical net worth rather than from a contractual claim, as opposed to a financial asset (e.g., stock, bonds). Non-financial assets may be tangible (also known as real assets, e.g., land, buildings, equipment, and vehicles) but also intangible (e.g., patents, intellectual property, data).

Non-financial assets can be further divided into produced assets (fixed assets, inventories, and valuables) and non-produced assets (natural resources, contracts, leases and licenses, and goodwill and marketing assets).

There is no agreed upon definition of value network. A general definition that subsumes the other definitions is that a value network is a network of roles linked by interactions in which economic entities engage in both tangible and intangible exchanges to achieve economic or social good. This definition is similar to one given by Verna Allee.