Net Worth private poll

[ajk4st8]

after 4 years of private school and 3 years of private graduate school and buying a new house.. ugh.. dont even want to think about it.

 

[dmclone]

I'm far from a financial guru, I don't have a ton of money compared to some people, and I waste money on cars and home theater gear (see pics) but I do have a little advice. No matter your financial situation, start a 401K or something like it while your young. Even if have other bills at least put a little away. You'll most likely always have some kind of excuse for not having the money but you'll really appreciate that you started saving early. Also, once you put the money there, never touch it again. If you can't afford a down payment on the house of your dreams than you shouldn't be buying the house.

You don't need to be a financial guru to start a 401K. If you're not comfortable with choosing investments, put it the S&P 500 or one of the new funds that diversifies your account based on your retirement data.

I'm sure some financial advisor's would say that this doesn't make sense but I started a 401K when I was 20 and making 18K a year.16 years later it's the best thing I ever did.

 

[mt85]

I tried to find some stats to see how the CF community compares to national averages.

The following stats came from a couple of different sources, and I can't verify their accuracy.

-15% of households have a negative net worth
-33% of homes with a positive net worth have less than 50K
-thus, 48% of American households have a net worth less than 50k

-top 20% have a net worth of 263k
-top10% have a net worth of 833k
-top 4% have a net worth of 1m or more
-thus, roughly 32% land between 50k and 250k

As a current comparison (Trying to fit the above stats against the poll)
Negative CF-20.22% National-15%
0-50K CF-13.48% National-33%
50-250K CF-29.22% National-32%
250k-750k CF-23.60% National-10%
750k-1m CF- 2.25% National-6%
1m+ CF-11.24% National-4%

My conclusion, assuming that everyone has answered truthfully is that on average it pays to be a Cyclone.

 

[isuno1fan]

There are net worth calculators all over the internet. Just google "net worth calculator" and you will find a whole host of them. Here's one I've used before:

Net Worth Calculator - Money - MSNBC.com

 

[Cydkar]

So much of this data is age dependent that the numbers don't mean much.

A million $ net worth at 35 is a completely different animal than 1 million at 55.

Usually if you are young you are broke. If you are older you are less broke. Usually.

 

[CySmitty]

This topic is interesting to me. In recent years, I've been tracking this a lot more. We've had some huge expenditures over the last 18 to 24 months, along with building a house in late 2003. I've tried to off-set those by entering into some investment opportunities that have come along, but it's too early in those to be seeing any monetary gain.

Clones_jer, I'd like to be able to track these Net Worth items/details better. Is there any spreadsheets/tools/templates/etc. that you use or would recommend?

If you use the online features of your accounts you should check out yodlee for tracking your net worth. It rocks and its a good price (free)

 

[loboclone]

After two divorces and a 3 rd wife my net worth got hammered. Was a millionaire once..............easy come .............easy go.. Lets say I made enough to move out of Iowa 10 years ago to Southwest and have enjoyed huge Real estate appreiciation.........living large again.

 

[isuno1fan]

I find it interesting that a life insurance policy counts towards net worth. Heck...anyone can go out and get a $1M policy and look good on paper.

 

[wartknight]

Life Insurance cash values count toward net worth, but not death benefits.

 

[4VR4CY]

Interesting question. I have avoided bringing up work topics on here, but managing net worth is what I do for a living. Every day I know mine and my clients know theirs.

I've never done this anonymously over the internet before, but if anyone is interested, PM me I guess.

http://www.livingbalancesheet.net

So, you have to have your stuff though Guardian Life Insurance?

 

[mjlane]

Maybe they mean just the cash value of a whole life product or something like that. If not, I'd like to add 500k to my vote in this poll then.

 

[wartknight]

So, you have to have your stuff though Guardian Life Insurance?

No, there's info from NY Life, Northwestern Mutual, Delaware Investments, American Funds, Jackson National, Citi, lots of financial institutions.

 

[wartknight]

Maybe they mean just the cash value of a whole life product or something like that. If not, I'd like to add 500k to my vote in this poll then.

Exactly.
If that was the case there would be a lot more millionaires out there.

 

[4VR4CY]

No, there's info from NY Life, Northwestern Mutual, Delaware Investments, American Funds, Jackson National, Citi, lots of financial institutions.

It looks like an interesting product. Where can I find more info to read up on it?

 

[wartknight]

I'll PM you.

 

[clones_jer]

This topic is interesting to me. In recent years, I've been tracking this a lot more. We've had some huge expenditures over the last 18 to 24 months, along with building a house in late 2003. I've tried to off-set those by entering into some investment opportunities that have come along, but it's too early in those to be seeing any monetary gain.

Clones_jer, I'd like to be able to track these Net Worth items/details better. Is there any spreadsheets/tools/templates/etc. that you use or would recommend?

I'm using the same Excel spreadsheet from 6 years ago when I first started my career. I use Bill Pay at wells fargos website which makes tracking things a lot easier.

I've looked at getting MS Money and I probably should but I fear having to start all over and I couldn't get the trial version I had to do what I was looking for.

I have 6 or 7 different sheets: Auto loans (closed for now :smile , Mortgage, student loans etc, then a summary page and that lists my liabilities (pulled from other sheets) listed in order of amount and interest rate and of course the red/black list to figure the net worth. The assets are mostly conservative guesses.

Mine would look pretty "ghetto-tastic" to most people but I trend everything and have it running like a sort-of-well-oiled machine.

For instance I have an graph for my individual and total utilites month to month with varying years in different colors for comparison of rising rates. I can tell if an "expensive month" or a "cheap month" is coming up utility wise. I have a total debt graphs and a net worth graph as well as debt / income ratio and credit used / credit available ratio. Its a mess ... but its pretty to me

 

[Cyclone62]

I'm in the red. $28K in student loans, $200 in the bank, and $25K in Life Insurance. People are screwed if I die right now.

 

[wartknight]

That depends-If you have your loans through Iowa Student Loan, I've been told they are forgiven upon death.
*This is not student loan advice. Check your provider for details.

 

[4VR4CY]

That depends-If you have your loans through Iowa Student Loan, I've been told they are forgiven upon death.
*This is not student loan advice. Check your provider for details.

As long as they are not co-signers, I think.... It is the same for Federal loans too, right?

 

[wartknight]

Not sure about the federal loan part, but several years ago when my wife and I consolidated, we were advised just to consolidate our individual loans, not ours together as a couple because by doing that, they would each be in each other's name and not forgiven at the 3 D's- Death, Divorce, and something else I don't remember.