Net Worth private poll
- Thread starter dmclone
- Start date
My answer in this poll has changed significantly since it was first posted. I had just graduated from ISU and had purchased a house. I was definitely in the negative. Wild.
Probably the #1 determining factor is age. Most of the 20-somethings are gonna be <$200k but lots of the 60+ folks ought to be "two-comma" folks.
Also, with inflation, I think you could add $2M, $5M to this. $1M in 2008 is $1.5M today.
Definitely felt insurmountable to be anywhere but where we were. Patience and dedication to saving/investing is a tough nut to crack sometimes.
I was still at ISU, so my answer would have fluctuated based on if I had been to BioLife yet that week.
Looked up my net worth at the time this thread originated and compared it to now, and I'm pleased to report it has increased by several, SEVERAL thousand dollars. My discipline has paid off.
I've increased my net worth by dozens of dollars, not getting those fancy coffees really works.
Those who have spent any time in banking, lending, etc. knows the net worth of the average person around town is… not good.
It's crazy to look back at something someone posted 14 years ago and see how I have pretty much the same views in the phase of life I am in right now. This post is 2 years before I had children, and we've had the "want or need" conversation with our kids several times when talking about why we just don't buy things because we want them. Same with earning things vs being entitled to them.
Just had our annual review with our financial adviser last month and they have a dashboard that pulls in all our financials including assets, accounts, debts, etc and gives a net worth estimate along with shows us where we are at with reaching longer term goals like retirement, college savings etc. My wife and I both came from families that were disciplined in how they spent their money so I look back now on how a lot of that thinking we have taken on a lot of the same ourselves in our adult life. Like anyone we have areas to improve when it comes to some of our spending, but we definitely are not ones that have to "keep up with the Joneses."
I'd much rather live without having to have an extravagant home, the latest and greatest of things, or go on a bunch of expensive trips if it means I can retire sooner and be able to pay for my kid's college. We're aiming to be debt free by the time our oldest is 18 and having 2 daughters I'm already dreading how much weddings will cost when we get to that point too.
Biggest trap people fall into on financial statements is including their house value. You most likely aren’t selling it and renting an apartment, and if you move you will sell and rebuy. Don’t include your house and it will give you a truer picture.
TLDR version is you gotta(?) live somewhere.
Man sure wish I could've bought real estate then instead of being a freshman in HS.
It's tough out there now for moving. Not looking forward to doubling our current rate at all.
It's still a liquid asset though so you can't just totally ignore it either as it's still part of your net worth. If you were to run into hard times you can technically sell it and downsize to a smaller and less expensive home so it does have some financial value if you need to tap into that equity. But yes your other liquid assets are a better representation on your true value and financial standing.
I am always intrigued when our financial advisor will run market scenarios through their program and show you your success rate when it's run through a bunch of best/worst case scenarios they test it against. Nice to have peace of mind that you are making sound financial decisions or if you need to adjust your approach in certain areas to be better covered if markets tanked and you had major unexpected expenses occur.
Net worth is a bit of a crude/weird calculation anyway; how often does someone liquidate all their assets, pay off their debts, and walk away with a pile of cash? And all of the assets wrapped into that number have different jobs over different time horizons.
Besides, if you're calculating net worth it's easy enough to slice that up any number of ways to arrive at a more useful number: net worth without the house, net worth without college savings, value of your retirement assets only, and so on. It's probably more useful to focus on your individual goals and whether you're on track to meet them anyway.
Most financial people I’ve worked with will tell you not to include your house. Some investments will require you to do so, so it’s just what they usually do.
True, but honestly I think it just helps to see progress. But spot on the individual goals. My goal right now is to walk away from my career and do something more meaningful to me. I have one kid left in highschool and Ill be 50 when she graduates. Would love to cut back hours or move on to something less stressful and make more use of my days with hobbies and family stuff.
I just see the house as a break glass emergency fund in a way. Would absolutely suck to get to that point where Id give up the house to keep going, but man, so many freak things can happen with health or whatever. Hopefully it would never come to that as I have been an aggressive investor/saver in other ways. Id imagine there are quite a few who view the equity in their house as the same which is why they include it in broad picture.
If someone really wants to know how they are doing, don’t even mess with a net worth financial statement. I had to fill one out just a week ago and and was the first time in 3 years I had done one. My lender doesn’t even ask for one anymore.
Make a cash flow statement(budget) and track expenses. If you routinely have money leftover each month, that amount will tell you if you are getting ahead or backwards.
