Do you have a positive net worth?

Do you have a positive net worth? For those who don’t know, your net worth is basically the total value of your assets minus your total liabilities.

Assets can include the fair market value of your home (if you own it), the resale value of your car or cars, total bank deposit balance (e.g. checking account + savings account balances), cash under your mattress, accounts receivable (money that you are legitimately owed by others and that you stand a decent chance of actually collecting), market value of your stock portfolio, market value of your retirement account, and the fair market value of any other personal property with significant resale value, such as boats, expensive jewelry, collectibles/antiques with serious value, and firearms. Also, give yourself a round $1000 USD (or the equivalent in your local currency) in asset value for miscellaneous personal property such as clothing, furniture, books, computer, TV, etc., unless you actually do not own anything of that sort.

For liabilities, include the current balance of a mortgage and/or car note, include the current balances of any credit card debt, your student loan balance, unpaid court judgements against you, overdue taxes, unpaid fines, and any other debts that you legitimately owe.

P.S. For the purpose of this question, you may combine assets and liabilities with your spouse. E.g. if the home is technically in your name alone and your spouse has $250,000 in student loans and credit card debt in their name alone from before your marriage, you may balance them out provided you combine ALL assets and liabilities.

Yes. No debt besides my mortgage, which is down to about 1/4 of the value of my home and land. Enough in savings to pay off the balance of my mortgage and live for a while.

StG

No mortgage; no debt; car is paid off. I am extremely fortunate (and have led a risk-averse life).

It’s been a long long road but as of February 2012 we have no debt outside of our mortgage. In terms of the OP we were at a positive net worth before that but I couldn’t tell you at what point we achieved it.

You seem to have nailed it. Having a positive net worth is not the same thing as being debt free. If you could sell everything you have today and pay off all your debts and still have some money left over, you have a positive net worth. This also applies even if the debts don’t attach to the assets in question. E.g. you could be “underwater” on your house (owing more on your mortgage than the house is worth), but you could still have a positive net worth if you have a large savings account, investment portfolio, or paid-off car that makes up for the deficit and then some.

I have a positive net worth, and I’ll be debt free when the mortgage is paid off in about two years. This hasn’t been easy, as I’ve lived much more frugally than many of my friends. But as I knock on my fifties, I’m happy where I am, with what I have and I’m glad I’ve been fiscally conservative.

As an aside, I’ve been surprised at the push back I’ve received for working to pay off my mortgage early. I’ve gotten the “losing your tax break” argument which is ridiculous, and “why tie up your money” one as well. Not sure if that was jealously or what, but it’s been a steady drumbeat.

As I see the voting, I’m wondering if those in debt will elect not to participate in this thread.

Mine is higher, but it’s sort of meaningless. The assessed value of my new house is maybe 15K more than my mortgage, and I have some savings and a small 401k. Between a car loan and low credit card debt that means my net worth is like 18K. But I still owe lots of money and have pretty meager liquid assets. So it’s pretty intangible- I’m like 2 emergencies away from being screwed instead of just one.

Mortgage is more than my savings. I estimate that the balance will tip in about five years.

Without the mortgage, we are quite in the black.

Not quite. The worth of my car + home equity + my stuff (computers?) + cash + share in my business is slightly less than the amount I owe on my home. Not much less tho - pretty good for 33!

How do you tally up monthly expenses in this equation? I don’t have any outstanding balances but I do have one six dollar library overdue fine. :slight_smile:
I have rent and light and internet bills. I don’t owe anything on my car, which is worth about 2500. I also own a van that I paid 1000 for a few years ago. I’m trying to sell it now but nobody’s biting so it may be worth less these days.

I don’t have any assets besides my car, which is only 3/5 paid off. I have $11k in student loan debt and about $700 in credit debt (from car repairs, normally I don’t carry a balance). This puts me in the red for another 5 or 10 years, I imagine.

Building my own personal balance sheet was one of the smartest things I ever did. When I got divorced, I build a sheet for the first time and found I was NEGATIVE 17,000. That inspired me to work on efficiency, consumption questions, budgeting, and retirement.

Today I have more net worth than pretty much anyone I run around with.

You don’t, really. Net worth is a snapshot in time - do your total assets outweigh your total debts. If you have an outstanding monthly bill that is in the debt column, but you don’t owe for next month yet.

Mine net worth is positive and will gain quite a bit now that I’ve refinanced my house and much more will be going towards principle.

We’ve mostly paid off our (5 year) mortgage on our house, but we certainly had a negative net worth when we first bought it. Likewise for the condo we had before that.

I have no debt and plenty of assets. Some of this is due to the poor economy where “distressed” HUD property has been available for pennies. People seem afraid to bid when they see an abandoned property. Some have almost no defects. It can be a struggle getting inspections an so forth, but the end result is very positive.

The bursting of the real estate bubble has not been kind to my net worth.

Yes, I own my house outright, I have quite a bit of investment, about 14K liquid and currently owe 14K on my home-equity loan. (which will be somewhat reduced when I get my tax refund.)

No. I have huge student loan bills (both mine and my husband’s). Between the 2 of us, student loan balances are basically a years salary. Also a car loan and a small credit card balance which will be gone soon. House is mortgaged, but there is some equity so that is an asset overall. Then a retirement account. If it weren’t for the student loans, I’d have a positive, but not huge, net worth.

Yes, but it’s not much. I’ve got a couple thousand in the bank, no loans or debt, and my car, computer, and camera are probably worth four or five thousand in total.

Yes for now, but the missus is sick of renting so I’ll be joining the ranks of the mortgage serfs before the year is out.