# Do you have a positive net worth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 8, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162 "2012-03-08T16:56:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/21 "2012-03-08T21:15:00Z")
Since my liabilities are minimal – no loans and I pay off my credit cards each month – I’m definitely in the black. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/22 "2012-03-08T22:32:02Z")
I am fortunate enough to have a fairly high net worth at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![\_Olive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/4af34b/32.png) [@\_Olive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Olive)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/23 "2012-03-08T22:38:52Z")
I own my own little beach house…I owe no one any money … ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/24 "2012-03-08T22:46:17Z")
Nope. I have student loans in the 6 figures range. And I unexpectedly had to buy a car this past year after I was cut off in traffic. And thanks to this thread I just remembered that I have a loan payment due in a week that I haven’t mailed yet. Off to the post office. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/25 "2012-03-08T22:48:08Z")
Yes. Between us, and including our mortgage-free house, my wife and I have net assets of about $1.5 million. We’re both in our 60s, and we really need something like that to fund a comfortable retirement. But we’ve both been reasonably lucky, including having had jobs with good superannuation schemes. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/26 "2012-03-08T22:50:26Z")
I don’t even have to do the math. I own very little of value. I owe a lot of money for medical stuff and bills dating back to the early divorced days when I wasn’t getting child support regularly. I have essentially nothing in savings, though I finally started a 401k. My pension fund is approximately $3 in the State Teacher’s Retirement Fund…the statements are hilarious! Negative doesn’t completely express the negativity of my situation. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/27 "2012-03-08T23:11:44Z")
If I weren’t drowning in student loans my net worth would probably be positive (or close) but as things are now it’s gonna be negative as hell for another 20 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/28 "2012-03-08T23:55:53Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > 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’m curious what you mean when you say you certainly had a negative net worth when you first bought it. Is that because of other large debts specific to your family that you didn’t mention? The reason I ask is because immediately after you close your net worth should be about the same as it was before you closed, less closing costs. Before closing you have roughly 20% of the value of the house in cash. After closing you have 100% of the value of the house as an asset and 80% of the value as debt, or the same 20% positive net. Much less liquidity but no effect on your net worth except what you lost on closing costs. I probably shouldn’t have singled your post out - you probably just had tons of student debt when you bought it or something else completely unrelated to the home purchase. I was just curious why you put it so certainly. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/29 "2012-03-09T00:01:53Z")
Yes. Other than a credit card bill that I pay off monthly, I have no debt of any kind. It would be interesting to see this poll broken done by age. I’m 28, fwiw. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/30 "2012-03-09T00:31:34Z")
Yep, the only debt I have is the car I bought last July. But I have about enough to pay it off in the bank plus I have a decent enough balance on my 401K (for now, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/31 "2012-03-09T00:44:37Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > Before closing you have roughly 20% of the value of the house in cash. After closing you have 100% of the value of the house as an asset and 80% of the value as debt, or the same 20% positive net. Much less liquidity but no effect on your net worth except what you lost on closing costs. Thank you, I was about to post the same thing. If you house value is steady or rising, having a mortgage isn’t a net debt. If you are underwater, it is. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/32 "2012-03-09T00:46:07Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > I’m curious what you mean when you say you certainly had a negative net worth when you first bought it. Is that because of other large debts specific to your family that you didn’t mention? No, I’m just dumb. So much for my math degree… ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/33 "2012-03-09T01:22:09Z")
I’m Scrooge McDucking through my money bin, bitches! 🆒 By which I mean: both cars are paid off, our student loans are long gone, and the only “debt” to speak of is the mortgage. We try not to carry a credit card balance. Given that we’ve got the basic retirement funds, savings, and could probably sell the house for about what we paid for it and come out more or less even on that front, yeah, I think I’ve got a positive net worth. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/34 "2012-03-09T01:48:50Z")
I’m pretty sure I’ve never had negative net worth. Even when I landed back home after uni with a backpack of clothes and $35 in my pocket - hey. $35 is bigger than zero! I caught the tail end of free higher education in this country, and my UK degree was insanely cheap, otherwise it would be a bit of a different story. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/35 "2012-03-09T02:04:18Z")
I would love to change my vote. I voted zero, but I was not thinking when I voted. My net worth is signifigantly positive. ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/36 "2012-03-09T02:12:22Z")
Nope. We’re still in that “young and broke” phase. If we took the credit hit from walking away from our house (which is ~115% underwater), we’d be in the black. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/37 "2012-03-09T02:15:00Z")
Yes. It’s my retirement funds that do it. I’m upside down on the house and I think everyone is upside down on their cars. The charge cards are paid off. It’s possible that the stock market could tank hard enough to kill PERS and lower my 457, but right now those two, together, overcome the bad mortgage/equity ratio. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/38 "2012-03-09T02:22:57Z")
My wife and I are broke grad students, so hells no. But after doing a quick tally, we’re actually not too far from breaking even. My student loans plus one auto loan are still bigger than all cash + value of two cars + belongings + nascent retirement accounts. And actually, at our current rate of paying debt, we’ll probably break even in a year or so. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/39 "2012-03-09T02:30:05Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162/40 "2012-03-09T02:38:23Z")
Bought my house in the fall of 2007. So, no. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-positive-net-worth/615162.md?page=3)