# POLL: What is your net worth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 21, 2020, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114 "2020-09-21T04:01:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![knavette57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knavette57/32/3871_2.png) [@knavette57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knavette57)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/42 "2020-09-22T19:06:57Z")
My son is in your position. None of it was of his doing, yet he is a valuable person despite these setbacks. He hasn’t allowed himself to become bitter or less effective or less caring. He is a success in anyone’s book. I bet you are, too. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/43 "2020-09-23T00:11:36Z")
I’ve tried to keep as positive an attitude as I can throughout my ups and downs, but sometimes it gets very hard. I’m okay right now. Strangely the Covid lockdown has been good for me, it has given me some breathing space and a feeling that there may be positive change on the horizon. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/44 "2020-09-23T01:18:31Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > We now have 3 people claiming \>$50M. I suspect some or all of these are being smartasses especially since there’s such a gap to the next lower range that anyone chose. As an ex-SEAL Team 6 member who just happened to make a little cache with my invention of a little item called “the internet”, I resent this implication. So does my wife, Morgan Fairchild. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/45 "2020-09-23T14:29:10Z")
Maybe ten bucks. > **[Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for September 23, 2020 | GoComics.com](https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2020/09/23)** > > September 23, 2020 ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/46 "2020-09-23T17:48:38Z")
Now do a poll on penis size. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/47 "2020-09-24T00:19:00Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > But it probably is also skewed a bit by regional variation, with I’m guessing a larger proportion of folks on this board from the urban coasts. I’m in the Bay Area and a high cost of living pushes things like wages, home equity and 401k/pension plans towards higher absolute numbers. More objective wealth, but maybe a little bit less subjective wealth in the moment than it seems. I think this is correct. My co-op (apartment to everyone outside of NY) in Manhattan’s upper west side is incredibly high priced and keeps going up by leaps and bounds. I bought it 25 years ago and without selling it, I couldn’t afford to buy anywhere near this location now. Also, just for **Surreal** , my penis is small but very quick, and works whenever I need it. Who could ask for more? ---
**Author:** ![MrMrmrmr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrmrmrmr/32/5828_2.png) [@MrMrmrmr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrMrmrmr)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/48 "2020-09-24T00:22:38Z")
I am a vhnwi due to selling the family business. ---
**Author:** ![MrMrmrmr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrmrmrmr/32/5828_2.png) [@MrMrmrmr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrMrmrmr)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/49 "2020-09-24T00:59:05Z")
Sorry for those who dislike unexplained initialisms , a very high net worth individual is someone with a liquid net worth in excess of five million dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/50 "2020-09-24T01:00:15Z")
5 million? That’s it? Then is Bezos a vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvhnwi? ---
**Author:** ![MrMrmrmr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrmrmrmr/32/5828_2.png) [@MrMrmrmr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrMrmrmr)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/51 "2020-09-24T01:19:19Z")
I didn’t make up the term, it is just a standard in the investment world. I get reduced fees from my broker by hitting the five million mark. Next threshold is 30 million. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/52 "2020-09-24T11:14:05Z")
Is there one below it? Hnwi? ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/53 "2020-09-24T12:54:14Z")
I looked into this. $1-$5 million are “millionaires next door”. \>$5M are vhnwi. Everyone wants a label. 🙂 > **[High-Net-Worth Individual (HNWI): Criteria and Example](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hnwi.asp)** > > "High-net-worth individual" (HNWI) is a financial industry classification to denote an individual with liquid assets above a certain figure. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/54 "2020-09-24T13:19:19Z")
I have a great deal of equity in my home (greater Boston), but most of my personal equity is in my 401k, both from past jobs and my current one. I also have a pension from my first job which isn’t huge but a nice bump. My wife’s net worth is tied to her teacher’s pensions (two different states) and 403b. We have other assets and savings, but our retirement funds dominate. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/55 "2020-09-24T13:59:10Z")
I judge my net worth in terms of how much I help make the world a better place for my fellow humans to live in, particularly those of us who weren’t born with the same advantages that most of us have just been given by lottery of birth. And also in bitcoins. I think they even out at about negative $3.50. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/56 "2020-09-24T14:16:46Z")
You must own a LOT of bitcoins. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/57 "2020-09-24T14:36:45Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > I judge my net worth in terms of how much I help make the world a better place for my fellow humans to live in, particularly those of us who weren’t born with the same advantages that most of us have just been given by lottery of birth. And also in bitcoins. > > I think they even out at about negative $3.50. Assuming you’re serious in the first sentence about making the world a better place, read [this article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2020/09/23/effective-altruism-charity/?arc404=true) from _The Washington Post Magazine_ (paywall warning), about people who practice “effective altruism,” giving large percentages of their income to charities but think about where the money can do the most good. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/58 "2020-09-27T13:54:54Z")
How many billionaires can fly under the radar while giving away all of their money. Chuck Feeney [https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2020/09/15/exclusive-the-billionaire-who-wanted-to-die-brokeis-now-officially-broke/amp/](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2020/09/15/exclusive-the-billionaire-who-wanted-to-die-brokeis-now-officially-broke/amp/) ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/59 "2020-09-27T18:52:04Z")
I have to admit that I just reread the OP and I’m confused by the OP instruction for calculating home equity. “You can include house equity without subtracting the mortgage amount -“I put down 120K on my home and it’s worth 80K more now — 200K. This doesn’t seem standard — or correct. Your equity increases as you pay down your mortgage and this method doesn’t reflect that. Why not calculate it as “What my home is worth”minus “the outstanding balance on my mortgage“? Which is how I calculated mine. I would’ve been richer by using your method because I recently refinanced and took out cash. If I had made this calculation before the refi, It would be incorrect in the other direction. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/60 "2020-09-27T19:16:25Z")
That’s a fair criticism; I guess I was going for “if I sold my house today at FMV, how much cash would I walk away with after paying the mortgage off”, but I stated it poorly. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114/61 "2020-09-27T20:56:25Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > I guess I was going for “if I sold my house today at FMV, how much cash would I walk away with after paying the mortgage off”, but I stated it poorly. Yes - the definition of equity is the market value of the home minus any outstanding mortgage or loan on the property. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-is-your-net-worth/921114.md?page=4)