Net Worth for the New Year
by Rocket FinanceThe M-network and friends are posting about net worth today. Net worth is basically the difference between the positive side of the ledger (assets) and the negative side (debt). There are a lot of different theories on figuring net worth. I have included my house and “0% balance transfer” money. I am not going to reveal every single component of my asset to debt ratio, but without further ado. . . (drum roll ). . . heeerrre it is:
I am worth $2,590. Cash money.
We have assets totaling $197,740, but our liabilities stand at $195,150.
I don’t keep real close track of my net worth generally, but I was pretty shocked to learn that our net work is actually in positive territory. Of course, a lot of this depends on the worth of our home. I believe that we could sell our home for $4,000 more than what we owe for it – this might be an overly optimistic – but it helps my outlook on life to imagine that it might sell for that amount.
Some major drags on our net worth include:
- a car loan of $17,000 for a vehicle that is only worth $12,000
- a home equity loan of $16,000 for who knows what
- only $4,500 in retirement savings
Some positives include:
- our home – at least we have one and we are making the payments
- our retirement savings have doubled in the last year
- our IRS tax refund will probably double our net worth
If you want to read more articles on net worth, check out the following personal finance blogs:
22 Responses to “Net Worth for the New Year”
By plonkee on Jan 2, 2008 | Reply
I had similar problems estimating the value of my house. In the end, I decided to assume it was worth what I paid for it 6 or 7 months ago. Similar houses (almost identical) in the area are on the market for about the same as they were when I bought, but I don’t know whether they are actually selling or not.
By rocketc on Jan 2, 2008 | Reply
That is probably the best way to do it. The real way to find out what your home is worth is to sell it.
I was unwilling to sell my house so that this post could be more accurate.
I think my estimate is fairly conservative.
By Mrs. Micah on Jan 2, 2008 | Reply
C’mon rocketc, I’m willing to get knocked up just to write a guest post. 😉
By rocketc on Jan 2, 2008 | Reply
Now THAT’s funny!
We have had enough of that in our house for a while – three kids in 4 years will do very nicely.
I should get working on that guestpost, but I’m too busy taking care of kids. . .
By hank on Jan 2, 2008 | Reply
Yea – I had some trouble calculating my net worth also; but have found a handy dandy way to do it that has been working for me; It’s in the link, but basically looking at all the “estimate your house value” sites across the web and find that average, and you’ll get a pretty good estimate of what you’re ASSET side of your house is – yes the mortgage is still the LIABILITY, but it’s trouble enough watching that baby shoot your net worth down into the red… This keeps it closer to black. 🙂 Good post.
By My Dollar Plan on Jan 2, 2008 | Reply
That car loan, ouch. I’d be interested to hear that story sometime.
By rocketc on Jan 2, 2008 | Reply
@ my dollar plan: our loan is not entirely out of the ordinary. I think that most new car loans are similar – you owe far more than what you could actually sell the car for. That is why they make you buy “gap” insurance – if we total the car, the gap insurance pays for the difference between what you owe on the vehicle and what the ins company will give you for it.
It is a vicious cycle.