Race to $???

[albireo13]

There are a lot of threads about goal amounts but ...
what are we talking about?  ... Net worth? ..... retirement nestegg?   .... investments total?

A lot of threads don't clarify this so, i wonder what the current thinking tends to be.

[ixtap]

There are a lot of threads about goal amounts but ...
what are we talking about?  ... Net worth? ..... retirement nestegg?   .... investments total?

A lot of threads don't clarify this so, i wonder what the current thinking tends to be.

If you look at the threads, you will see that each participant defines their own goals. Many post both net worth and liquid assets.

[TheAnonOne]

There are a lot of threads about goal amounts but ...
what are we talking about?  ... Net worth? ..... retirement nestegg?   .... investments total?

A lot of threads don't clarify this so, i wonder what the current thinking tends to be.

It's almost always net-worth, in fact, NW is often called out. However, some people just list both... as in XYZ has 200k NW but only 100k stache.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter. They are hardly actual 'races' some people start half way through, others make 300k a year vs people making 55k.

Just join in, list what you feel is comfortable with a blurb.

[DieHard_772]

There are a lot of threads about goal amounts but ...
what are we talking about?  ... Net worth? ..... retirement nestegg?   .... investments total?

A lot of threads don't clarify this so, i wonder what the current thinking tends to be.

It's almost always net-worth, in fact, NW is often called out. However, some people just list both... as in XYZ has 200k NW but only 100k stache.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter. They are hardly actual 'races' some people start half way through, others make 300k a year vs people making 55k.

Just join in, list what you feel is comfortable with a blurb.

100% agreed.  I have been involved in one of the threads all year long, and everyone defines their own journey in their own way.  Personally, I have been tracking Networth recently, though I started with overall stash.

[Dicey]

Hell, I can't even remember which one I "belong" in. Just caught myself posting on two different threads. I choose to believe they exist for the purpose of encouraging others, so I'm okay with my "mistake."

[Exflyboy]

I post in two "races" because I belong in two depending on what the accounting rules are.

I.e Stash only.. smaller category
Stash + Pension valuations (funny money).. Higher category
NW (stash, pension, house).. Higher category.

[Imma]

I post in the race to 10k-thread.

I track my savings  + investments because they are still much lower than €10.000. I don't track my NW because that one is higher. I have about €15.000 in equity in my home because house prices are going crazy around here. €15.000 doesn't sound like a lot of equity, but it's a 12% increase in value in the 2 years since I bought it. I don't want to include that in my calculations because I can't access the money until I sell up and because I think we're in a housing bubble that's going to burst within the next few years.

[Car Jack]

They seem to be net worth in the lower race threads and start to become investment assets once above about a million or so.  Probably because if you're trying to get to $100k and are paying into the equity of a house, that equity is so much of your net worth that it's the only thing keeping NW from being negative.  When you're at a couple million dollars, the house could blow up and you'd still be in 2 commas.

As the "ring leader" (not my term) of the $2-$3M race thread, I defined it clearly as investment assets:

As with the "2" thread, I'm counting investable assets.  Not house, not rental property, not cars, not silver coins.  Too easy to cheat with stuff that needs to be valued, in my humble opinion.

When you get right down to it, if a goal number gets you to save and invest more, just use what YOU feel is best.  This is especially true for those who do less market investment and instead put money into rental properties.  Heck....without property value, Donald Trump has a net worth of what?  $12.53?

I'm the last guy to say to not put money into your house, just to be able to say your investable assets are above $xxxx.  I know there's a split of people saying pay your mortgage off/don't pay your mortgage off.  I was a "pay your mortgage off" guy and my net worth was almost all my house for many years.  I would never want to sway someone away from doing that if that's what they felt was best for them.

[Exflyboy]

So what about pensions.. seems silly to count their total value as part of networth.. But the again the income they will generate (assuming you don't work for a coal mining company) is real and often very significant. So just as dumb not to count yes?

[Car Jack]

I've seen pensions put through an equation somewhere to fit it into figuring out asset allocation.  I'll get a small pension ($300 a month) and totally ignore it in net worth and asset allocation.  I do, however include it in my "life spreadsheet" where I predict income and expenses until I die.  It's nice to have because I know when I'm going to die.  It's on the spreadsheet.  :D  Also included is social security and I've got the 25% drop in 2034 because I'm a pragmatic guy. 

When you come right down to it, nobody is going to "enforce" exactly what you put into your "number".  What's good for you is up to you.