The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Investor Alley => Topic started by: Dicey on August 25, 2017, 05:48:08 PM
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This was in USA Today. According to them, you need to know your net worth because someone might ask you for it. WTF? How is this article helpful?
"If someone were to ask, would you know your net worth? Would you even know what the question meant? If you’ve never heard the term until today, fear not. Here’s everything you need to know about that pesky little number that is one of the best indicators of your overall financial health."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2017/08/25/financial-health-heres-why-you-need-know-your-net-worth/587093001/
And "pesky little number"? Are they serious?
I had to look again to make sure I hadn't somehow landed on a Yahoo Finance Page.
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I consider my net worth to be a pesky little number. It simply refuses to climb fast enough, despite my repeated insistence.
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Can't tell you exactly ... but I do know that for the first time ever it is POSITIVE :) woo hoo lol ....
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Why would you expect USA Today to be higher brow than Yahoo Finance? If you check Yahoo Finance, some of their "articles" are from USA Today.
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Why would you expect USA Today to be higher brow than Yahoo Finance? If you check Yahoo Finance, some of their "articles" are from USA Today.
Dunno, eternal optimism, perhaps?
Congratulations, SweetLife!
Eric, keep feeding those soldiers and they're sure to multiply.
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How else are you going to fill out marketing surveys accurately?
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How else are you going to fill out marketing surveys accurately?
It is your patriotic duty to lie to marketers. The less accurate a picture they have of demographics, the less effective they'll be at pushing people to consume.
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If someone asks you about your net worth, the correct answer is usually:
That is none of your freaking business.
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How else are you going to fill out marketing surveys accurately?
It is your patriotic duty to lie to marketers. The less accurate a picture they have of demographics, the less effective they'll be at pushing people to consume.
^This.
I have a standard set of answers for markets for the unpleasant occurrence when I *have* to give them information to get something. Standard birth date, income, net worth. All completely made up.
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How else are you going to fill out marketing surveys accurately?
It is your patriotic duty to lie to marketers. The less accurate a picture they have of demographics, the less effective they'll be at pushing people to consume.
Haha. Never thought of it that way. Though I am signed up to a few survey sites and I always get kicked out of the better surveys because I answer honestly, and then I'm told that my answers do not fit the profile they're looking for.
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In the nineteenth century, most households lived hand-to-mouth based on monthly expenses, i.e. rent. It was only the Federal Income tax that got people worrying about their annual incomes, they usually didn't even calculate them before the IRS era. So you can thank big government for motivating you to know so much about your finances!
Source: CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, by Thomas Picketty
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If someone asks you about your net worth, the correct answer is usually:
That is none of your freaking business.
Pre FI, I prefer:
Not high enough, are you offering a donation?
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I like to know my NW to know if I am advancing in my quest to FI. For the average day to day interaction you really dont need to know what youre worth exactly, but I always have a ballpark in mind. Unless youre going to whip it out and compare it serves no purpose.
Most people dont know it because everyone lives based on cash flow, do they have enough to cover expenses today and coming up, not what theyre worth.
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Pesky little number that nobody knows anything about.. Hardly any wonder really, the financial industry has spent all its effort getting us to understand what our "credit rating" is instead.
I know what my NW is but I have no idea what my credit rating is..
Day by day it really is like waking up in the Matrix..Either that or I'm the only sane one in the asylum..:)
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Net worth doesn't matter for anything except comparing yourself to others. Net income (including total return from investments and earned income) is the thing that matters day to day, year to year.
It's like the old saying, "you buy horsepower but you drive torque". People know, or think they know, what horsepower means, but torque is the more impactful thing day to day.
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WTF? How is this article helpful?
It's not. That article is clickbait. The less it's spread around the better.
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Net worth doesn't matter for anything except comparing yourself to others. Net income (including total return from investments and earned income) is the thing that matters day to day, year to year.
It's like the old saying, "you buy horsepower but you drive torque". People know, or think they know, what horsepower means, but torque is the more impactful thing day to day.
Income from investments may be what you wish to optimize when you're retired. But--as an accumulator--i should optimize my investments for return, not income. Because of my ability to make money from labor, I'd rather own an asset that increases in value 50% than one that pays me a dividend of 15%, yet can be sold for the same price I paid to acquire it a year ago.
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I know an approximate number, but I don't think anyone would ask that question, why would they? :D That doesn't make any sense. Maybe they want you to know it for a case if someone kidnaps you so they could know how much they can ask for :D
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Everyone should know their net worth, just like everyone should know their approximate blood pressure. It's a basic measure of financial health.
I've taught my middle school aged kids how to construct a balance sheet, not because they need to have their NW locked and loaded for when some Nosy-Noserton asks them, but because they need to not suck at the money game.
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How else are you going to fill out marketing surveys accurately?
It is your patriotic duty to lie to marketers. The less accurate a picture they have of demographics, the less effective they'll be at pushing people to consume.
Dunno.... I'm not sure the days where teenagers were bombarded with ads for Depends and senior citizens got mailings from prospective universities because there was no 'targeted advertizing' was any better.
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Pesky little number that nobody knows anything about.. Hardly any wonder really, the financial industry has spent all its effort getting us to understand what our "credit rating" is instead.
I know what my NW is but I have no idea what my credit rating is..
I have calculated my networth every three to four months, back to Jan 1, 2011.
Also have records of it back in the 90's, but lapsed in the 2000's.
I checked my Credit Score once with Credit Karma, but don't know how accurate they are.
I froze my credit early this year, I didn't think I would ever need it again.
Then my college son moved and I had to do a temporary unfreeze to cosign his apartment.
$30, ARRGH!
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How else are you going to fill out marketing surveys accurately?
It is your patriotic duty to lie to marketers. The less accurate a picture they have of demographics, the less effective they'll be at pushing people to consume.
And pollsters, too?
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How else are you going to fill out marketing surveys accurately?
It is your patriotic duty to lie to marketers. The less accurate a picture they have of demographics, the less effective they'll be at pushing people to consume.
And pollsters, too?
For things like a government census I'd argue that it's important to give accurate and detailed information if possible. Bad information can lead to bad usage of your tax dollars. For random paid people calling to ask me how I'm going to vote on issues or what I think? No reason to tell them the truth.
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Everyone should know their net worth, just like everyone should know their approximate blood pressure. It's a basic measure of financial health.
I've taught my middle school aged kids how to construct a balance sheet, not because they need to have their NW locked and loaded for when some Nosy-Noserton asks them, but because they need to not suck at the money game.
I have calculated my networth every three to four months, back to Jan 1, 2011.
Also have records of it back in the 90's, but lapsed in the 2000's.
I checked my Credit Score once with Credit Karma, but don't know how accurate they are.
I froze my credit early this year, I didn't think I would ever need it again.
Then my college son moved and I had to do a temporary unfreeze to cosign his apartment.
$30, ARRGH!
I'm guessing neither of you had time to look at the article referenced. This is not a thread about how to calculate your NW or the importance of knowing it. The point is to make fun of the article's premise that you should know your NW so you can tell others. No, just no. Hell, no!
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Everyone should know their net worth, just like everyone should know their approximate blood pressure. It's a basic measure of financial health.
I've taught my middle school aged kids how to construct a balance sheet, not because they need to have their NW locked and loaded for when some Nosy-Noserton asks them, but because they need to not suck at the money game.
I have calculated my networth every three to four months, back to Jan 1, 2011.
Also have records of it back in the 90's, but lapsed in the 2000's.
I checked my Credit Score once with Credit Karma, but don't know how accurate they are.
I froze my credit early this year, I didn't think I would ever need it again.
Then my college son moved and I had to do a temporary unfreeze to cosign his apartment.
$30, ARRGH!
I'm guessing neither of you had time to look at the article referenced. This is not a thread about how to calculate your NW or the importance of knowing it. The point is to make fun of the article's premise that you should know your NW so you can tell others. No, just no. Hell, no!
I didn't get the idea you need to know it, to tell others, in fact I didn't even see where it told my why I needed to know. It was a rather whimpy article on telling you how to save money.
So it drifted off topic, like you think I did! :-)
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This is just my two cents. I don't really know my net worth but an approximation of that is used every time I apply for a bond for my business. You have to list your debits and credits, credit card bills, mortgage and they subtract everything out and figure out what you're actually worth.
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Everyone should know their net worth, just like everyone should know their approximate blood pressure. It's a basic measure of financial health.
I've taught my middle school aged kids how to construct a balance sheet, not because they need to have their NW locked and loaded for when some Nosy-Noserton asks them, but because they need to not suck at the money game.
I have calculated my networth every three to four months, back to Jan 1, 2011.
Also have records of it back in the 90's, but lapsed in the 2000's.
I checked my Credit Score once with Credit Karma, but don't know how accurate they are.
I froze my credit early this year, I didn't think I would ever need it again.
Then my college son moved and I had to do a temporary unfreeze to cosign his apartment.
$30, ARRGH!
I'm guessing neither of you had time to look at the article referenced. This is not a thread about how to calculate your NW or the importance of knowing it. The point is to make fun of the article's premise that you should know your NW so you can tell others. No, just no. Hell, no!
I didn't get the idea you need to know it, to tell others, in fact I didn't even see where it told my why I needed to know. It was a rather whimpy article on telling you how to save money.
So it drifted off topic, like you think I did! :-)
"If someone were to ask, would you know your net worth?" That's the exact quote from the article that I'm referring to., and scoffing at. That's why I started this thread. Sure, it's great (but not esssential*) to know for yourself, but not because "someone" might ask you.
* https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/05/16/mmm-reader-case-study-the-man-who-didnt-realize-he-was-already-rich/
To Sbmwt: I have zero experience with "a bond for my business", so I can't speak to that, but even when we apply for mortgages or re-fis, we don't disclose every single asset the to lender, because they don't want to know. They want to see enough to make sure their numbers work, which is what we provide. We have rental properties. IIRC, we've gone through the process at least six times in the past five years.
Hell, even on the NW threads here, I just spitball it.
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I own ten shares of Citibank. Within the past week, there have been transactions priced at $71 per share. So are my ten shares worth $710?
Today, markets could move that price very little. Or they could move it 5% or more (other individual stocks I own have dropped as much as 10% in a day). So those shares might be only worth $640 when I'm actually trying to sell them tomorrow.
In addition, I will have to pay commissions/fees to my broker. Discount brokers will take $3.95, but I happen to have these shares with a full service broker, so it might be $59.95. So my Citibank shares--if I am forced to liquidate them tomorrow--will put less than $600 in my pocket. And then the Federal gov't takes its cut.
So valuing an asset is...difficult. Which means net worth is difficult to compute.
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I own ten shares of Citibank. Within the past week, there have been transactions priced at $71 per share. So are my ten shares worth $710?
Today, markets could move that price very little. Or they could move it 5% or more (other individual stocks I own have dropped as much as 10% in a day). So those shares might be only worth $640 when I'm actually trying to sell them tomorrow.
In addition, I will have to pay commissions/fees to my broker. Discount brokers will take $3.95, but I happen to have these shares with a full service broker, so it might be $59.95. So my Citibank shares--if I am forced to liquidate them tomorrow--will put less than $600 in my pocket. And then the Federal gov't takes its cut.
So valuing an asset is...difficult. Which means net worth is difficult to compute.
Excellent points, hence my spitball strategy. We're all gonna owe taxes on at least some portion of our investment portfolios and possibly on SS income. There are huge transaction costs to liquidate homes and rental properties as well. Net Worth is a yardstick for your personal reference. It's a useful metric for your own planning. It's not just important for you to know it "in case someone asks".
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What a silly little article.
If anybody asks me my net worth I just look scared and tell them "We'll be lucky if we're able to keep the house."
Wasn't it the Hunt brothers back in the 1980's (when they were accused of manipulating the silver market) who told congress "any man who knows what he is worth can't be worth much?"
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What a silly little article.
If anybody asks me my net worth I just look scared and tell them "We'll be lucky if we're able to keep the house."
Wasn't it the Hunt brothers back in the 1980's (when they were accused of manipulating the silver market) who told congress "any man who knows what he is worth can't be worth much?"
Love this; thanks for the reminder.
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What a silly little article.
If anybody asks me my net worth I just look scared and tell them "We'll be lucky if we're able to keep the house."
Wasn't it the Hunt brothers back in the 1980's (when they were accused of manipulating the silver market) who told congress "any man who knows what he is worth can't be worth much?"
Love this; thanks for the reminder.
One of my co-workers said her husband was working on a construction job in the home of a local NFL player. In 2011, he signed a contract for $16 million guaranteed, and possibly more, over the five years that ended last year.
His estimated net worth online is only $3 million, so part of me chuckled and felt superior...for about a minute. That man needs to learn to save.
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The funny thing about that is most of us would be set for life with $3M, with plenty to spare.
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Co-worker followed up on this story: apparently, the NFL player's wife was trying to get (my co-worker's) husband to build a custom bed for their toddler son. It was sounding like it could be a $3K-$5K project, to be added onto the other work already being performed.
The NFL player walked in, ended the discussion, and took his wife to value city for a basic kid's bed. So maybe that $3 million figure will be increasing, no?
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Co-worker followed up on this story: apparently, the NFL player's wife was trying to get (my co-worker's) husband to build a custom bed for their toddler son. It was sounding like it could be a $3K-$5K project, to be added onto the other work already being performed.
The NFL player walked in, ended the discussion, and took his wife to value city for a basic kid's bed. So maybe that $3 million figure will be increasing, no?
For their sake, let's hope so.
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Co-worker followed up on this story: apparently, the NFL player's wife was trying to get (my co-worker's) husband to build a custom bed for their toddler son. It was sounding like it could be a $3K-$5K project, to be added onto the other work already being performed.
The NFL player walked in, ended the discussion, and took his wife to value city for a basic kid's bed. So maybe that $3 million figure will be increasing, no?
For their sake, let's hope so.
What's wrong with a mattress on the damned floor???
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Easy, now, guitarstv...
ironically, I was actually storing a guitar underneath my daughter's bed. Hope she doesn't jump on it!
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Wasn't it the Hunt brothers back in the 1980's (when they were accused of manipulating the silver market) who told congress "any man who knows what he is worth can't be worth much?"
Reminds me of this anecdote:
Texan is gambling in Vegas and bragging about how he's worth $XX million. Kerry Packer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Packer), in an effort to shut him up, offered to "flip ya for it".
https://www.crikey.com.au/2006/01/12/kerry-packer-the-texan-the-toss-and-the-truth/
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Easy, now, guitarstv...
ironically, I was actually storing a guitar underneath my daughter's bed. Hope she doesn't jump on it!
If it's in a hard case, it'll be fine. I've had my 69 Guild archtop under my bed for 30 years.
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That is a much nicer guitar than mine. Mine is nice enough that I would cry if it were damaged, but my talent is so meager that I don't think I'd try to replace it.
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Why would you expect USA Today to be higher brow than Yahoo Finance? If you check Yahoo Finance, some of their "articles" are from USA Today.
This lol!
PS - Dicey.....I need dress shirt help. Haaaaalp <3
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Why would you expect USA Today to be higher brow than Yahoo Finance? If you check Yahoo Finance, some of their "articles" are from USA Today.
This lol!
PS - Dicey.....I need dress shirt help. Haaaaalp <3
Funny, I was just poking around, trying to find your thread, because I owed you an answer! Heading there now, but company's due over so it might take me a little while to finish.
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Easy, now, guitarstv...
ironically, I was actually storing a guitar underneath my daughter's bed. Hope she doesn't jump on it!
If it's in a hard case, it'll be fine. I've had my 69 Guild archtop under my bed for 30 years.
FWIW, my number one criteria the last time that I purchased a bed frame was that it be tall enough to slide guitar cases under. :P