Comments on: Should you include your primary home in your net worth?

By: Joel

Joel — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 19:30:35 +0000

In reply to Amanda. I guess the impact is much worse if your home is the majority of your NW. If it's only a small part and you have a bunch of other assets, it's not that much of a difference. :)

By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 17:57:01 +0000

Really interesting to see primary residence used both ways, hadn’t really thought about the downsides of including it!

By: Joel

Joel — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 15:05:17 +0000

In reply to Al. That's actually a great idea. It's not like a liability (because it's worth something irl) but it does slowly take money out of your life each month. Kind of like buying a declining stock. Thanks for sharing Al, I like this idea!

By: Al

Al — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 14:37:37 +0000

In reply to Joel. I also include my vehicles in my net worth. Then every month I depreciate their values by $100 until they fully depreciate. That way when I buy a my next vehicle it creates a smooth transition.

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 14:33:42 +0000

In reply to Joel. Thank you! My husband's enlisted in the military and I've been a stay at home mom for 6 years. I now have a job on Saturdays were I bring in $300 a month. We have just saved away and got lucky with our house flip as well

By: Joel

Joel — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 20:15:57 +0000

In reply to liz. That's awesome, Liz. I think underestimating home value is a great idea in general. If it's sold and converted to a cash asset, there's fees and cap gains that are accounted for. Just checked out your blog and DANG!! Congrats on the 50% net worth increase over the last year!!!

By: liz

liz — Sun, 03 Jan 2021 23:38:53 +0000

I included our primary residence (which we sold in nov) in our net worth. For the estimated worth of the house I was very conservative ($275,000) and I used that number because we had that much money into the house ($100,000 between reno and 20% down payment and $175k financed). We sold the house for $375,000 and ended up netting over $110,000 profit. Our investment panned out. We are now renting until we get orders for our move this August (husband is military). My website has a breakdown of our monthly net worth. It has been very helpful keeping track of it.

By: Joel

Joel — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 00:36:10 +0000

In reply to Joseph Beckenbach.

That’s a great answer – because it opens to a better discussion about *why*. Cheers Joseph – Merry Christmas!

By: Joseph Beckenbach

Joseph Beckenbach — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 17:55:21 +0000

Here’s my usual answer to proteges:

*sigh* By definition, yes, the primary home you own is included in your net-worth. Now let’s work out what questions you should have been asking instead ….

By: Joel

Joel — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 19:16:35 +0000

In reply to gofi. Haha! Another acronym to remember :) I do think if someone is truly planning to retire before traditional age, they should probably thinking ahead and figure out where withdrawals will come from. The earlier you start thinking this way, the less surprises will come later. Merry Christmas Gofi!