the wealthometer ,how do measure up (percent, invest, hospital, children)
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Does anyone know for "real assets" if you should include the actual value of your home or just the equity in it? Because that makes a huge difference.
I counted value and then subtracted the mortgage remaining from debts.
I think another important factor is where you live. Obviously a place like NYC comes along with much higher income, but it also comes along with higher living expenses. Who is wealthier? A person in the 98% living in NYC or a person with 95% living in KC?
this is just why the discussions about what do I need to retire are so silly. different amounts produce totally different lifestyles based on location.
they should have had an age factor. that is important. i had 40 years to get where i am , how can you compare that to someone 30 with 1/2 as much , they are doing great so far.
I agree. We're 36 and 38... if my husband and I can keep this up for 20 years we're going to be at a great number one day.
I was surprised that we're "so low" given my husband's income (top 6 or 7%) but then I considered the fact that we were still living near the poverty line until 2009: 6 years ago I still was WIC eligible and now I'm "wealthier" than 77% of Americans. The discrepancy in our numbers reflects the aggregate of where we are today and where we were years ago before two substantial jumps in income. In the least I would like our level of wealth to match or level of income but ideally I would like our level of wealth to be even higher.
You raise an excellent point. You could be in the 97% in New York and be barely scraping by. Or you could be in the 85% in a mid-sized Southern city and have scads of discretionary income.
No, you should include the total value of your real property. You also include the outstanding balance of any mortgage(s) in the right hand box, so the program calculates your equity.
We are at 98%. I am 59, my wife is 50, no kids. Looking to retire in about 18 months. We currently live in a very high COL area (SoCal), but plan to move to north Idaho at retirement.
Right now our net worth is negative. Probably because we just bought a house plus have over $110k in student loan debt (only a few hundred in CC debt). I'd expect to be much higher up the scale 10 years from now once we have equity and all loans paid off, plus much more in savings/investments.
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