re: 50% of Americana aged 45-54 have a $95K net worth or less

I calculate my wife’s pension into our overall savings. I take the annual pretax amount and multiply it by 20 years to get to the total. It is equal in value to all of my retirement savings and not subject to market swings.

Exactly. Equity is counted into net worth. So I have 600k in equity. That counts for zero?

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I’m not saying they need it. I’m saying the equity is useable, when people always argue that home equity isn’t useable

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Understood, and agreed. The cash is 100% useable.

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What does that have to do with low net worth?

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It’s a bad character trait that cascades to everything in life.

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Like the Chris Knight line, "I know i ain't setting the world on fire, but i think I got it pretty good." I paid my last payment on one of my trucks (6 years at 0%). I have no house payment, no car payments, no loans at all. Everything i have is free and clear. That money that most people use to pay payments, I invest or just straight up buy shite I want.
























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Last June I was $24k from being debt free(2023 car note) and then I went and bought way too much house and part of another ranch that bordered my other place so now I’m 775k in debt.

I basically decided to frick myself from an early retirement

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Im simply pointing out that if someone has a half million dollar home fully paid off you cannot give them a big fat 0 counting to their net worth. Yes, they have to live, 100% agreed.

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In this case, I agree with you. I just think way too many people calculate how much money they have using their primary residence. There’s financial and physiological reasons I think you should be careful here. The trope is, well we can just downsize if we get over leveraged on the house, but how many people do you know that have actually done that. Once you’ve achieved a standard of living, people don’t want to take a step back. And again, it’s a fairly illiquid asset and becomes much more illiquid if you are forced to sale because of economic conditions.

*Should* you count it is subjective I guess, but I think its really smart to not do so in most cases.

401ks are pre-tax for federal purposes. You take it out, you are taxed on it. You take it out early, you are taxed and you pay a 10% penalty. So while liquid, it's not a 1:1.

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So is every billionaire isn't really a billionaire because their money isn't liquid? They'd have to sell their interest in companies, etc..

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That is liquid

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500k house with 2 kids and has 2 $700/month car notes

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Sounds like a selfish a-hole who doesn’t know how to live within his means.