Average Net Worth - by age

[NW-Bound]

I missed that footnote in the OP's linked calculator about the net worth statistics including home values. Uh, that will make us all that much "richer".

People here on this forum are head and shoulders above the average Joe and Jane. We always know that. And we keep worrying. How could Joe and Jane live with themselves, having so much less stashed away than we do? Why would they be so oblivious to the misery awaiting them around the corner? What one does not know cannot [-]hurt[/-] scare him?

Anyway, back to money and happiness... Here's another quote that I like.

"Money, if it does not bring you happiness, will at least help you be miserable in comfort." - Helen Gurley Brown

 

[Bikerdude]

Everyone wants more. That's just human nature. The issue isn't what you want, the issue is what do you have to give up to get what you want.



Ed Diener has studied money and happiness his whole career. There are two separate takeaways from his research. Firstly, Once you get to a point where your basic needs are met (plus a little), then extra money only brings marginal extra happiness. Secondly his research points to a very positive correlation between wealth and income with life satisfaction. So based on Mr Diener's second finding what you posted is not strictly true.

Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.
Woody Allen

 

[donheff]

I missed that footnote in the OP's linked calculator about the net worth statistics including home values. Uh, that will make us all that much "richer".

Haven't we had that discussion a few times? Technically, net worth always includes real assets. We just conflate net worth and portfolio around here since we are more interested in how much we can withdraw than in how much our heirs could get.

 

[NW-Bound]

True.

Personally, I am fixated on the portfolio total as reported by Quicken, which sums up nicely the various before and after-tax accounts for me. That, to me, is my NW, which I can then withdraw to help maintain the [-]money pits[/-] abodes.

Just now see that I can also enter property values into Quicken. If the market keeps tanking, may have to do that to pump the bottom line back up to give myself a morale boost.

 

[FIREd]

True.

Personally, I am fixated on the portfolio total as reported by Quicken, which sums up nicely the various before and after-tax accounts for me. That, to me, is my NW, which I can then withdraw to help maintain the [-]money pits[/-] abodes.

Just now see that I can also enter property values into Quicken. If the market keeps tanking, may have to do that to pump the bottom line back up to give myself a morale boost.

The only number I focus on in Quicken is the net worth total, which includes property values.

 

[Katsmeow]

I missed that footnote in the OP's linked calculator about the net worth statistics including home values. Uh, that will make us all that much "richer".

Well, it certainly can, particularly if paid for.

If I have $1,000,000 net worth not including my house but am paying a mortgage every month then I have to withdraw more more than the same person who has $1,300,000 net worth including a $300,000 paid for house house who doesn't have to withdraw money for a mortgage every month.

This may not be true in every situation but in general a paid for house probably does reduce housing costs and so enables more money to stay in the portfolio making us "richer".

 

[NW-Bound]

Property values have to be entered manually into Quicken, and I have never done so.

On the other hand, most of my investable account balances are downloaded and updated automatically by Quicken.

Perhaps one of these days, Quicken can link to an RE site like Zillow to get estimated RE values too.

PS. Yes, houses have values in their imputed rents, and I keep having to remind myself of that.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I guess when I looked at the calculator in the OP's link I just made myself see it as a "nest egg" and not "net worth" and so was thinking what income the results would generate toward retirement. If the average is what, $250,000 and it includes real estate?, that's not going to generate very much.

 

[NW-Bound]

Come to think of it, people can have a fine living on the smaller NW as above, if they have fixed income.

My own mother lives on just her SS and a small pension. Most of her NW is in the house that she owns and lives in, plus a rental home.

Again, I kept thinking that people needed to have a big NW. No, you don't. It is only if you want to retire early!

 

[rescueme]

Perhaps one of these days, Quicken can link to an RE site like Zillow to get estimated RE values too.

In addition to our Quicken (which does not contain a guesstimate of our home's value), I also use Yodlee, which also links to Zillow.

It makes it easy to give a semi-annual financial update to our elder-law attorney since we have all our investment/banking/etc. accounts on Yodlee to update our estate net worth (minus personal effects, which we value at $0).

Since we have no family members involved with liquidating our estate, it's an easy way to gather/report the info.

BTW, Yodlee is the software used by FIDO ("under the covers") to support their Full View product, used as input to their Retirement Income Planner. If you are a FIDO account holder and use FV, you can also link to Zillow to get a current guesstimate under the "manage accounts" tab. This will also give you a summary of your estate net worth. However, we don't use this option since we don't want to include our bank accounts on FV for future forecasting (just our option).

 

[Redbugdave]

If that calc and article is right...our country is in a heap of trouble. Are people that bad about saving...living in the present and self gratification and about as dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to personal wealth and responsibility?

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Come to think of it, people can have a fine living on the smaller NW as above, if they have fixed income.

My own mother lives on just her SS and a small pension. Most of her NW is in the house that she owns and lives in, plus a rental home.

Again, I kept thinking that people needed to have a big NW. No, you don't. It is only if you want to retire early!

Yep. We found we could live on a lot less if we didn't want to see the World. Boyhowdy travel is a budget chomper.

 

[rescueme]

Yep. We found we could live on a lot less if [-]we[/-] DW didn't want to see the World. Boyhowdy travel is a budget chomper.

Updated to show our situation ...

 

[NW-Bound]

Foreign travel can be less expensive if one is willing to do some extra "leg work". Of course we are all getting older and [-]lazier[/-] weaker every year.

My mother has been a travel lover, but now that she starts to complain about back pain and all kinds of maladies she does not want to travel that much anymore. Maybe just a rocking chair in a balcony of a cruise ship. Not my idea of travel... Not yet anyway.

PS. By the way, I checked into Zillow to see the guesstimated values of my homes. Did not like what I saw! I shall leave these out of Quicken. No need to keep reminding myself of these numbers.

 

[UnderTheRadar]

I always fall for these articles and calculators as well...although I readily admit that I don't really believe any of them are correct. These types of articles sell magazines monthly!

 

[WestLake]

Yep. We found we could live on a lot less if we didn't want to see the World. Boyhowdy travel is a budget chomper.

That is the only thing holding me back from pulling the retirement trigger. I live frugally but if I feel like checking into the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris, I want be able to do so...

 

[haha]

Well, it certainly can, particularly if paid for.

If I have $1,000,000 net worth not including my house but am paying a mortgage every month then I have to withdraw more more than the same person who has $1,300,000 net worth including a $300,000 paid for house house who doesn't have to withdraw money for a mortgage every month.

This may not be true in every situation but in general a paid for house probably does reduce housing costs and so enables more money to stay in the portfolio making us "richer".

Owning that home also removes one giant risk exposure from a retiree's life. In the event of very strong rent inflation, our homeowner has the largest piece of his housing costs fixed. This of course has nothing to do with fixed mortgage/no mortgage, only ownership. And of course to minimize risks, if one has a mortgage see to it that it it is fixed and not so much of a burden as to risk delinquency.

Ha

 

[GrayHare]

If that calc and article is right...our country is in a heap of trouble. Are people that bad about saving...living in the present and self gratification and about as dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to personal wealth and responsibility?

Were the net worth numbers significantly higher in the past? Even after accounting for inflation, I suspect they may have instead been lower 25, 50 and 100 years ago.

 

[rescueme]

Foreign travel can be less expensive if one is willing to do some extra "leg work". Of course we are all getting older and [-]lazier[/-] weaker every year.

True.

But I also think that getting older means that we will spend more on the same trip. We'll be back to Scotland in September. Last time we were there, I drove and we stayed at country hotels that we could book on the road.

This time it will be an escorted tour. I'm getting too old (and senile?) to drive on the "wrong" side of the road and keep my mind on where I'm supposed to be on the road. Anyway, the advantage is that this time I'll be able to have a "dram" at lunch, without worrying about driving ...

The other is that I'd rather let somebody else arrange for a room for the night. Those of you who traveled in Scotland (outside of the major cities) know that getting a room/hotel can really be a challange (one night, we almost had to sleep in our car, surrounded by sheep !

Of course for our China & Africa trips (booked for next year), we would not attempt to travel on our own, especially at our age. We would rather somebody else take care of carting around the luggage...

 

[veremchuka]

I thought the NW for me using my last salary was pathetically low and now I read that it includes your home's value? Good Lord! This country is full of people w/o a pot to pi$$ in!