Do you consider your home equity a part of your net worth?

[luv2sparkle]

I include it in my thoughts about what I will leave to my children, but not for our day to day worth. I think of our worth as the balance of our savings accounts, but I do include the value of other things that I could sell. In my opinion, I have to have somewhere to live, so that is not an asset I would sell if we needed cash, unless we were selling it to buy another home.

 

[Dancing Fire]

On that basis, there must be a high percentage of people (especially young people with a mortgaged property) that have a Net Worth in the negative numbers!

That's normal for a young couple. The key is to get rid of all your debts as soon as you can. We paid off our mortgage in 2004 and still cost us about $1200 per month to live in the same house today. Insurance, property tax, cable service,electric bill, etc...

 

[bludiva]

Since we are stuck with income taxes for likely ever.....
I am in favor of a flat tax with no special deductions other than standard and per person with very large standard deductions to shield the poor.
For example no taxes on the first $60k married filing jointly as a base that increases tied to dollar buying power and average wage not using BS numbers that are used for inflation today.
Higher tax rates are not the answer when there are a zillion special interest deductions that sheild the rich and make their effective rate lower than the middle class.

I agree with this + same tax rate for businesses past a certain amount of revenue like 250k year

 

[Karl_K]

I agree with this + same tax rate for businesses past a certain amount of revenue like 250k year

Some research would be needed but I think 250k is to low, 1 million would be more like it to shield small businesses in the growth phase.
I would leave depreciation of capital investments directly related to production as an available deduction.
Otherwise I agree.

 

[bludiva]

Some research would be needed but I think 250k is to low, 1 million would be more like it to shield small businesses in the growth phase.
I would leave depreciation of capital investments directly related to production as an available deduction.
Otherwise I agree.

Not sure what the right amount is, maybe a sliding scale for businesses under 1m...but protecting small biz only is the key imho.

 

[jordyonbass]

I'd say yes; while I do understand the 'you need somewhere to live' argument, the reality is a lot of people's homes appreciate in value over time so they can end up with more money after selling than what they paid for it. You'd put any asset that appreciates under someone's net worth, so I don't see why you wouldn't with a home.

 

[cmd2014]

On that basis, there must be a high percentage of people (especially young people with a mortgaged property) that have a Net Worth in the negative numbers!

Yes. Achieving a positive net worth is a bit of a milestone, especially if you have student loans and are renting or heavily mortgaged. DH and I celebrated when we finally went into a positive number.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Yes, I do on one hand because it is paid for. On the other hand, at this point in life, I think more in terms of what money I have on hand - not just about what I own that could be sold or liquidated. If I remember correctly, most lenders do consider it part of your net worth in addition to life insurance cash value, cars, etc.

What I consider to be almost as important now is that we have no debt of any kind. Just day to day living expenses.