Net Worth Question

[LivingAlmostLarge]

In your net worth do you use the value of your cars or possession? If so how do you value such things? I used networthiq for mine and I did put in our two cars. But at a highly low value of a couple thousand each. Is this even correct? I feel sort of guilty doing it. Perhaps i should take it out.

[Broken Arrow]

I didn't because it's not something I can liquidate to provide additional funds. I need it just to commute back and forth from work. Besides, mine is almost 10 years old.

Of course, not everyone agrees with my assessment and that's fine. I still choose not to add it, though I don't see anything wrong with other people doing it (especially if I had several Corvettes like Ima. ).

But if I did, I would use www.kbb.com to get the value.

[Aleta]

Everyone I know lists all of their possessions. Let's say you had to raise some money and you have stuff in your house that others would buy - let's say in a garage sale. So, if you were able to sell everything including paintings or whatever - how much would others pay for it? Some people go on to Ebay to get an idea. There are many that have old 33 and 1/3 albums and they are worth money.

[pearlieq]

I don't include depreciating assets (cars or possessions) in my net worth statement, mostly for the reasons BA states. Liquidating cars and other possessions is often impractical. Plus it can take a great deal of time and is usually not very lucrative.

I prefer to look at net worth very conservatively.

The only exception I would make to this rule would be for antique or collectible items with a significant value. I would include classic cars that are intended as showpieces rather than a primary vehicle. I would include appraised art, estate jewelry, antique furniture, and appraised collectibles. These items could be liquidated in a reasonable amount of time and for significant cash.

But for the family Camry and TV, leave them off the books!

[tinapbeana]

currently i include my house and my car because a) they're assets i could liquidate if need be and b) i owe money on them both and if i don't include their value in my networth calculation i'm about 75k in the red

i don't include other possessions because, to be honest, i don't have much of anything that's worth much of anything.

[vsjhoc]

I'd add the car to the assets column if I had a car loan in the liabilities column.

[simpleyme]

i really only include real estate saving ,retirement and other investments,bonds


I do not count my checking account money '
or guns or jewelry

my personal crap ( OK i got some good stuff but really if i needed fast cash i betI would hardly get anything for it

My DH was a cat mechanic and has tools that are worth over 20 k resale -to the right person

I do not count my vehicles or any rolling stock, have over 60 K in paid for rolling stock,my car ,old van ,2 pretty new motorcycles,fork lift,tractor,project truck

so if I added all this it would inflate my net worth another 100K but it would be difficult to liquidate this stuff for what it is worth so i do not count it

[Aleta]

Speaking of net worth. I need to appraise art that I have. Is their a place online that can guide you let's say by the artist? I've wanted to do this for some time now.

[tinapbeana]

Originally Posted by Aleta

Speaking of net worth. I need to appraise art that I have. Is their a place online that can guide you let's say by the artist? I've wanted to do this for some time now.

may be better off talking to the company that provides your homeowners (if you have it, that is). they can probably recommend an appraiser in the area, since you'll likely want to include the artwork on your policy if it's valuable enough to be worth appraising.

[Broken Arrow]

Originally Posted by vsjhoc

I'd add the car to the assets column if I had a car loan in the liabilities column.

That's a simple and fair enough assessment.

[Aleta]

Thank you for the info.

[autoxer]

To me, Net Worth is what I would be worth if I liquidated everything & counted what was left. I think of my cars as an asset and include them in my net worth. I use the KBB (private party/fair) value, because I could sell either car pretty quickly at that price. And I could live without any car if I really needed to. I just liquidated one car last month, I put my car up for sale on craigslist & it sold within a week for more than the KBB/fair value.

If you are only using your net worth calculations to make retirement decisions then it would make sense to leave out the house & car, but I want to use my net worth to give me a clear picture of my financial health.

[Ima saver]

I do add my cars. I have 2 old cars that are worth at least what i paid for them, 1978 corvette and 1933 ford victoria. I also count the newer vette cause it is worth at least what I owe on it. However, I have that in my liability column. I don't put much value on dh's work van. I don't count things like furniture.

[smartatmoney]

I do include car. It is an asset although one that slowly depreciates.

-SAM

[disneysteve]

Personally, the only net worth I track is our financial assets - investments minus mortgage (our only debt). I don't keep track of the value of our home, our cars, our collectibles, jewelry, electronics, etc. The financial assets are very easy to value accurately and also very easy to liquidate if needed. I don't really see any need to try and put a value on all of our stuff.

[safari]

I think that it only makes sense to include into the net worth things that won't lose their value many years from now. That would include jewelry, paintings, antiques, etc. Cars (if they are not antique), electronics, clothes, furniture, etc. should not be counted. You could spend $5K on a plasma TV, but in 10 years that TV will be worthless and in 20 years it probably won't even work. So here is my rule. If you can sell an item 30 years from now for the same price (or more) that you paid for it, then you should include it in your net worth. Otherwise, that item is not "worthy."

[PRICEPLUS]

With cars I would add them as an asset. Blue book and Consumer Reposrts giveme a ballpark for what I could get for sale of car or what replacement value would be. If someone is willing to pay something for it it has value even if only $25 dollar scrap value!

[vsjhoc]

Originally Posted by Aleta

Speaking of net worth. I need to appraise art that I have. Is their a place online that can guide you let's say by the artist? I've wanted to do this for some time now.

You could start at eBay. Seriously!

[scfr]

I think it depends on what you are doing it for.

Personally I only include financial assets and our home (when we own one) because I would not want to overstate our net worth, and I deduct 10% from home's value because I estimate I would pay that much in commissions & taxes if I sold.

I think there is a case to be made for including cars (antiques or otherwise), precious jewelry, art/antiques/collectibles, and even furniture. I just don't personally choose to include those.

When we did our mortgage app back when, they had us include our cash assets, real estate, and cars but nothing else.

I'm sure there are cases when you MUST include everything, such as an estate settlement or a divorce.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Okay I have no loan on the car but I'm leaving it as is. It's not a lot of money.