My Net Worth Revealed

I’m headed about 500 miles away to West Texas this weekend with my eldest son. Our primary objective is to see a rodeo. Yep, that’s just how we roll ‘round here. Last weekend my whole family went with my brother and his wife to a cabin in Oklahoma. I’m not sharing my jet-set lifestyle so you’ll be green with envy (and sorry ‘bout that) but rather to explain why my torrid pace of Pulitzer-quality writing has tapered off a bit.

So things have been busy with summer fun, but don’t you worry – assuming no tragic rodeo accidents, I’ll be back at full strength by the time school starts.

But that distant carrot doesn’t help the desperate ABL reader who’s jonesin’ for something today. So to help you out I’m going to broach the most sensitive and titillating subject any finance blogger can write about. I’m planning on unveiling my net worth!

Many finance bloggers reveal their net worth to the world to “keep themselves honest”. I don’t know exactly what that means. Plus it would seem that leaking your most personal financial details to random internet strangers would actually risk serious dishonesty, but whatever.

I, on the other hand, am planning on revealing my net worth because I’ve got a rodeo and some ghost towns and other stuff to prep for and don’t have enough time to work my normal magic.

Plus I want to make a point.

Let’s check my net worth and see how I’m doing. I’m going to start with the most important categories of assets and go from there.

ASSETS

Life

I’m still alive. That is huge. In terms of net worth (at least here on earth), it automatically puts me ahead of just about every dead person ever.

However, my odometer keeps rolling. As a 40-something, I’m probably more than halfway done. I’ve dodged death for decades and hope to continue to do so, but this is definitely a wasting asset. Nothing I can do about that, though, so overall I’d say this category is doing great.

Health and Stuff

I still fit in clothes from high school and college, and there is an ever increasing gap between me and what is considered average health for my age. Not only can I see my toes, I even have the ghost of a six-pack lurking just out of sight.

I can still run around with younguns 15 years my junior in my soccer league, and with kids ~35 and ~40 years my junior on the teams I coach. I’ve also got all of my hair. Boom!

I used to eat pretty poorly. If you told me I’d live a lot longer if I ate veggies and stuff, I would have asked, “How much longer are we talking, really?”

That’s all changed thanks to the missus. Had I known she’d insist on me eating so many greens once we married, that might have been a deal-killer. But in a stunning twist, she has lots of secret ways to make them taste not horrible. (“These are the best brussels sprouts I’ve ever had!” “You really like them?” “Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves…”) Don’t tell her, but some of her veggie dishes are actually really good.

It’s made me healthier and probably added 10 years to my life, and I’m actually OK with the trade.

Family

I have a wife and two kids.

I don’t want to get all mushy on you, but things there are going well. The biggest problem I have is that my boys continue to grow, and some of the greatest days of my life with them are already in the rearview mirror. However, it’s a huge asset to recognize that, and I’m doing everything I can to make hay while the sun shines.

I’ve got a great brother, and his wife may be even cooler than he is (sorry brother).

My in-laws are really cool and I seem to get on smashingly with them, though part of that may be us living 6,000 miles apart (a fun life hack if you can swing it).

I’ve had a loss or two, but in that there’s even a hidden value – a deeper appreciation for wonderful memories and life lessons, and a healthy dose of wisdom on what’s really important.

Friends

My portfolio of friends is a bit concentrated, but quality definitely trumps quantity. I’ve got just a few lifelong friends, but how many of those do you really need?

Some may be concerned that I only have 25 friends on Facebook (others may be concerned that I’m on Facebook…). But take heart! This is a self-imposed limit (it used to be 30, but I decided that was too many – apologies to those who missed the cut). I have a long queue of “friends” waiting for my exclusive club. I hope they’re patient.

Career / Human Capital

I continue, with the assurance of a sleepwalker, to make money from my pirate ship consultancy. My serendipitous path to success there is a blog-worthy post for another day.

I’ve also got a few entrepreneurial ideas for “real” businesses, and one of them is actually lumbering to execution.

I feel that the relationships I’ve kept over the years, plus a skillset and “pedigree” that is still somewhat marketable, means I could go back with my hat in hand to the Man if needed. But let’s hope it never comes to that.

Tempering that is all of the time I spend on a certain personal finance blog with no real return in sight, but I’m sure bags and bags of money are right around the corner.

LIABILITIES

This is where the magic with my net worth happens. I don’t have too many material liabilities.

I don’t seem to care all that much about what strangers think. Heck, sometimes I don’t even care about what my friends think. It’s saved me a lot of money and brought me a level of happiness and contentment that seems to escape many.

I don’t have any dangerous or unhealthy habits, and I don’t seem to have an addictive personality. Sometimes I stay up too late reading a book, but that’s about as exciting as it gets.

 

FOOTNOTES / “OTHER ASSETS”

I won’t bore you with some of the lesser asset classes – financial accounts, house, retirement and college savings, etc. Those aren’t a material part of my net worth so should probably be consigned to footnotes.

 

You may protest and say the only reason you powered through this post was to see the dollars and cents, but bear with me.

If I step on a rattlesnake this weekend and check out, does the size of my bank account really matter?

When you look at the big picture, your total net worth may have little to do with your financial assets. The biggest pile in the world isn’t worth much if you’re sick, or alone, or self-destructive. While I’m a man of modest financial means, I consider myself a pretty wealthy guy. You probably are too, even if your bank balance is a little thin.

Have a great weekend, and perhaps I’ll return from my trip with some wild and exciting tales from the frontier!

 

Have I missed any critical classes of assets or liabilities? How is your net worth, broadly defined?

Do you like rodeos? If you’ve missed out – oh and you HAVE missed out – put one on your bucket list (closer to the bottom is OK).