Net Worth Ain’t Nothin But A Number
Net Worth Ain’t Nothin But A Number
Yesterday was a big day for me. I was featured on The ESI Money Blog as Millionaire 47 which drove lots of traffic to my little blog and lead to much discussion. Time and time again, I have been recognized in this community for what I sometimes regret as my primary calling card. My net worth. While I am proud of this aspect of my financial journey, and definitely have enjoyed the notoriety, I tend to hold myself to a completely unrelated standard. For me, at least, net worth ain’t nothin but a number.
Now before I get ahead of myself, it is true that calculating and being aware of my net worth has served a number of purposes. Most importantly, it has been the mathematical indicator by which I thumbnail my goal of financial independence. Whether you are a fan of the 4% rule, 3 % rule, or calculating 25X annual spending, each calculation requires an estimation of net worth. This number provides a hook to hang our retirement coat on as we come inside after battling the wind and flurries of debt and frugality.
Furthermore, being open about my net worth has furthered the purposes of this blog. I have been invited to be on a number of podcasts (coming soon), was able to score the ESI feature, and even garnered reasonable traffic from my placement on the Rockstar Finance Net Worth Tracker.
Money Loses It’s Value
When it comes to life goals, however, net worth loses its value once you have finished with all the calculations. I don’t want to downplay the incredible effort it takes to reach ones goals, but the truth as it pertains to most of the people reading this blog, is that they will eventually find a way to both make more and spend less. Financial Independence is a foregone conclusion, the question becomes how and when.
But, I’m sure you’re poised to ask.
Doc G, if money ain’t nothin but a number, why oh why do you labor to make so much?
And herein lies the crux. I’ve stopped looking at my investments on a regular basis. I’ve even let loose a little on the frugality. The thrill is gone.
I’m Addicted To Making Money
While net worth ain’t nothin but a number, what truly excites me is making money. And not just making money in any old way. I earn thousands of dollars seeing patients a week without any sense of visceral joy or accomplishment. What gets me going, is making money in an unexpected way.
Here are just a few of what I consider some of my greatest financial joys:
- Selling my first piece of art for my online art business.
- Recruiting my first concierge patient.
- Receiving my first payment for a magazine article.
- Signing up my first blog sponsor.
- Signing my first lease as a landlord
The unalloyed joy of succeeding in a venture in which I have bootstrapped myself to profitability may be the best financial life gets.
Not earning my first million nor declaring myself financially independent. Not climbing my way up the net worth tracker nor presumably one day hitting eight figures.
In Conclusion
For me, net worth ain’t nothin but a number. The ups and downs of financial independence are more marked by business asset class gains and losses, by the triumphs and failures of my various ventures.
How about you? How closely do you track your net worth? Will you stop once you hit FI?
Congrats on the ESI Millionaire feature. Making money for the sake of making money becomes a game in itself. Net worth just becomes a scorecard. The thrill and joy is in discovering new ways to “score”. It’s euphoric and it’s hard to walk away from. Once the entrepreneur bug bites, you are forever converted.
It’s definitely euphoric. I’m spinning my wheels, but I sure enjoy it.
I’ve been tracking all my numbers every month for over 20 years now. Like you said, the thrill is gone, or ‘kinda’ gone for me. That can sound pretty smug or condescending to someone who doesn’t have what we have but like you I only speak the truth. I too get way more pleasure every time I make 70 cents when someone buys a sticker with one of my graphic designs (which just happened 15 minutes ago!). I guess we like new challenges.
I love it. That 70 cents somehow feels more special. I’m right there with you.
Great post. Net worth is a game. As I have surpassed various goals I move the goalposts.
I agree, the goalposts keep moving for me too. It’s just not net worth anymore. It’s other stuff.
Nice to see someone else who doesn’t look at the numbers so much anymore. I just was interviewed on a podcast and I knew they were going to ask me about my investments. I had to dig in the files to see what they were. I realized I had not looked at that for years. I also realized, there were some changes I should make. I think I swung too far to the not looking and need to think about getting a regular check up to look and see if everything is as I want it to be.
Dr. Cory S. Fawcett
Prescription for Financial Success
Hey Cory, That’s where I’m heading. It’s a luxury to feel stable enough not to have to look at the accounts that often. But, I try to schedule a peek at least every 6 months.
Congrats on the feature – I like tracking just to know where I am, pretty sure I will keep tracking once I reach FI. I like sending the trends and my own personal volatility.
I bet you’ll do less after FI.
Probably more than anything it’s related to the presence or absence of the dopamine hit related to looking. I bought BTC at $275/coin not as an investment but as a currency during the Greek crisis 3 years ago. I read about a guy who was able to buy an airplane ticket home from the Greek Islands with BTC when everything else was frozen, so I thought that might be a good thing to own if I was stuck somewhere with my family. I never saw it as an investment and I never check it. After it went up a few times I sold out my initial investment (free trade) and just let the free money ride so I’m even immune from loss. My friend’s kid bought BTC and he checks it 10 times day with agony and glee. Clearly the difference is neurochemistry. When you describe your hit at collecting your first rent check same mechanism. The dopamine hit is actually an important thing to understand.
Man that dopamine hit. It’s mostly what drives many of my side hustles even when the income is not necessary! I’m a slave.
Network is absolutely just a number. I have always tracked our finances as a simple habit. The day we realized we could stick everything into a guaranteed fixed income investment and have more than enough to live on- we just stopped paying all that much attention to it all. In fact, all I want to do is really simplify all of it so there is even less for me to manage.
Yes…Simple is the way. Who wants to spend all day messing with their money?
Whoa there pardner. FI and Net Worth are NOT the same thing. FI monies need to be income producing assets. A portfolio is an income producing asset. A house or a car or a diamond ring may make your ‘Net Worth’ look impressive, but those things are not income producing assets and, therefore should NOT be included in your FI calculations. How are you going to draw 4% from your house or your car or your boat or your diamond ring to cover your monthly spending needs? No, Net Worth is nice to know (and maybe brag about), but it’s not going to pay the bills. That’s the job of your retirement account and the rest of your portfolio.
Hey JC, I agree with you completely. Fi and Net worth are completely different.
But, they are related. Kind of like cousins. 8^)