If you’ve recently gotten married, you might be wondering how that impacts your net worth. After all, your finances are now tied together, and certain individual assets and liabilities may now become joint. As a result, it’s often wise to recalculate your net worth, shifting from a “my net worth” and “his/her net worth” mentality into an “our net worth” perspective. If you don’t know how to figure it out, here’s a look at calculating newlyweds net worth.
Determine Your Assets
Begin by gathering details about all of your financial assets. This includes the amount of money in your bank accounts, the value of retirement and investments, and how much your home, real estate holdings, and vehicles are worth. You can also include other high-dollar items – like jewelry, art, and antiques – if you’d like.
Once you determine what your assets are as a couple, you add the value together. This shows you the positive side of the net worth equation.
For example, if you have a home valued at $240,000 and a car with a fair market value of $13,000, as well as $55,000 in IRAs, $9,000 in savings, and $3,000 in checking, you add those amounts to get the total of your assets. In this example, that would be $320,000.
Identify Your Liabilities
How much you owe in debt impacts your net worth as a newlywed couple. Together, you need to review any debts you have (both individual and joint) and add up how much is owed. This includes your mortgage, auto loans, personal loans, student loans, credit cards, and any other kind of debt. However, it doesn’t include a range of living expenses, such as utility costs, groceries, insurance payments, and other recurring costs not associated with a debt.
For example, if you owe $120,000 on a mortgage, $5,000 on an auto loan, $17,000 on credit cards, and $20,000 in student loans together, you add those amounts together to determine your total liabilities. In this case, it would be $162,000.
Calculating Newlyweds Net Worth
To calculate your net worth as a newlywed couple, you simply subtract the liabilities from the value of the assets. Using the examples above, this would be $320,000 minus $162,000, or $158,000.
It is important to note that a net worth can be positive or negative. In the example above, the value of the assets exceeds the liabilities, creating a positive net worth. However, if a couple owes more in debt than they have in assets, their net worth is negative.
Improving Your Net Worth
Even if your net worth is negative, that doesn’t mean you can’t improve. Additionally, if your net worth is positive, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work to make it rise.
By increasing the value of your assets, you can see an improvement. This could involve adding more to savings or retirement and investment accounts. Making home improvements (without taking on debt to do it) can potentially cause the value of your home to go up, which also positive impacts your net worth.
Reducing liabilities – typically, by paying off debt – also causes your net worth to shift in a positive direction. By focusing on high-interest debt first, you can reduce your liabilities by avoiding more of the interest charges, potentially leading to faster gains.
Knowing your net worth and creating a plan to improve is important for newlywed couples. That way, you understand where you are today and choose an approach that allows you both to achieve your financial goals.
Have any tips that can help newlyweds net worth? Share them in the comments below.
Read More:
- What Happens to Your Credit After Marriage?
- Married and Debt Free: 5 Steps to Get There
- What Does It Mean to Give My Spouse Credit Card Authorization?
