Continuing on the theme of knowing your net worth, here's a poll to see where the community's at on this matter.

None of the poll choices really suit me. I do know my net worth and do pay attention to it, but it’s not because I like to watch it go up nor have I set goals for a specific number.

I think it’s more important to know what makes up your net worth because it helps you identify and understand your financial resources, strengths, and weakness.

I know my worth will grow over time, but watching it is like watching paint dry. My goals are tied to actual outcomes like affording the lifestyle I want. Does anyone really know the impact that a $1.2 million net worth at some future date will have on their life versus $1 million?

my net worth is so low that i'm scared to know

I do know my net worth and like to watch it go up. It gives me clear feedback that I'm making progress towards my long-term goal.

I don't pay attention to my net worth to the dollar or anything. Every so often I mentally total up my retirement account, my savings account, and what I could get if I sold my car, just as a measure of how I'm doing, but I don't see why I'd need to get more precise than that, especially when my retirement account is out of my hands for the next 40 years.

I pay equal attention to my net worth and how much things are costing. Right now I'm more concerned with inflation going up at a faster rate than my net worth.

I have an idea, but it's not something I have calculated.

I know roughly what my net worth is but don't worry too much about it. I update my calculations probably once or twice per year, but mostly I just check what ballpark I'm in and that I'm still heading in the right direction.

I calculated mine for the first time last month. I was terrified to do it, I have a lot of student loan debt.

It wasn't as bad as I expected and I think it gives me a much more concrete goal. For example, it used to feel like I was wasting money sending in a little extra for the car payment but now I can see the direct impact of that on my net worth. I think it makes some decisions a little bit easier emotionally since there is a reward that may have been pretty abstract otherwise.

Also, it is nice to know how much it goes up each month. In the past, I only saw the amount that was going into savings. Now I see the impact of paying on my loans and other debts.

I like knowing my net worth because otherwise I concentrate too much on my debt, which makes me sad. So it is good for me to have a positive message built into my financial picture. Now that I track everything in Quicken it is easy to see it change over time anyway. Watching it shrink from -18,000 to -1,000 was deeply satisfying over these last 3 years. Watching it grow up from $3,340 will be awesome. I bought a house and had instant equity last week so it jumped nicely into the black. I'm in the black for the first time in my life! Yay!

(I do cheat a little in Quicken and when the stock market takes a dive I do not update the new lower amounts in my retirement funds. I only update those during weeks like the last one where the Dow did its thing.)

It seems appropriate for my first post to be in the thread that prompted me to register. Although I chose "I know. . . like to watch it.", the real reason I know my net worth (virtually to the penny) is so that I know how my decisions are affecting that number. Personally, I think it's somewhat foolish to not maintain at least monthly balance sheets (net worth) and income statements (profit/loss). Quicken make's the whole process incredibly simple, so it's not like it takes "work" or even more than 10 to 30 mintues a month to maintain.

I don't have a set goal for my net worth number. There are too many variables that affect it. My goal is to simply keep it climbing as fast as possible.

I chose option 3, because that was the closest to reality. I know my net worth, but moving that number is not my focus yet. My drive to become debt free and start investing will move that number automatically.

We track all of our expenses in Quicken. I can easily see our net worth whenever I decide to check it.