Household wealth and the money you can spend
Net worth and spendable money are different numbers, and the gap between them is usually large. That matters if you're working out how long you could cover the bills.
What net worth counts
Net worth is everything a household owns minus everything it owes. Census wealth tables fold in a lot: home equity, retirement accounts, vehicles, cash.
That's a fair measure of overall financial position. It's a poor measure of what you could spend next month.
An example, with made-up numbers
Take a household with a $400,000 home, $50,000 in retirement savings, and $12,000 in the bank. They owe $260,000 on the mortgage and $2,000 on a card. That's $462,000 in assets against $262,000 in debts, so $200,000 in net worth.
The money they can actually reach this month is the $12,000, before bills. Getting at the rest means selling the house or pulling from retirement, which brings in taxes, penalties, and time.
So the projection tool asks for something narrower
A rough runway calculation: $12,000 against $3,000 of monthly spending is four months. That assumes no income at all and nothing unexpected, so treat it as a floor.
When you use the projection tool, enter the savings you'd actually draw on. Putting in a home's value or a wealth percentile will give you a number, but not one that means anything for the scenario you're modeling.
About our Washington wealth figures
Those estimates come from a small survey sample, and the page says how small along with the uncertainty around each figure.
A percentile is useful for context. It can't tell you whether your own plan holds up, because it knows nothing about your bills.
Sources checked and changes
Prepared with AI assistance.
Sources checked: .
- : First edition prepared for publisher review.
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