Reply #33: includes all people who have equity in their homes

[gottaB]

Mortgages are calculated as liabilities.

I largely agree with you about home ownership. A house is hardly a liquid asset. If one is forced to sell a house due to dire circumstances, the equity might not be realized in full. Happens all the time, I'd think.

Comparing net worth to net worth excluding home equity is telling. You have to get into fourth quintile before you see households that might be able to survive a year without selling their house, though I'd assume that their mortgage payments might be higher, and presumably they'd have to adjust their lifestyle. If a median family in the fourth quintile did sell their house, they would be in a better position to either wait for somebody to meet their asking price, or lower their asking price without suffering extreme hardship.

For all US households, median net worth isn't a whole lot more than median income. For the working poor it's considerably less.