I use www.mint.com to keep track of my net worth. Recently, I began adding my perceived value of my award accounts to my net worth. I used one cent per mile, and 1/2 cent per Priority Club points. Just curious, does anyone else do this? And if so, what value do you place on the miles / points?

I do that with excel sheet and separated from "actual finance".

www.superfly.com tries to do this for you. I have entered all the points I can, but they don't reveal the point values, just a grand total. Whatever value they use is probably as good a guess as anybody can come up with.

so does milewise.com, except it does value many "point currencies" fairly

I only track the mileage, I don't calculate it into my net worth.

I don't do this; I just track my total balances. It's hard to see how the points can add to your net worth. First of all they're mostly illiquid (can't be sold) and their actual value (to you, in a specific case) can vary quite widely. (I'm not here talking about the 'average' valuation that bloggers use, etc.)

I definitely see your point. At the same time, do you include your vacation savings in to your net worth? I view my miles and points the same as vacation savings.

Unless you have millions and millions of miles - I cant really imagine
these really putting a dent in one's net worth. Plus, they really arent
anything like real assets. Their use is niche, their cash value suspect,
and... they cant really be sold to pay off other obligations.

I guess, at the end of the day, if it gets you excited to see your mint.com
valuation of your net worth go up - by all means.

Do you also add in the value of the little bottles of shampoo and conditioner
you got from the hotel room? Figured thats at least another buck on ones net
worth. Wonder how much I could get for this toaster at a garage sale... perhaps
I should add that as well.

I'm a banker. If someone ever put miles on a personal financial statement I would laugh. There is 0 liquidation value in the miles/ points b/c they cannot be assigned. They are also difficult to value as values vary wildly by individual.

Don't try to inflate your net worth with something that has little to no value to others.

I track them in a separate spreadsheet and I assign conservative values to them and to calculate a redemption value. It helps me evaluate which bonuses to pursue and make choices about spend or burn. I have a separate spreadsheet where I track my net worth. I haven't added the miles to that spreadsheet, but in concept I would have no objection to doing so. Its an intangible asset that is assigned to you. I wouldn't use it for a bank loan, but if you own anything but market priced stocks and cash there are estimates in play in calculating net worth (e.g. house value, cars, collectibles).

Mint is okay for day-to-day tracking, but my experience is the historical data is prone to gremlins, so I keep a spreadsheet in parallel.

I often buy points from co-workers, so you could argue that I have both a reasonable market price and an investment in my points.

Nonetheless, I would not think of including them in net worth. Remember that if you do, you now have to reduce net worth every time you make a redemption.

Do you include your television and laptop in your net worth? Do you depreciate them every month?

Further, if you want to value your points, are you going to use mark-to-market or mark-to-model? Mark-to-market means valuing them at what they could be liquidated for under present market conditions, meaning probably, what you could get for them in 48 hours if you sold them on Craigslist. Mark-to-model means their actual value in redemptions assuming you can hold onto them long enough to use them in an orderly way.

If your points represent more than a trivial portion of your net worth, then you need to start worrying about your net worth or set of priorities.

Now, if you are regularly selling the points, or using them in a way to generate income (for example, you are self-employed and use them for business trips), or they have some other clear monetary value, my opinion might be different.

Interesting viewpoints. The mile portion of my "net worth" is trivial, but it did allow me to hit a goal that I had been eyeing for quite some time. The last poster's comments about depreciating household goods (laptop, tv, etc....) is interesting. While I do not get that technical, I do have a vague number down for household items. I just think of a quick number of what I think my personal belongings would bring at auction and go with that. If I purchase something of significant and lasting value, then that number goes up.

@ejh25 If someone had 100K UR points valued at $1000 why would you laugh? Though it may not be the best use, there is always the option to liquidate and redeem for cash @ $1 / 100 UR.

I do not add mileage to net worth, but this is a conservative valuation that could make a difference on someone's account.

I wouldn't count them either. As others have said the value varies widely. You can say miles are worth $X but when push comes to shove, if there's no availability, or a program is devalued, you might not get even close to the value you thought they were worth.

The whole fun part of the miles game to me is that they feel like they're "free." Of course I invest time in this as a hobby, but it doesn't feel like work, and while they have value, it is value that can only be redeemed through travel and experiencing the world. It's a great compliment to a solid personal financial foundation, but it can't be a replacement for one.

There is always that option as long as Chase keeps it there.

Remember how DL miles could be liquidated at 1 cpm if you had the Delta Amex, but they were suddenly devalued by about 50% in cash value. That's a huge devaluation with no advance notice to users.