7 Net-worth killers

Saving and spending aren't the only factors affecting your net worth. How you manage (or don't manage) your assets and liabilities can make a big difference, too.

3. Driving too much car
Certified financial planner Mari Adam has seen couples with car payments totaling $1,400 a month. Would it kill them, she wonders, to drive cars that combined would cost them closer to $800 or $900?

Another planner, Chris Cooper, has suggested as a rule of thumb that you don't spend more than 8 percent of your monthly gross income on a car payment, less if you have credit card debt.

Money Magazine has estimated that driving less expensive cars could yield an additional $180,000 over 30 years, assuming you invest your savings.

Remember, in addition to your monthly payments, you'll be paying for insurance, fuel, maintenance and repairs.

To find out a car's cost of ownership over five years, use Edmunds.com's True Cost to Own calculator or Intellichoice's Side-by-side Comparison.


Ignoring your money

Buying too much house

Driving too much car

Paying the IRS, not yourself

Always getting what you want

Letting your assets linger

Letting your debt lie
Save early. Save often. And don't make these gaffes. (more)
You don't have to spend a lot of time to put your financial house in order. (more)

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.