CoinTalk

How I Realized I Needed to Know My Net Worth—and What It Taught Me

A few years ago, I was scrolling through social media, seeing people flaunt their wealth and wondering, “Am I rich for my age?” I had savings and some investments, but was I truly on track? That’s when I started researching US net worth, median net worth, and tools like the net worth by age calculator. Understanding where I stood compared to others my age gave me clarity and motivation. If you’re asking, “What should my net worth be?” or “Am I rich for my age?” this guide will help you make sense of your financial standing.

What Is Net Worth and Why Does It Matter?

Your net worth is the total value of your assets (like savings, investments, property) minus your liabilities (debts, loans). It’s a snapshot of your financial health and a key indicator of wealth.

• Median net worth represents the middle point where half of people have more and half have less.
• Average net worth can be skewed by very wealthy individuals, so median is often a better benchmark.

US Net Worth by Age: What the Numbers Say

According to recent data, here’s a rough idea of median net worth by age in the US:

• Under 35: Around $13,900
• 35 to 44: About $91,300
• 45 to 54: Approximately $168,600
• 55 to 64: Roughly $212,500
• 65 to 74: Around $266,400
• 75 and older: About $254,800

These numbers vary by location, income, and lifestyle but provide a useful benchmark.

Am I Rich for My Age? How to Use Net Worth as a Guide

If your net worth is higher than the median for your age group, you’re doing well compared to many peers. But “rich” is subjective—what matters most is whether your net worth supports your goals and lifestyle.

Questions to Ask Yourself:

• Are you saving and investing consistently?
• Do you have a plan for debt management?
• Are your assets growing over time?

How to Calculate Your Net Worth and Track It Over Time

You can use a net worth by age calculator online or simply list your assets and liabilities in a spreadsheet. Track your net worth regularly to see progress and adjust your financial plans.

What I Learned: Net Worth Is a Tool, Not a Trophy

Comparing my net worth to averages helped me set realistic goals without feeling pressured by others’ success. It’s about progress and planning, not just numbers.

Key Takeaways: What Should Your Net Worth Be?

• Median net worth varies widely by age—use it as a benchmark, not a rule.
• Focus on building assets and reducing liabilities steadily.
• Use tools like net worth calculators to monitor your financial health.
• Being “rich” is personal; financial security and growth matter most.
  

I’m new to crypto investing and I’ve recently heard about Bitcoin ETFs and trading options.  I’m based in Saudi Arabia and I want to start small. Can someone explain how to trade options for beginners? What platform should I use?

I’m also curious how stock options trading compares to crypto options. I mostly use apps like Binance and BYDFi to buy Bitcoin, but this "options" thing sounds complicated.

What’s the easiest way to learn and start trading options, especially for Bitcoin ETFs or crypto in general? Is there a way to practice before using real money?

The dream of  decentralized finance  has always been a radical one: an open, intermediary-less financial system owned by the community. For years, however, that dream lived within the walled garden of the crypto-native world, breathing its own air and moving to its own isolated market cycles.

Access was complex, risks were high, and regulatory oversight was a dark, ambiguous cloud on the horizon. But this landscape is now shifting with breathtaking speed, and the recent developments around Aave, one of the DeFi giants, might be the most potent evidence yet.

As exchange-traded products (ETPs) backed by Aave proliferate across European exchanges, and Aave Labs deliberately strengthens its regulatory posture, a single, fundamental question emerges: Are we witnessing the co-opting of DeFi by the traditional financial system, or is this the exact path DeFi must take to fulfill its world-changing promise?

I see these moves not as a betrayal of DeFi's original ethos, but as the most sophisticated tactical pivot the space has ever seen. This is a different game entirely. Instead of a head-on assault against the system,

Aave is building bridges to it. The creation of ETPs opens the floodgates for institutional capital—pension funds, hedge funds, traditional investors who have been wary of the complexities of non-custodial wallets and private keys.

This isn't just about liquidity; it's about legitimization. Meanwhile, proactively engaging with regulators isn't surrender; it's a strategic maneuver to define the rules of engagement on its own terms before hostile regulations are forced upon it.

But this path is fraught with peril. Does onboarding Wall Street mean that the next market crash for Aave will no longer be caused by a smart contract bug, but by a macro-economic event or a decision by BlackRock to rebalance its portfolio?

Have we simply replaced the known devil of crypto volatility with the unknown, and far more powerful, devil of systemic traditional finance risk? Is this the moment DeFi grows up, or the moment it gets absorbed?

You can't make this stuff up. I just saw that Trump's sons, Don Jr. and Eric, now have an American Bitcoin stake that debuted on the stock market at a whopping $1.5 billion. Let that sink in. This is coming from the same family whose patriarch, Donald Trump Sr., famously called Bitcoin a  scam against the dollar.  The hypocrisy is staggering! So, what gives? Is this a massive change of heart, or is it just a classic case of if you can't beat 'em, join 'em and profit massively? Personally, it feels less like a vote of confidence in decentralized finance and more like a calculated business play. It makes you wonder if this is about belief in the tech or just finding a new, high-stakes casino to play in. So, is this the ultimate validation for Bitcoin, or should the rest of us be wary when this much political money enters the game?

Forget the memes for a second. Forget the jokes about going to the moon. What you're witnessing right now is the foundational shift that turns a cultural phenomenon into a technological powerhouse.

The news just broke: Dogwood has officially registered its 100th participant in the groundbreaking Halneuron study. This isn't just a random number; this is a critical mass, a concrete milestone that screams one thing: this project has real, tangible momentum.

And how did the market respond? With a subtle, yet powerful, nod: DOGE climbing 0.03%.

Let's be clear—this is NOT just about the price move. This is about the reason behind it. This is the market starting to price in something far more valuable than hype: UTILITY. While other projects are all talk, the Dogwood team is building, executing, and hitting their targets.

Reaching 100 participants in a clinical study is a monumental task. It demonstrates operational excellence, serious institutional backing, and a community that believes in the mission enough to participate.

This is the kind of fundamental progress that separates flash-in-the-pan coins from assets with a long-term, revolutionary vision.

This is the spark before the explosion. This is the proof that DOGE is evolving beyond its origins, building a new identity rooted in real-world application and technological ambition. This is what we're here for—to witness and be part of the moments where a legend is reborn.

My jaw just about hit the floor when I read this headline. Binance, the poster child for the crypto  wild west —the exchange that has played cat-and-mouse with regulators across the globe for years—is now officially teaming up with Franklin Templeton, a $1.6 trillion, suit-and-tie, old-guard Wall Street behemoth. This isn't just a partnership; it's the most bizarre and ideologically confusing alliance I've seen in the financial world. It's like a punk rock band suddenly announcing a stadium tour sponsored by a stuffy classical orchestra. For years, the narrative has been us vs. them —the disruptive, decentralized world of crypto against the slow, centralized, and often predatory world of traditional finance (TradFi). Franklin Templeton is that old world.

This feels less like a natural evolution and more like a desperate, calculated move from both sides. Let's call it what it is: Binance is desperately craving the legitimacy and the institutional stamp of approval that a name like Franklin Templeton provides. It’s a shortcut to washing away their outlaw image. On the flip side, Franklin Templeton, after likely spending years dismissing crypto as a fad, is now suffering from a severe case of institutional FOMO. They are late to the party and see a partnership with the biggest player in the game as their fastest way to catch up and grab a piece of the crypto pie. So while the press releases will be full of buzzwords like "synergy" and "bridging financial worlds,  I'm skeptical. Are we really witnessing the dawn of a new, integrated financial future? Or are we just watching two giants, each with their own baggage, making a cynical cash grab, potentially compromising the very principles that made them successful in the first place?

For years, the DeFi landscape has been defined by a certain kind of chaos. It was a grassroots revolution, built by anonymous developers and powered by community tokens.

The battles were ideological: decentralization vs. regulation, permissionless access vs. KYC gates, and the relentless, often messy, innovation of the frontier.

The funding model matched the ethos—raids were swift, executed by venture capital firms descending on a project, taking a large stake, and hoping for a moonshot. It was high-risk, high-reward, and deeply insular. Now, Uniswap Labs, the de facto king of decentralized exchanges, has just changed the entire game.

With a staggering $1.6 billion valuation from its latest funding round, led by the who's who of traditional finance like Andreessen Horowitz and Paradigm, the message is clear: the raid is over, and the siege has begun.

I see this as the moment DeFi graduated from a disruptive skirmish to a full-scale war for the future of finance. This isn't just more runway for developers; this is a war chest.

This capital isn't for surviving the next crypto winter; it's for building an unstoppable empire. Uniswap is no longer just a protocol; it's a nascent financial superpower.

With this level of institutional backing, they can now fund a level of product development, user experience overhaul, and legal firepower that every other DeFi project can only dream of.

They are building the on-ramps, the interfaces, and the regulatory compliance tools to make DeFi not just for the crypto-native, but for everyone. But is this a victory for accessibility, or a Trojan horse?

Are we witnessing the benevolent funding of a more user-friendly future, or the beginning of a corporatized, centralized takeover that will strip DeFi of the very principles that made it revolutionary?