> It may be worth $300,000 today, but after the next mortgage crisis, it may be worth a fraction of that. Similarly, for your investments, if the stock market t

> It may be worth $300,000 today, but after the next mortgage crisis, it may be worth a fraction of that. Similarly, for your investments, if the stock market takes a huge hit, your net worth will instantly become a fraction of what it currently is. Cash will still be cash. (But also maybe worth less!) There is no asset (including cash) that is guaranteed to preserve its value across arbitrary amounts of time under all circumstances. Even TIPS could theoretically be worthless if the government collapses. That doesn't mean that net worth isn't still an excellent normalized comparison between arbitrary people or parts of a population today, which is exactly what we're talking about.