The end of the year often provokes questions about your financial state. If it doesn't, it should.

That was on my mind after receiving this query from one reader during a recent online discussion: "I am 45 years old and unmarried. I own two homes worth $800,000 free and clear. I have next to no savings, however. I do have $50,000 in a 401(k) and $50,000 in regular savings. That is it. Am I in decent shape or bad shape for my age?"

Now you are probably thinking: Is this person kidding?

Assuming the questioner has no credit-card debt or other obligations such as a car or student loan, his or her net worth is at least $900,000. Sure, it's just short of millionaire status, but I would say he or she is in pretty good shape for any age. No, strike that.

He or she is in phenomenal financial shape — better than most.

Determining your net worth is one of the most basic parts of our financial health assessment. You calculate your net worth by adding up all your assets and subtracting your liabilities. You, of course, want your assets to add up to more than your liabilities.

I regularly field questions from readers about their financial health. Here's one that's worth a closer look: "How is a mortgage figured in to your debt load? I have a friend who has no credit-card debt, one car loan and a $400,000 mortgage. I have about $20,000 in credit-card debt (all at 5 percent or under), no car loan, and a $50,000 mortgage (that's how much my place cost). I say I'm in less debt than my friend (we make the same). She says mortgages don't count."

To answer this question will take some calculations that look at your debt and your income. When you get a mortgage, your lender will look at two ratios. One considers the percentage of your monthly gross income that the lender allows for housing expenses. The other looks at the percentage of your income (including your mortgage) that is used to pay consumer debts.

To get a full picture of your financial health, you should look at your total debt-to-income ratio, including your mortgage. So let's see how the two friends compare using first a total debt-to-income ratio. I'll start with friend No. 1. Let's suppose she financed her car for $20,000 over five years at an interest rate of 5 percent; that would make her payment $377.42. Her income is $100,000, which she should earn at least to support a $400,000 mortgage alone. Her monthly mortgage payment (not including property taxes and insurance) is $2,398.20 (based on a 30-year fixed loan with a 6 percent interest rate).

To calculate your total debt, first figure out your monthly debt obligations, including mortgage or rent. Add up your loan payments for all your consumer debt including car and student loans, as well as credit cards (use the minimum amount due). Next calculate your yearly income, including any bonuses, alimony or child support. Divide that number by 12.

Now take the monthly debt obligations and divide it by your monthly gross income. Using this calculation, friend No. 1 has a debt-to-income ratio of 33 percent.

Friend No. 2 has $20,000 in credit-card debt (to make this simple I'll keep it all at 5 percent). Using a 2 percent minimum payment, her monthly credit-card payment is $400 (which would become lower as she pays it off). Use the current minimum payment when doing this exercise.

The second friend's mortgage is $50,000. Assuming she has a 15-year mortgage at 5 percent, her monthly loan payment would be $395.40, excluding insurance and taxes. The expense for insurance and taxes varies so I'm leaving that out to simplify this example. However, your calculations should include taxes and insurance.

The total debt-to-income ratio for friend No. 2 is 9.5 percent. Because the second friend's mortgage is so low, even with the high credit-card debt, she comes out way ahead of her friend.

If you live in a high-cost area, a ratio in the range of 37 percent to 42 percent is acceptable, if a bit tight. If your ratio is between 43 percent and 49 percent, you are probably carrying too much debt, said Gerri Detweiler, president of Ultimate Credit Solutions Inc. And if your ratio is above 50 percent, you need to get rid of some debt, said Detweiler, who is also the author of "The Ultimate Credit Handbook."

When it comes to the two friends, if you exclude their mortgages and just count their consumer debt, they both have similar debt-to-income ratios (4.5 percent for friend No. 1 and 4.8 percent for friend No. 2). When calculating non-mortgage debt, a ratio of 10 percent or less is considered great. A ratio of 20 percent to 28 percent is acceptable. "As long as you're managing to keep debt in check," Detweiler said. Anything higher and you're at financial risk.

The bottom line: Everything counts. You have to watch all the numbers if you want to get ahead financially.