Add Liabilities

Overview

Tracking your liabilities alongside your assets gives you an honest view of your net worth. Forbidden Finance lets you add mortgages, auto loans, student loans, personal loans, credit card balances, and other debts. Each liability subtracts from your total assets to calculate your true net worth. As you pay down debt, you see your net worth rise even if your assets stay the same.

Liabilities also reduce your Liquid and Investable net worth in different ways depending on the debt type. See How each debt type affects each view below.

This feature is available on Pro and Premium plans.

How each debt type affects each view

Forbidden Finance shows your net worth in three nested views — Liquid, Investable, and Total — and not every debt reduces every view equally. The bucket each liability subtracts from reflects which kind of asset you would realistically liquidate to extinguish it.

The reasoning:

• Credit cards are short-term and effectively callable on demand, so they net against your cash position (Liquid) and cascade up.
• Student and personal loans are unsecured and long-horizon. You wouldn't tap your checking account to pay them off, but if accelerated you might liquidate investments — so they reduce Investable and Total.
• Mortgages and auto loans are secured by the property or vehicle itself. In a forced-sale scenario you'd typically sell the secured asset, not your portfolio, so the loan only nets against Total (where the asset itself is counted).

For more on how the three views work, see Liquid vs. Investable Net Worth.

How to Add a Liability

Liability Types and Fields

Mortgage

• Lender name — The bank or mortgage company.
• Outstanding balance — The remaining principal on the loan.
• Interest rate — Your annual interest rate.
• Monthly payment — Your regular payment amount.
• Original loan amount — What you initially borrowed (optional, for tracking payoff progress).

Auto Loan

• Lender name — The financing company or bank.
• Outstanding balance — The remaining balance.
• Interest rate — Your annual rate.
• Monthly payment — Your regular payment amount.

Student Loan

• Loan servicer — The company managing your loan.
• Outstanding balance — The remaining balance across all loans with this servicer, or add each loan separately for more detail.
• Interest rate — The rate on this loan (or weighted average if combining).
• Monthly payment — Your regular payment amount.

Personal Loan

• Lender name — The bank, credit union, or lending platform.
• Outstanding balance — What you still owe.
• Interest rate — Your annual rate.
• Monthly payment — Your regular payment amount.

Credit Card

• Card name — The name of the card (e.g., "Chase Sapphire," "Citi Double Cash").
• Outstanding balance — Your current balance. If you pay in full each month, you can set this to zero or update it periodically.
• Interest rate (APR) — Your card's annual percentage rate.
• Minimum payment — The minimum required payment.

Other

• Description — What the debt is for.
• Outstanding balance — What you owe.
• Interest rate — The rate, if applicable.
• Monthly payment — Your regular payment amount.

Keeping Balances Up to Date

Liability balances can be updated in two ways:

• Connected accounts — If you have connected a credit card or loan account through Plaid, the balance syncs automatically based on your plan's sync schedule.
• Manual updates — For liabilities not connected to a bank, update the balance periodically. Tap the liability, enter the new balance, and save. A good cadence is monthly, after you receive your statement.

Each balance update is captured in your net worth snapshots, so you can see your debt decreasing over time in the history chart.

Tips

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I add a credit card I pay off every month?

It depends on your preference. If you always pay in full and your balance is effectively zero, adding it is optional. If you occasionally carry a balance or want the most accurate snapshot on any given day, add it and keep the balance current.

Can I track multiple student loans separately?

Yes. Add each loan as a separate liability with its own balance, rate, and payment. This gives you more granular tracking. Alternatively, combine them into one entry with a weighted average rate.

What happens when I pay off a liability?

Update the balance to zero or delete the liability. If you delete it, your net worth history preserves past snapshots where the liability existed. If you set it to zero, it remains in your list as a paid-off item.

Does Forbidden Finance calculate interest or amortization?

Forbidden Finance tracks the balance you enter or that syncs from your bank, and computes amortization schedules (principal vs. interest splits and projected payoff dates) when you provide rate and payment information. The schedule is informational and assumes the rate and payment you've entered remain unchanged for the rest of the loan.

Why does my credit-card balance reduce my Liquid net worth?

Liquid is meant to answer "what can I write a check for tomorrow without selling anything?" Credit-card debt is callable on demand and you'd cover it from cash, so it nets directly against your cash position. If you carry a $2,000 credit-card balance and have $5,000 in checking, your contribution to Liquid is $3,000. See Liquid vs. Investable Net Worth for the full reasoning.

Why doesn't my mortgage reduce my Liquid or Investable net worth?

Mortgages are secured by the house. In a forced-sale scenario you'd sell the house — not your investment portfolio — so the loan reduces Total (where the house is counted) but not Liquid or Investable. The same logic applies to auto loans.

Related Articles

Need more help? Contact us at support@403fin.io.