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

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 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 her car payment is $377.42, her income is $100,000, and her monthly mortgage payment is $2,398.20.

To calculate your total debt, first figure out your monthly debt obligations, including mortgage or rent. Add up all your consumer debt, including 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.

Let’s assume the second friend’s monthly mortgage payment would be $395.40.

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 have a total debt-to-income ratio of 36 percent or less, you are in good shape and you’re carrying a healthy load of debt,” according to Gerri Detweiler, president of Ultimate Credit Solutions Inc., which provides consumer credit education.

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