Net Worth Calculator

• Add as many assets and liabilities as apply — the default rows are just a starting point.
• See the split between what you own and what's still financed.
• A negative net worth is common earlier in life and is not, by itself, a warning sign.
• Recalculating this every few months turns a single number into a useful trend.

How to use this calculator

List everything of meaningful value you own under Assets — cash and savings, retirement accounts, taxable investment accounts, your home's current market value, vehicles, and anything else worth including. Then list what you owe under Liabilities — mortgage balance, auto loans, student loans, credit card balances and any other debt. Add or remove rows freely; the default rows are just a starting point.

Use current values, not purchase prices — a home bought for $300,000 that would sell for $420,000 today should be entered at $420,000, and an investment account should reflect its current balance, not what was originally contributed.

How net worth is calculated

Net worth = total assets − total liabilities

That's the entire calculation — the complexity, if there is any, is in deciding what belongs in each list and estimating current values accurately, not in the arithmetic itself.

A worked example

Someone with $15,000 in cash and savings, $45,000 in retirement accounts, $10,000 in a taxable investment account and a $350,000 home has total assets of $420,000. Against a $280,000 mortgage balance, a $12,000 auto loan, $20,000 in student loans and $3,000 in credit card balances — total liabilities of $315,000 — their net worth is $105,000.

Why net worth is worth tracking

A single net worth figure is a snapshot, not a verdict. What tends to matter more is the trend: is the gap between assets and liabilities widening over time as debts fall and savings grow, or shrinking? Tracked consistently — the same categories, roughly the same time each quarter or year — net worth becomes one of the more useful summary numbers in personal finance, because it captures the net effect of every financial decision made in between: saving, paying down debt, market returns, and major purchases all show up in it eventually.

It's also worth separating liquid net worth (cash, savings, and investments that could be accessed relatively quickly) from total net worth, which includes illiquid assets like home equity. Two people with identical total net worth can have very different financial flexibility if one holds mostly liquid assets and the other's is locked up in a home.

Assumptions and limitations

• Values are self-reported. This calculator does not verify or look up real account balances, home values or vehicle values — accuracy depends entirely on the numbers entered.
• No tax effects are modelled. Selling an appreciated asset like a home or investment account would typically trigger capital gains tax, which would reduce the amount actually realized below its listed value.
• Illiquid and liquid assets are combined. The total treats a checking account balance the same as home equity, even though one can be spent immediately and the other generally cannot.

Common mistakes

Using purchase price instead of current value. A home, vehicle or investment should be valued at what it's actually worth today, not what was originally paid for it.

Forgetting smaller debts. Buy-now-pay-later balances, a personal loan to a family member, or a small remaining balance on a 0% promotional card are easy to leave out but still count.

Comparing net worth across very different life stages without context. Someone early in their career with student loans and no home equity yet will often show a lower — sometimes negative — net worth than someone decades further along, which reflects timing more than financial health.

Frequently asked questions