To know your networth, add up everything you own, subtract everything you owe, and the result is your number. It really is that simple, and you can do it in about an hour with a spreadsheet, a notebook or a free app.
The harder part is deciding what to count and then doing it again regularly. Here’s a method that works for most households.
Step 1: list your assets
Assets are things with money value. Group them so you don’t miss any.
Liquid assets
- Checking and savings accounts
- Money market funds and certificates of deposit
- Cash on hand
Investments and retirement
- Brokerage accounts, using the current balance
- 401(k), 403(b), IRA and Roth IRA balances
- HSA balances
- Business ownership, if any, at a realistic value
- Cryptocurrency, at today’s price
Property and valuables
- Home, using a recent estimate such as an appraisal or comparable sales. Be conservative.
- Vehicles, at resale value rather than purchase price
- Valuable items such as jewelry or art, only if you could sell them
Most people leave furniture, clothes and electronics out, because they sell for little and it makes the number look better than the reality.
Step 2: list your liabilities
- Mortgage balance, and any home equity loan
- Car loans
- Student loans
- Credit card balances
- Personal loans, medical debt and money owed to family
- Taxes owed, if any
Use the payoff balance, not the monthly payment. Your lender’s online account or latest statement shows this.
Step 3: subtract
Total assets minus total liabilities equals net worth. Negative is possible and common among young adults with student loans, and it isn’t a failure. It’s a starting point.
A quick example. Say someone has $15,000 in savings, $40,000 in retirement accounts, a car worth $9,000 and a home worth $300,000, so total assets are $364,000. If they owe $240,000 on the mortgage, $12,000 on the car and $8,000 on cards, liabilities are $260,000, and net worth is $104,000.
Step 4: decide how to treat the home and retirement money
Some people prefer to see two numbers: total net worth and ‘investable’ net worth, which leaves out the primary home. The second is more relevant to how soon you can retire or invest. Retirement accounts are included in net worth but may have taxes or penalties when withdrawn early, so note that.
Step 5: compare with benchmarks, carefully
The Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances found median US household net worth of about $192,900 and a mean of about $1.06 million. By age of the household head, medians were roughly $39,000 under 35, $135,600 for 35 to 44, $247,200 for 45 to 54, $364,500 for 55 to 64 and $409,900 for 65 to 74. See the full tables on the Federal Reserve SCF page.
Use these as context, not targets. Your own goals, income and location matter more than a median.
Step 6: track it on a schedule
Once or twice a year is enough for many people, though some check quarterly. Pick a fixed date, such as the first of January and July, and use the same method each time. Over time you want to see the line trending upward, and you’ll notice what moved it, whether a raise, a paid-off loan or a market drop.
Common mistakes
- Overstating the house by using an optimistic online estimate.
- Forgetting small debts or a tax bill.
- Counting the full retirement balance as spendable cash.
- Comparing to friends or social media, which is rarely accurate.
- Giving up after the first number disappoints. It’s a baseline.
Tools that make it easier
A simple spreadsheet with two columns, assets and liabilities, is enough. Budgeting apps can pull balances automatically, but check their security settings and don’t share credentials you aren’t comfortable with. Whatever you use, save a copy each time you update so you can look back. Anyone learning how to know your networth is really learning to look at their finances honestly, and that habit pays off more than any single calculation.
What to do with the number
If it’s lower than you’d like, the most effective moves are boring: pay down high-interest debt, build an emergency fund, capture any employer retirement match, and keep spending below income. If it’s higher, think about whether your investments, insurance and estate paperwork fit your goals. Either way, now you know how to know your networth, and you can repeat it whenever life changes.
Run the numbers today, save the file and set a reminder, because how to know your networth is easy once and valuable when repeated.
This is general information, not financial advice.
Related reading
- Services for High Networth Individuals: What You Can Expect
- What Is Ashton Hall Networth? What We Can and Cannot Say
Photo: Joe Haupt from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
