Net Worth Calculator
Add up assets and debts to find your net worth
$475,000 of assets against $281,000 of debts is a net worth of $194,000. Add up what you own, subtract what you owe, and this net worth calculator also breaks out the figures the headline hides: how much of it you could actually reach in an emergency, and how much is locked inside your house.
Assets minus liabilities, and nothing else
Net worth = everything you own − everything you owe. That is the whole definition, and its bluntness is the point: it does not care what you earn, and income is what most people mistake for wealth. A $200,000 salary with $200,000 of debt and no savings is a smaller net worth than a $60,000 salary and a paid-off house.
Knowing how to calculate net worth matters less than knowing what to put in it. Assets are things with a resale value: cash, investments, retirement accounts, property, vehicles, and anything else you could genuinely sell. Liabilities are balances you owe today, not the total you will eventually repay — enter the $250,000 still outstanding on the mortgage, never the $480,000 of payments left including interest.
Reading a worked example
The default figures describe a fairly ordinary mid-career household. Here is what the calculator does with them:
| Assets | Value | Liabilities | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash & savings | $15,000 | Mortgage | $250,000 |
| Investments | $30,000 | Car loans | $12,000 |
| Retirement accounts | $60,000 | Student loans | $15,000 |
| Home | $350,000 | Credit cards | $4,000 |
| Vehicles | $20,000 | ||
| Total assets | $475,000 | Total liabilities | $281,000 |
Net worth is $194,000. That is the headline, and on its own it is almost reassuring. The three supporting figures are where the real information is: liquid net worth $41,000, debt-to-asset ratio 59.2%, and 51.5% of net worth tied up in home equity of $100,000.
Liquid net worth is what an emergency actually reaches
Liquid net worth counts only cash and investments, less credit-card debt. In the example that is $41,000 against a total of $194,000 — barely a fifth. The rest is a house you live in, a retirement account with a penalty attached, and cars you need to get to work.
This is the number that decides whether a broken transmission becomes a crisis. Two households can both report $194,000 and be in completely different positions: one with $120,000 in a brokerage account, one with $8,000 in checking and everything else in property. Net worth alone cannot tell them apart, which is exactly why the breakdown is worth reading.
Retirement accounts are deliberately excluded from the liquid figure. They are unambiguously yours and belong in total net worth, but reaching them early generally means tax and penalties, so treating them as an emergency fund flatters your position.
House-rich and cash-poor
When more than about half of net worth sits in home equity, the balance sheet is concentrated in a single illiquid asset whose value you cannot partially withdraw. Selling means moving; borrowing against it means a new monthly payment and interest.
It is not a mistake — for most households the mortgage is the main reason they have any net worth at all, since it forces saving every month. It is a concentration to be aware of, especially near retirement, and a reason to keep building the liquid side rather than accelerating the mortgage to the exclusion of everything else.
Valuing things that have no price tag
The arithmetic is trivial; the honesty of the inputs is not. A net worth built on optimistic valuations is a number that only exists in the spreadsheet.
| Asset | How to value it | Common error |
|---|---|---|
| Your home | What comparable homes nearby actually sold for | Using the price you would like, or a listing figure |
| Vehicles | Current private-sale value for the mileage | Carrying the purchase price years later |
| Investments | Today's balance | Ignoring the tax due on gains when sold |
| Retirement accounts | Today's balance | Treating a pre-tax balance as spendable cash |
| Furniture, clothes, electronics | Leave them out | Padding assets with things that resell for pennies |
| Jewellery and collectibles | Only at a realistic resale price | Insurance valuations, which are replacement cost |
Selling costs deserve a mention too. Property typically costs several percent to sell once agent fees and closing costs are counted, so gross home value slightly overstates what the equity would really deliver.
What moves the number, and how fast
Only two forces change net worth: assets growing and debts shrinking. Both count identically — a dollar off a credit card and a dollar into a brokerage account move the total by exactly one dollar. What differs is the certain return: clearing a card at 22% is a guaranteed 22%, which no investment can promise.
That is why the non-mortgage debt figure is broken out separately. In the example it is $31,000 across cards, car and student loans, and it is the part of the balance sheet you can act on this year. The mortgage will take care of itself through the amortisation schedule; the $4,000 of credit-card debt will not.
A negative net worth is common and not a verdict. Fresh graduates with student loans and new buyers with a full-sized mortgage frequently start below zero. What matters is the direction of travel — measure once or twice a year, keep the valuation method consistent, and compare only against your own last figure.
A snapshot tool, not financial advice. Values you enter are estimates and are never sent anywhere.
What the net worth total assumes
Net worth is total assets − total liabilities. Liquid net worth is cash + investments − credit-card debt. The debt-to-asset ratio is liabilities ÷ assets × 100, and the home share is home equity ÷ net worth × 100, where home equity is the property value less the mortgage balance.
- Retirement accounts count fully toward net worth but not toward the liquid figure. The balance is yours, but early withdrawal generally triggers tax and penalties, so including it in an emergency-access number would overstate your position.
- Liabilities are current balances, not totals repaid. Enter the $250,000 outstanding on a mortgage, not the sum of remaining payments including interest.
- No selling costs or capital gains tax are deducted. Property costs several percent to sell and investments may carry a tax bill, so a realisable net worth would be somewhat lower than the headline.
- Under 50% is described as a comfortable debt-to-asset ratio as a general orientation only; it is a rule of thumb, not a threshold with any regulatory meaning, and a young household with a new mortgage will exceed it for years without anything being wrong.
- Nothing is stored or transmitted. The arithmetic runs in your browser and the figures you type never leave the page.
Reviewed September 2026.
Figures reviewed . Every worked example on this page is checked against the calculator above.
Net Worth Calculator: frequently asked questions
How do I calculate my net worth?
Add the current value of everything you own — cash, investments, retirement accounts, property, vehicles — then subtract every balance you owe. The result is your personal net worth. Use today's outstanding balances, not the total including future interest.
What is a good net worth?
There is no universal figure — it depends on age, income and where you live. The meaningful comparison is against your own number from a year ago, using the same valuation method both times.
Should I include my house in my net worth?
Yes, at a realistic market value, with the outstanding mortgage as a liability. The difference is your home equity. Just watch how large a share it becomes: in the example it is 51.5% of total net worth.
What is liquid net worth?
Cash and investments minus credit-card debt — what you could actually reach quickly. In the worked example it is $41,000 against a $194,000 total, because most of the rest is a house and a retirement account.
Do I include my 401k or pension in net worth?
Include it in total net worth, since the balance is genuinely yours. It is left out of the liquid figure because early access usually means tax and penalties, so counting it as an emergency fund overstates your position.
Should I include my car?
Yes, at current private-sale value for its age and mileage, with any outstanding loan as a liability. The common mistake is carrying the purchase price for years after buying.
Is a negative net worth bad?
It is very common early on — student loans and a new mortgage will do it — and it says nothing about your habits. What matters is whether the number improves each time you measure.
How often should I calculate it?
Once or twice a year is enough. Measuring monthly mostly captures market noise and encourages reacting to it; annual snapshots show the trend that actually reflects your decisions.