Personal Finance - How to Calculate Net Worth (2024)

By Stacy Williams

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Do you know what your net worth is? If you’re like most, you don’t. After all, the majority of people don’t list personal finance as one of their hobbies. Learning how to calculate net worth might not be your favorite thing in the world to do, but it is incredibly important for your financial future. Aside from helping you to set your own personal financial goals, it also allows you to have a very clear picture of where you are financially. If you’re looking to stop living paycheck to paycheck, if you’retrying to figure out if your family budget is working for you, if you’re trying to save money and build wealth at the same time and if you have dreams of being a millionaire someday, the first thing you’ll need to do is learn how to figure out your net worth.

Personal Finance - How to Calculate Net Worth (1)

As I said earlier, learning how to calculate your net worth is incredibly important. Your net worth is one of the basic foundational stones for the future of your personal finances. It may only be a number, but that number allows you to look, at a glance, at what is working for you financially and what isn’t. If you’re working on becoming debt free, you can look at your net worth and know where you need work. If you’re concerned that you’re not saving enough, your net worth will let you know if you need to boost your savings account. If you’re trying to judge where you are financially versus where you should be at your age, it will tell you at a glanceif you need to brush up on your personal finance knowledge and actions.

Personal Finance – How to Calculate Net Worth

For my family, we were doing really well until May of 2014. It was then that we suffered the loss of over half of our income each month. What was left was barely enough to survive on so by the end of 2014, we were in deep trouble to the tune of a $5,000 bail out from my husband’s grandparents. 2015 was a much better year, but was spent catching up and repairing the damage from 2014. 2016 was supposed to be the year that we really started working on jumping our net worth and yes, we have somewhat, but life happened and other things took precedence. First it was cutting household expenses.Thenit was my health. Once that was under control and I was feeling better and living healthier, it was a move that took 4 months to plan and 3 weeks to pull off. Then, it was a private (and major) issue in our home. Finally, it was starting not one, but two additional businesses between June 2016 and August 2016. New businesses, moves and everything else we encountered this year take money so needless to say, our net worth hasn’t grown much since it crashed in 2014.

So what exactly is a net worth? Your net worth is the total sum of your assets minus your debts. Basically, if you were to liquidate all of your assets to pay off your debts, your net worth would be the amount of money that you would have left over. This means that learning how to figure out your net worth is incredibly easy.

Personal Finance – How to Figure out your Net Worth

Total up all of your assets. This means any savings accounts, checking accounts, retirement accounts, investment accounts, gold and silver that you have on hand, businesses, cash on hand, your home (if paid off), your car (if paid off) and anything else that you could possibly liquidate (or cash out) should you need to.

Next, total up all of your debts. Be sure to include your home (if you have a mortgage), car, student loans, personal loans and so on.

Now subtract the total of your debts from the total of your assets. The number left over is your net worth.

See? Easy peasy!

For my family, the numbers look like this:

  • Assets – $90,035
  • Debt – $20,065

This means that as of August 2016, my net worth is $69,970.00.Do I want it to be higher? Yes! I know that it takes work though and I’m totally ready to do that work!

Now here’s the catch. You will need to update your net worth on a regular basis. Why? Because you want it to grow! If you’re not updating it on a regular basis, you won’t know if your net worth has grown or if you’ve lost money! Make yourself a spreadsheet that tracks it, keep your numbers on a Word doc, keep it in your phone, but figure out your net worth at least once a month. If you aren’t into spreadsheets or really want to make it as easy as possible on yourself, look into some of the programs that are available. Sites like Personal Capital and Bettermint both help you track your net worth, make and track investments and more so they’re perfect for folks who don’t have a personal finance background and who need to make things as easy as possible. They’re both free to sign up for so it just makes sense (to me anyhow) to useone.So there you have it. You now how how to calculate net worth. What are you waiting for? Go figure yours out and then make a plan to increase your numbers!

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Personal Finance - How to Calculate Net Worth (2024)

FAQs

Personal Finance - How to Calculate Net Worth? ›

To calculate your net worth, you subtract your total liabilities from your total assets. Total assets will include your investments, savings, cash deposits, and any equity that you have in a home, car, or other similar assets. Total liabilities would include any debt, such as student loans and credit card debt.

What is the formula for calculating net worth? ›

Net worth is the net value of the value of an individual's assets minus the value of an individual's liabilities. Net worth = Assets - Liabilities. Negative net worth is represented when assets are less than liabilities. Assets are items owned that have value, while liabilities are obligations owed.

What is the net worth of a personal balance sheet? ›

A personal balance sheet provides an overall snapshot of your wealth at a specific period in time. It's a summary of your assets or what you own and your liabilities or what you owe. It results in your net worth: your assets minus liabilities.

What should my net worth be at $50? ›

“If I were to give a rough estimate, I'd suggest having at least $500,000 in savings by your 50s and ideally pushing toward a million or more. This should encompass cash, stocks, your 401(k) and any home equity, minus your debts and mortgage.”

What are the steps for calculating net worth in the correct order? ›

The basic formula to calculate your net worth is to add up all of your assets, and then add up all of your liabilities. Once you have those two numbers, subtract your liabilities from your assets. That number is your net worth.

What should your net worth be by 30? ›

The net worth you should be aiming for in your 30s is between $25,000 and $100,000, according to Crissi Cole, founder and CEO of Penny Finance.

What should my net worth be at 40? ›

Average net worth by age
Age by decadeAverage net worthMedian net worth
30s$277,788$34,691
40s$713,796$126,881
50s$1,310,775$292,085
60s$1,634,724$454,489
4 more rows

What is a net worth statement in personal finance? ›

A net worth statement is a financial tool that shows your financial position at a given point in time. It is like a “financial snapshot” that shows the dollar value of what you own (assets) and what you owe (liabilities or debts). This formula for calculating net worth is Assets – Liabilities = Net Worth.

Is your net worth your total assets? ›

Net worth is the value of all assets, minus the total of all liabilities. Put another way, net worth is what is owned minus what is owed.

What is the formula for tangible net worth? ›

Once you determine the value of all your assets and the size of all your liabilities, you can use the formula (Tangible Net Worth = Total Assets - Total Liabilities - Intangible Assets) to determine your tangible net worth.

Is $3 million enough to retire at 40? ›

Depending on your goals and plans, $3 million can be enough to cover early retirement at 40. However, certain factors will affect whether $3 million is enough. For example, your retirement needs and life expectancy play a big role. Here's how to invest it to cover healthcare, housing and lifestyle.

Can I retire at 64 with $600000? ›

It's possible to retire with $600,000 in savings with careful planning, but it's important to consider how long your money will last. Whether you can successfully retire with $600,000 can depend on a number of factors, including: Your desired retirement age. Estimated retirement budget.

Can I retire at 63 with 700k? ›

$700k can last you for at least 25 years in retirement if your annual spending remains around $40,000, following the 4% rule. However, it will depend on how old you are when you retire and how much you plan to spend each month as a retiree.

How do you calculate net worth for dummies? ›

To calculate your net worth, you subtract your total liabilities from your total assets. Total assets will include your investments, savings, cash deposits, and any equity that you have in a home, car, or other similar assets. Total liabilities would include any debt, such as student loans and credit card debt.

What is the easiest way to calculate net worth? ›

Start with what you own: cash, retirement accounts, investment accounts, cars, real estate and anything else that you could sell for cash. Then subtract what you owe: credit card debt, student loans, mortgages, auto loans and anything else you owe money on. Then boom—you've got your net worth.

Does a 401k count as net worth? ›

Yes. The value of your 401(k) account is a part of your net worth and should be included in your net worth. Like anything else of financial value, the vested balance of your 401(k) account — or any retirement account, for that matter — is considered an asset.

What is the formula for net worth quizlet? ›

Formula: Net worth= Total Assets-Total Liabilities.

What is considered a good net worth? ›

Determining what your net worth should be at any age can be a bit tricky, and it depends on your income. Say you're 30 years old and your income is $50,000 per year. Your net worth should be $150,000, according to this formula. A $25,000 salary at age 30 would mean an ideal net worth of $75,000.

What is an example of a net worth? ›

If they owe $100,000 on their mortgage loan, $10,000 in auto loans, and have credit card debt of $5,000, their liabilities total $115,000. Thus, their net worth is calculated by subtracting $115,000 in liabilities from their $430,000 in total assets, or $315,000.

How is net worth determined on a net worth statement? ›

Your net worth is calculated as the value of all your assets, minus the value of your liabilities. One way to think about it is if you could sell everything you own today and use the proceeds to pay your debts, the dollar value you have left would be your net worth.

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