Net Worth Calculator
| Row | Counts as | The trap |
|---|---|---|
| Home | asset at market value | the mortgage owes the debt side, not the payment |
| Car | asset at resale value | purchase price overstates by 20-40% in year one |
| Retirement accounts | asset (shave taxes/penalties) | 401k balance is pre-tax |
| Credit cards | debt at full balance | "I'll pay it off" does not exempt it |
Net worth is one subtraction: everything you own (assets) minus everything you owe (debts). The house counts at what it would sell for today, not what you paid; the mortgage counts as a debt at what you still owe, not the payment; the car counts despite depreciating; and the credit-card balance counts even though you intend to pay it off. A positive number means your things would cover your obligations; negative is normal early - student loans against a thin balance sheet put most twenty-somethings underwater, and the trajectory matters more than the level.
The second number is the one that answers 'could I survive a job loss': liquid net worth - cash, savings and investments you could reach in days, excluding your home and everything hard to sell. A household can be paper-rich in home equity and cash-poor at the same time, which is why the ratio fields matter: if debts are more than half of assets, most of your balance sheet belongs to the bank, however big the headline number looks.
How to use
- Enter assets: cash and savings, investments and retirement, home value, vehicles, and anything else you could sell.
- Enter debts: mortgage balance, car loans, student loans, credit cards and other obligations - balances owed, not monthly payments.
- Read net worth, liquid net worth (cash, savings and investments only), and the debt-to-asset ratio that sizes your leverage.
Frequently asked questions
What is the net worth formula?
Assets minus liabilities. Assets: cash, savings, investments, retirement accounts, home value, vehicles and valuables. Liabilities: mortgage balance, car loans, student loans, credit cards, personal loans - the remaining balances, never the monthly payments. The two classic miscounts are forgetting the mortgage on the debt side while counting the house on the asset side, and counting the car's purchase price instead of its current value.
Should my home count in net worth?
Yes, at current market value minus nothing - the mortgage sits on the debt side, so the equity flows through automatically. But track it separately from liquid net worth: home equity cannot pay a grocery bill until you sell or borrow against it, and the Fed's Survey of Consumer Finances counts it the same way - home equity is most households' single largest asset, which is exactly why the liquid number tells the sharper story.
What is liquid net worth?
Cash, checking and savings, and investments you could sell within days - retirement accounts count loosely (taxes and penalties shave them), home equity and vehicles do not count at all. A common benchmark is holding liquid net worth near six months of expenses; it is the number that turns a job loss from a crisis into an inconvenience.
What is a good net worth for my age?
The honest answer lives in the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances, which publishes medians and averages by age group every three years - medians, because averages are dragged up by a thin slice of very large balance sheets. Trajectory beats level: net worth rising year over year (assets growing faster than debts) is the signal, and the ratio of debt to assets falling below 50% is the milestone most balance sheets are working toward.