Net Worth Calculator

Subtracts total liabilities from total assets to produce net worth. Assets include cash, investments, real estate equity, vehicles, and personal property. Liabilities include mortgages, student loans, credit card balances, and other debts.

Valuation conventions matter: real estate at market value minus selling costs, vehicles at current resale (not purchase) price.

Net worth is the personal-finance analog of a corporate balance sheet's equity line: assets minus liabilities at a point in time. The headline number is less informative than the trend over time. A net worth that increases by $5,000 in a quarter through equity-market growth tells a different story than $5,000 from disciplined savings; both move the number, but only one indicates behavioral change. Tracking categories separately (savings rate, investment growth, debt paydown) provides actionable signal that the consolidated figure obscures.

A worked example: a 35-year-old's balance sheet might list $45,000 401(k), $15,000 brokerage, $8,000 emergency fund, $25,000 home equity, $12,000 car (resale), $5,000 personal property = $110,000 assets. Liabilities: $250,000 mortgage minus $25,000 paid off (already netted in equity), $18,000 student loans, $4,000 credit card, $8,000 auto loan = $30,000. Net worth: $110,000 − $30,000 = $80,000. The mortgage example shows a common accounting choice: list the home at market value and the full mortgage as a liability, or list home equity (market minus mortgage) and exclude the mortgage from liabilities. Both arrive at the same net worth; the first form makes balance-sheet structure more visible.

Valuation conventions matter for accuracy. Real estate at recent comparable sales minus 6-10% expected selling costs (agent commission, transfer taxes, light repairs) is a common conservative approach. Vehicles at KBB or Edmunds private-party value, not the original purchase price, since a new car loses 20% of value in the first year. Personal property (furniture, electronics, jewelry) is typically listed at insurance-replacement or zero, since the resale market for used goods is thin and unreliable. Retirement accounts are commonly listed at gross value, with the understanding that withdrawal will incur taxes; aggressive accounting subtracts a 25-30% notional tax on traditional 401(k) and IRA balances.

Limitations are about reference standards and timing. Net worth is a meaningful number compared to peers in the same age and income range, not against absolute benchmarks. The widely cited 'million-dollar net worth at retirement' rule is a convenience target that ignores cost-of-living variance (a million in coastal California funds a different lifestyle than the same million in rural Tennessee). Quarterly recalculation balances signal against noise; daily checks on a market-heavy portfolio produce volatility that obscures long-term direction.