How to Calculate Net Worth: Formula, Checklist and Example

Here is how to calculate net worth: add up the current value of everything you own (your assets), add up everything you owe (your liabilities), and subtract the second total from the first. Use balances from the same day, value things at what they would sell for today, and count every debt at its full balance rather than its monthly payment.

Below you will find a checklist of what counts on each side, a worked example with a home and a mortgage, how often to update, and what to do when the number goes down.

The net worth formula

Net worth = total assets − total liabilities

If what you own is worth $50,000 and you owe $35,000, your net worth is $15,000. If you owe more than you own, the result is negative, which simply tells you where you are starting.

In a spreadsheet with asset values in B2:B12 and liability balances in D2:D10, one formula does the job in both Google Sheets and Excel: =SUM(B2:B12)-SUM(D2:D10). For a ready-made tracker with running totals and yearly growth, or to build a fuller one yourself, see our net worth tracker spreadsheet page.

How to calculate net worth step by step

1. Pick one date, such as the first of the month. Every balance should come from that day, because checking and card balances can swing by hundreds within a month.
2. List your assets from the checklist below, each with its value on that date.
3. List your liabilities, each at its full current balance.
4. Total each list.
5. Subtract total liabilities from total assets.
6. Save the result with the date, so your next update has something to compare with.

The first time takes longest, because you are finding logins and statements. Write down where each number came from, and later updates go much faster.

What counts as an asset

Asset	Value to use	Where to find it
Checking and savings	Balance on your update date	Bank app or statement
Retirement accounts	Current balance	Account website or statement
Health savings account	Current balance	Account website
Brokerage accounts	Market value on the date	Account website
Home	A realistic sale price today	Recent sales of similar homes nearby
Vehicles	Private-party resale value	A used-car pricing guide
Cash-value life insurance	Cash surrender value, not the death benefit	Policy statement
Security deposit	The amount you expect back	Your lease
Money owed to you	Only what you are confident will be repaid	Your own records

Leave out everyday belongings such as furniture, clothes and electronics. They rarely sell for much, and guessing their value adds noise without telling you anything. Jewelry, art or collectibles count only at a price you could realistically get, ideally backed by an appraisal. Future things never count: an expected raise, a bonus not yet paid or an inheritance.

What counts as a liability

Liability	Balance to use
Mortgage, home equity loan or line of credit	Principal balance on the latest statement
Car loans	Current balance from the lender
Student loans	Full balance, including loans in deferment
Credit cards	Balance on your update date, not the minimum payment
Personal loans	Current balance
Medical bills and payment plans	Amount still owed
Buy now, pay later plans	Remaining installments
Taxes owed	Amount due, once you know it
Money owed to family or friends	The amount you intend to repay

A card balance counts on the day you check, even if you pay it in full every month, because the purchases already happened. Our guide on how to budget with credit cards explains why a card payment itself does not change your net worth.

Net worth example with a home

These are example numbers for a household that owns its home, with every balance taken on the same day.

Assets	Value	Liabilities	Balance
Checking	$2,800	Mortgage	$241,000
Savings	$11,200	Car loan	$8,900
Retirement accounts	$58,400	Student loans	$16,700
Brokerage account	$6,300	Credit card	$1,350
Home (estimated sale value)	$325,000
Car (resale value)	$12,500
Total assets	$416,200	Total liabilities	$267,950

Net worth: $416,200 − $267,950 = $148,250.

Should I include my house in net worth?

Yes. If you own a home, list it as an asset at a realistic sale value and the mortgage as a liability. Leaving out either side makes the number wrong in one direction or the other.

In the example, the home minus the mortgage is $84,000 of home equity, which is 57% of the household’s net worth. Take the home and the mortgage out, and net worth becomes $91,200 − $26,950 = $64,250. Both figures are worth tracking:

• Net worth with the home is the full picture of what you own.
• Net worth without the home shows the money you could reach without selling where you live. It moves with your saving and debt payoff rather than with the housing market.

Two refinements give a more conservative figure. First, selling a home costs money in agent fees and closing costs. Say you estimate $20,000: net worth with the home becomes $128,250. Second, online home value estimates can swing by thousands from one month to the next, so it makes sense to update the home value only once or twice a year and keep the trend focused on your own progress.

If you rent, nothing changes except that your security deposit is an asset if you expect it back.

How often to update your net worth

Frequency	Good for	Watch out for
Monthly	Paying down debt quickly, or your first year of tracking	Market swings can hide your progress
Quarterly	Most households	Pick fixed dates, such as the first of January, April, July and October
Yearly	Stable finances with few changes	Slow feedback if something goes wrong

Whichever you choose, the same day every time matters more than how often. A monthly net worth check fits neatly at the end of a monthly budget review.

What to do when your net worth goes down

A drop is not always a problem. Break the change into its parts before you react. Here is the same household one quarter later, again with example numbers:

Change since the last update	Effect on net worth	Cause
Savings up $1,500	+$1,500	Your habits
Mortgage, car loan and student loans paid down $2,310	+$2,310	Your habits
Vacation charged to the credit card, $1,450	−$1,450	One-off spending
Retirement and brokerage accounts down $3,600, contributions included	−$3,600	Market
Car value down $600	−$600	Depreciation
Net change	−$1,840

Net worth fell $1,840, yet the household’s own habits added $3,810. The vacation took $1,450, and the market and the car’s value took $4,200 between them. Seen this way, the saving and debt payoff are on track, and the drop came from one trip plus market and value changes.

When your own number drops, work through it in this order:

1. Split the change into your own actions (saving, paying debt, spending), market moves and value estimates.
2. Check your dates. A card balance taken the day before a payment posts, or a savings balance taken before payday, can make the total look worse than it is.
3. Look for one-off spending. A vacation or a repair lowers net worth when you buy it, not when you pay the bill. If you had saved for it in sinking funds, the drop was planned.
4. Compare with three or four updates back, not just the last one. The trend matters more than any single quarter.
5. Act on what you control. If spending or new debt caused the drop, adjust next month’s budget, and see the debt snowball method for a payoff plan. Market moves in retirement and brokerage accounts are outside your control, and whether to change investments is a question for a qualified financial professional, not for your net worth sheet.

Your next step: pick your update date, then do your first calculation today with rough numbers. Correct the two or three biggest items over the next week. A dated starting point matters more than a perfect first total.