Net Worth · 6 min read
How to Calculate Your Net Worth (With Examples)
August 25, 2026 · By the NetWorthLiv Team
Your net worth is the single most important number for understanding your true financial position. It tells you whether you're genuinely building wealth or just earning and spending — and it's the baseline every financial decision should be measured against. Here's exactly how to calculate it, with a worked example and a way to track it automatically.
What is net worth?
Net worth is the total value of everything you own (your assets) minus everything you owe (your liabilities). It's a snapshot of your financial position at a single moment in time. If your assets are worth more than your liabilities, you have a positive net worth. If you owe more than you own, your net worth is negative — which is common early in a career or after taking on a mortgage.
Income and expenses tell you about cash flow — money coming in and going out. Net worth tells you about wealth — what you've actually accumulated. Someone earning a high salary but spending it all can have a lower net worth than someone earning less but saving consistently. That's why tracking net worth matters.
The net worth formula
Net Worth = Total Assets − Total Liabilities
Assets are anything you own that has monetary value: cash, savings, investments (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs), retirement accounts, real estate, vehicles, cryptocurrency, gold and other valuables, and even private business holdings.
Liabilities are everything you owe: mortgages, car loans, student loans, personal loans, credit card balances, and any other outstanding debt.
Step-by-step calculation
- 1List every asset you own and estimate its current market value (not what you paid — what it's worth today).
- 2Add them up to get your total assets.
- 3List every debt you owe and use the current outstanding balance.
- 4Add them up to get your total liabilities.
- 5Subtract total liabilities from total assets. That's your net worth.
A worked example
Let's say you have:
| Assets | Value |
|---|---|
| Savings account | $15,000 |
| Investment portfolio (stocks & ETFs) | $85,000 |
| Retirement account | $60,000 |
| Car (market value) | $20,000 |
| Total Assets | $180,000 |
| Liabilities | Balance |
|---|---|
| Car loan | $12,000 |
| Student loan | $25,000 |
| Credit card balance | $3,000 |
| Total Liabilities | $40,000 |
Net Worth = $180,000 − $40,000 = $140,000
How to track it automatically
Calculating net worth once is useful, but the real value comes from tracking it over time. Doing this in a spreadsheet means manually updating stock prices, crypto values, and exchange rates — which is why most people abandon it within weeks.
NetWorthLiv automates the tedious parts. You enter your assets and liabilities once, and the app:
- Fetches live prices for stocks, crypto, and commodities automatically
- Converts multi-currency holdings to your base currency with live exchange rates
- Recalculates your net worth every time prices update
- Saves historical snapshots so you can watch your net worth trend over time
Common mistakes to avoid
- ✕Using purchase price instead of current market value for assets like cars and investments.
- ✕Forgetting to include retirement accounts and employer matches.
- ✕Counting the full value of an asset that's collateralized (e.g. counting your home's full value but forgetting the mortgage).
- ✕Ignoring small debts — they add up and skew the number.
- ✕Calculating once and never updating. Net worth is a trend, not a one-time figure.
Calculate and track your net worth automatically
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