Is a negative net worth bad?

Not necessarily — it's common for people with student loans or a recent mortgage. What matters most is the trend over time, not any single snapshot.

Should retirement accounts count even though I can't access them yet?

Yes — net worth measures total financial position, including assets you can't liquidate immediately. Just note that retirement accounts are less liquid than cash if you're also assessing your emergency-fund readiness separately.

How often should I recalculate this?

Monthly or quarterly is common — frequent enough to see a real trend, infrequent enough that day-to-day market noise doesn't dominate the picture.

All tools

Finance

Net Worth Calculator

Total assets minus liabilities, tracked in one place.

🔒 Runs entirely in your browser — nothing here is ever uploaded

About the Net Worth Calculator

Adds up everything you own and subtracts everything you owe to calculate your net worth — a single number that tracks your overall financial position over time.

How to use it

Enter your Assets: cash and savings, investment and retirement account balances, property value, and other assets like vehicles.
Enter your Liabilities: mortgage balance, other loans, and credit card balances.
Read your net worth, total assets, and total liabilities in the result panel.

Formula

Net worth = total assets − total liabilities

Standard arithmetic on the numbers you enter — the value comes from tracking this figure consistently over time, not from the formula itself.

Recommendations

• Net worth is most useful tracked over time (monthly or quarterly), not as a single snapshot — a dip after a big purchase or a market downturn is normal.
• Use current market value for property and investments, not what you originally paid — an outdated purchase price will meaningfully distort the number.
• A negative net worth is common early in adulthood (student loans, a new mortgage) and isn't inherently alarming — the trend over time matters more than any single number.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, at its current resale value (not what you paid) — though note it will keep depreciating, so it's a less stable asset than cash or investments.