Add up your assets, subtract your liabilities. Your number might surprise you — in either direction. This is the starting point for any real financial plan.
Net worth is the most honest snapshot of your financial health — it accounts for everything you own and everything you owe. A positive net worth means your assets exceed your debts. A negative net worth (common early in careers with student loans) is a starting point, not a permanent condition.
Track this number quarterly. Consistent growth of 10–15% per year puts you on a strong trajectory regardless of where you start. The trend matters more than the current figure.
Net worth is the most complete single-number snapshot of your financial position. It's everything you own minus everything you owe. A high income doesn't mean high net worth — someone earning $300,000 with $500,000 in student loans, a $800,000 mortgage, and $50,000 in car loans may have a lower net worth than someone earning $80,000 who has been steadily building assets and avoiding debt for 20 years.
Liquid assets: checking, savings, money market, and brokerage accounts. Retirement assets: 401(k), IRA, pension present value. Real estate: current market value of any property you own. Business interests: your estimated equity in any business you own. Personal property: vehicles at current market value, not purchase price. Some people include valuable jewelry, art, or collectibles at appraised value, though these are illiquid and harder to value accurately.
Mortgage balance, home equity loan or HELOC balance, car loans, student loans, personal loans, credit card balances, medical debt, and any other money you owe. Use current payoff amounts, not original loan amounts. Business debts guaranteed personally should be included if you'd be on the hook for them personally.
Net worth benchmarks are rough guides, not verdicts. That said, they're useful context. The median net worth for Americans under 35 is around $39,000. For ages 35 to 44, it's around $135,000. For 45 to 54, around $247,000. For 55 to 64, around $364,000. These are medians — half of people in each group are above and half below. The more useful benchmark is whether your net worth is growing consistently year over year.
For most American households, home equity is the largest component of net worth. This is both a strength and a limitation — it's wealth, but it's illiquid wealth. You can't spend home equity without selling or borrowing against the property. Financial planners typically distinguish between liquid net worth (investable assets minus debt) and total net worth including home equity, because the two tell very different stories about financial flexibility.
Tracking net worth quarterly or annually is enough for most people. The trend matters more than any single snapshot. If your net worth grew $15,000 this year through a combination of debt paydown and investment gains, that's meaningful progress regardless of whether the number seems large or small in absolute terms. Net worth tracking is the financial equivalent of weighing yourself — the direction of the trend is what you're managing.