Most budgeting advice is about the month: what came in, what went out, what was left. Net worth zooms out. It is a single number, everything you own minus everything you owe, and it answers a different question: over the last year, did my financial position actually improve? It takes about 15 minutes to work out the first time, and you do not need any investing knowledge to do it.
What net worth is, and what it is not
Net worth is your assets minus your liabilities. Assets are what you own that has a value: money in bank accounts, savings, investments, retirement accounts, the market value of a home you own, a car you could sell. Liabilities are what you owe: a mortgage, a car loan, student loans, credit card balances, money borrowed from family.
It is not your income, and it is not your savings balance. Someone earning a high salary can have a net worth near zero if they spend it all or carry a lot of debt, and a modest earner who saves steadily can build a large one. Net worth can also be negative, especially early in a career with student loans or soon after buying a home. That is common, and what matters is the direction it is moving in.
How to calculate it in 15 minutes
You need a list, a calculator and your latest balances. A spreadsheet is enough:
- List your assets with today's value: cash and current accounts, savings, investments, retirement accounts, and the realistic selling price of your home, car or other valuables. When unsure, use a conservative number, not a hopeful one.
- List every liability with today's balance: mortgage, car and student loans, credit cards, personal loans. Use the amount you would owe if you paid everything off today, not the monthly payment.
- Subtract the total liabilities from the total assets. If your assets add up to $38,000 and your debts to $26,000, your net worth is $12,000.
- Write down the date and the result, and keep the list. The first number matters less than the next ones: the point is to compare, so repeat the same list every three months.
Median household net worth by country
| Country | Median net worth | What the figure measures | Source and year |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $215,900 | Median per family, all assets and debts | Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, 2025 |
| Canada | C$519,700 | Median per family, in 2023 dollars | Statistics Canada Survey of Financial Security, 2023 |
| United Kingdom | £293,700 | Median per household in Great Britain, including private pension wealth | ONS Wealth and Assets Survey, April 2020 to March 2022 |
| Ireland | €258,100 | Median per household, excluding pension entitlements | ECB Household Finance and Consumption Survey, 2023 |
| Germany | €103,300 | Median per household, excluding pension entitlements | ECB Household Finance and Consumption Survey, 2023 |
| France | €149,000 | Median per household, excluding pension entitlements | ECB Household Finance and Consumption Survey, 2023 |
| Spain | €151,600 | Median per household, excluding pension entitlements | ECB Household Finance and Consumption Survey, 2023 |
| Portugal | €151,800 | Median per household, excluding pension entitlements | ECB Household Finance and Consumption Survey, 2023 |
| Netherlands | €143,500 | Median per household, excluding pension entitlements | ECB Household Finance and Consumption Survey, 2023 |
| Poland | 263,600 zł | Median per household, mostly housing wealth | National Bank of Poland household wealth survey, 2016 (latest wave we found) |
How to read those numbers
These are medians, the middle household, on purpose. In the United States the average net worth in the same survey was about $1.24 million, more than five times the median, because a small number of very wealthy households pull the average up. The median is a better picture of a typical household.
Treat the table as context, not as a target. Home ownership drives most of the differences: in the euro-area survey, only about 42% of households in Germany own their main home, against about 72% in Spain and 71% in Portugal, which is a big reason Germany's median is lower. The figures also count different things (the euro-area survey leaves out public and occupational pension entitlements, the British figure includes private pension wealth), they come from different years, and the Polish survey is the oldest. For Ukraine we did not find a comparable official household wealth survey, so there is no row for it. Your own number matters less than whether it is rising.
Where your bank statements fit in
Your net worth only changes for a few reasons: you save or overspend, you pay down debt, or the value of what you own moves. The first two show up in your bank statements. Money left over each month, loan repayments and credit card balances are all visible in your transactions, and they are the part you control.
Home Budget Analytics does not track net worth itself, and it does not track investments or property values. What it does is the monthly side: categorized spending, what you actually saved, and your progress toward goals. Pair that with a quarterly net worth list in a spreadsheet and you can see both the cause (monthly cash flow) and the result (net worth).
Common questions
How often should I calculate my net worth?
Every three months is enough. Markets and home values move around from day to day, and checking constantly mostly produces noise. A quarterly list, taken on the same date each time, shows a real trend without turning into a habit of watching a number.
Should I include my home?
Yes, at a conservative market value, and include the mortgage as a liability. If you want a second view, many people also track net worth without their home, since you can't easily spend it. Pick one method and keep it the same each time.
Is a negative net worth bad?
Not by itself. It is common when someone has student loans or has just bought a home. What matters is the direction: a negative number that rises every quarter means your debts are shrinking faster than anything else is growing.
What is a good net worth for my age?
There is no single number. Typical amounts depend on the country, on whether you own a home, and on how the survey counts pensions, as the table shows. A better test is whether yours is higher than it was a year ago.
Track the monthly numbers that move your net worth
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