How to work out your net worth

Your net worth is one number that sums up where you stand financially. It does not tell you everything, but it gives you a fixed point to measure progress against. This guide walks through what to count, how to value it sensibly, and how to read the result.

What net worth means

ASIC’s Moneysmart defines net worth as the difference between the total value of everything you own (your assets) and the total value of all your debts (your liabilities).

So the formula is simple:

Net worth = total assets minus total liabilities

The hard part is the inputs. A net worth figure is only as useful as the values you put into it, so most of this guide is about getting those values roughly right and keeping them consistent.

Step 1: list your assets

An asset is anything you own that has a money value. Work through these groups one at a time.

Cash and savings

Add up the balances of your everyday accounts, savings accounts and term deposits. Use the balance on the day you do your calculation. Include any offset account balance here as an asset, and record the full loan it sits against on the liabilities side.

Superannuation

Super is often one of the largest assets a person has, and one of the easiest to forget because you rarely see it. Moneysmart explains that if your myGov account is linked to the ATO, you can see your super accounts and how much is in them. That is also a quick way to spot an account you had forgotten about.

Super is usually locked away until you meet a condition of release, so some people keep two figures: net worth including super, and net worth excluding it. Both are valid. The key is to pick a method and stick with it.

Property

If you own your home or an investment property, the asset is its current market value, not what you paid for it. One approach is to use a recent valuation or the sale prices of similar nearby properties. Many people round down slightly, because selling a property involves agent fees and other costs.

Record the property at its full value here. The mortgage goes on the liabilities side. Do not subtract it twice.

Shares and other investments

For shares, managed funds and similar investments, use the market value on the day you calculate. If you hold investments in more than one place, list each one separately so you can check nothing is missing.

Vehicles and other belongings

Cars lose value over time, so use a realistic resale value, meaning what someone would actually pay you for it today. Purchase price is the wrong number here.

For furniture, electronics and other household items, many people leave them out entirely or include only items with a clear resale market. They are hard to value and rarely sell for much. Leaving them out keeps your figure conservative.

Step 2: list your liabilities

A liability is any amount you owe. Use the current balance, which is the amount it would take to pay the debt off today, not the original loan amount or your regular repayment.

Mortgage and other loans

Your mortgage balance is usually your largest liability. Add car loans, personal loans and any money you owe to family if you intend to repay it.

Credit cards

Use the full balance owing, even if you plan to pay it off at the end of the month. If you do pay it off, that cash will leave your savings, so including the balance avoids overstating your position.

Buy now pay later

Buy now pay later lets you buy something and pay for it in instalments. Moneysmart notes that you usually do not pay interest but are charged fees, and that these arrangements can appear on your credit report. Whatever you still owe across all your buy now pay later accounts is a liability. Because the amounts are small and spread out, they are easy to miss.

HELP debt

If you studied with a HELP loan, the outstanding balance is a liability. HELP works differently from most loans. Study Assist explains that indexation is applied on 1 June each year to the portion of a HELP debt that is 11 months or older. Since legislation passed in November 2024, the rate is based on the lower of the Consumer Price Index or the Wage Price Index, backdated to 1 June 2023.

In practice, this means your HELP balance can go up in June even if you have been repaying it through the year. If you calculate your net worth in May and again in July, part of any change may be indexation rather than anything you did.

Other amounts you owe

Think about tax you expect to pay, unpaid bills that are already due, and any personal debts. You do not need to include future bills that have not been issued yet, such as next quarter’s electricity.

Step 3: subtract and record the result

Add up each side, subtract liabilities from assets, and write the result down with the date. Moneysmart’s net worth calculator can do the arithmetic for you, and a simple spreadsheet works too.

A worked example

Here is a fictional example for a person called Sam. The numbers are made up and rounded to keep things readable.

Item	Type	Value
Everyday and savings accounts	Asset	$18,000
Superannuation	Asset	$95,000
Home (estimated market value)	Asset	$720,000
Shares	Asset	$12,000
Car (realistic resale value)	Asset	$14,000
Total assets		$859,000
Mortgage balance	Liability	$560,000
Car loan	Liability	$9,000
Credit card balance	Liability	$2,500
Buy now pay later balances	Liability	$500
HELP debt	Liability	$21,000
Total liabilities		$593,000
Net worth		$266,000

If Sam left super out, the figure would be $171,000. Both numbers are correct. They answer slightly different questions.

Notice what is not in the table. Sam’s car is listed at what it would sell for today, not the price paid three years ago. The home is listed once at full value and the mortgage once as a debt. Household furniture is left out.

How your number compares

People often want to know whether their figure is high or low. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that average net worth for all Australian households in 2019-20 was $1.04 million, and the median was $579,200.

Keep two things in mind. These figures are per household, not per person, and they are several years old. The median is also much lower than the average, because a small number of very wealthy households pull the average up. Comparing yourself to your own figure from last year is usually more useful than comparing yourself to a national number.

Net worth is not income or cash flow

Net worth is a snapshot of what you own and owe at one point in time. Income is what comes in over a period. Cash flow is the difference between what comes in and what goes out.

A person can earn a high income and still have a low net worth if most of it is spent. Someone else can have a modest income and a growing net worth because they spend less than they earn and pay down debt. Net worth also includes things you cannot spend easily, such as super and the equity in your home. So a healthy net worth can sit alongside a tight month, and the two measures work best side by side.

How often to recalculate

Many people update their net worth once a month or once a quarter. Checking every day tends to show share market and property movements rather than the effect of your own decisions.

Whatever rhythm you choose, try to calculate on the same day each period and value things the same way each time. Consistency matters more than precision. If you change how you value your home or car, make a note so you do not mistake a method change for real progress.

Common mistakes

• Double counting. Listing your home at its value minus the mortgage on the assets side, and then listing the mortgage again as a liability. Record the full value once and the full debt once.
• Using purchase price. Cars, electronics and furniture are usually worth far less than you paid. Use what they would sell for today.
• Forgetting super. It is easy to leave out because you do not see it in your everyday banking.
• Forgetting HELP debt or buy now pay later. Neither shows up as a monthly bill in the way a credit card does, so both are often missed.
• Counting the minimum repayment instead of the balance. Liabilities are what you owe in full, not what you pay each month.
• Mixing methods over time. Using an optimistic property estimate one month and a conservative one the next makes the trend unreliable.

Why the trend matters more than one number

A single net worth figure can feel discouraging, especially if it is negative after study or soon after a big purchase. On its own, it tells you very little about where you are heading.

The trend is where the meaning is. Over months and years, a rising line shows that your savings, repayments and investments are adding up. A flat or falling line is a prompt to look at why: a big expense, a market fall, or spending that has crept up. Watching the direction also helps you see the effect of decisions, such as paying down a credit card or making extra super contributions.

Some people track net worth in a spreadsheet. Finsplore, opening to early access on 3 November, will let you track your net worth month by month from statements you import or things like your home or super that you add yourself. However you do it, the habit of recording the number regularly is what turns it into something useful.

If you want help deciding what your numbers mean for your own situation, consider speaking with a licensed financial adviser.