"What's your net worth?" is a simple question with a number attached, but most people have never actually sat down and worked it out. Not because it's hard - it's just addition and subtraction - but because nobody ever shows you the list of what to include.

Here's the full walkthrough: the formula, what counts, common mistakes, and what to actually do with the number once you have it.

The formula

Net worth = Total assets − Total liabilities.

That's the entire calculation. The work is in building an accurate list on each side, not the maths itself. If you'd rather skip straight to the sums, our free net worth calculator does the adding up for you as you type - nothing you enter is saved or sent anywhere.

Step 1: List every asset

An asset is anything you own that has monetary value. The usual categories:

  • Cash & savings: current accounts, savings accounts, cash ISAs, premium bonds.
  • Investments: stocks, funds, Stocks & Shares ISAs, general investment accounts.
  • Pensions: workplace pensions, SIPPs, any pot you're entitled to even if you can't access it yet.
  • Property: current market value of your home or any other property you own - not what you paid for it.
  • Crypto: current value of any holdings, at today's price, not your cost basis.
  • Other valuables: a car worth tracking, business equity, anything else with a real resale value.

Use current values, not purchase prices. A flat you bought for £180,000 that's now worth £240,000 goes in at £240,000.

Step 2: List every liability

A liability is anything you owe. This one people are more likely to underestimate, usually by forgetting the smaller items:

  • Mortgage: the remaining balance, not the original loan amount.
  • Credit cards: current balances, including any you plan to pay off this month.
  • Loans: personal loans, student loans, car finance.
  • Other debts: money owed to family, buy-now-pay-later balances, overdrafts.

Student loans are the one people most often forget to include, since the repayment feels more like a tax than a debt. It still counts.

Step 3: Subtract

Add up both lists, then subtract liabilities from assets. That's your net worth. It's completely normal for this to be negative, especially in your 20s or shortly after buying a home - a mortgage is usually far larger than the equity you've built up so far.

Common mistakes

  • Using purchase price instead of current value. Property and investments should be valued at today's price.
  • Forgetting small recurring debts. A £400 credit card balance feels too small to matter, but it's still a liability.
  • Leaving out the pension. It's money you own, even if it's locked away until retirement. Most people include it; if you'd rather track it separately, that's fine too, as long as you're consistent month to month.
  • Only doing it once. A single net worth figure is a snapshot. The useful part is watching whether it's rising over time.

What to actually do with the number

The figure itself matters less than what happens next:

  1. Compare it to last month, not to other people. Progress is personal - a rising trend line matters more than the absolute number.
  2. Look at the split. Is most of it locked in property, or sitting in cash doing nothing, or split sensibly across investments and savings?
  3. Check the debt side. If liabilities are growing faster than assets, that's the thing to address first - particularly high-interest debt like credit cards.
  4. Recalculate monthly. A single number is a snapshot. A monthly habit turns it into a trend you can actually manage.

Turning a one-off calculation into a habit

Working it out once is useful. Watching it move over months and years is what actually changes behaviour. That's the difference between our free calculator - great for a quick snapshot, nothing saved - and CeeWealth itself, which keeps a running history so you can see the trend line, not just today's total.

Ready to see the number? Try the free net worth calculator, or create a free CeeWealth account to start tracking it properly.