Using our net worth calculator is easy. You just have to plug in the numbers that represent your current assets and liabilities. Here’s how to come up with the most accurate and up-to-date amounts.
1. Assess Your Assets
Make a list of your assets, including financial accounts and other items of significant value that you own, then gather data on the value of each one. For your financial accounts, you can use the current balance numbers provided online or on your most recent statements. For any real estate, vehicles, and other physical assets you own, you’ll want to estimate what you believe the value of the asset would be if you sold it today, and not the asset’s value when you purchased it.
2. Assess Your Liabilities
Next, make a list of all your liabilities, along with the amount outstanding on each debt that you owe. You should also be able to find your current balances, including what you owe on your credit cards, mortgage, car loan, and any other debts, by going online or using your most recent printed statements.
3. Enter the Numbers Into the Calculator
Once you have compiled your assets and liabilities, you can enter the numbers into the net worth calculator. As you do so, it will automatically start calculating your net worth. The net worth number will go up as you add assets, and down as you add liabilities.
If after inputting all of your data, you end up with a positive number, you have a positive net worth. If you end up with a negative number, you have a negative net worth.
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Benefits of Using a Net Worth Calculator
A net worth calculator can be a useful tool whether you’re just starting out on your own, closing in on retirement, or anywhere in between. You can use it to help you:
Run a Check on Your Financial Health
By making it easy to tally up what you own vs. what you owe, a net worth calculator can give you a quick but complete picture of where you stand financially. A positive net worth is a good sign because it shows you have a financial cushion. While having a negative net worth is normal in some life stages, it can also be a sign of common budgeting mistakes or other financial trouble.
Guide Goal-Setting and Financial Planning
Knowing your net worth is essential for creating a comprehensive financial plan that addresses your current needs and future goals. Whether you’re planning to buy a home, retire early, or build an emergency fund, knowing where you stand helps you set achievable milestones and make informed decisions. It also helps you tailor your approach to saving/investing to align with your objectives.
Track Your Financial Progress
Calculating your net worth doesn’t have to be a one-and-done exercise. Consistent use of the net worth calculator allows you to track your financial progress over a period of months, years, or even decades. By comparing past and current figures, you can see whether you’re building wealth or moving in the wrong direction. This perspective can motivate you to set and stick to a budget, keep saving, reduce debt, and make smarter financial decisions.
How to Use the Net Worth Calculator to Compare Scenarios
You can also use SoFi’s net worth calculator to simulate different scenarios — such as increasing your salary, saving more, or taking on debt — to see how they impact your net worth. For example, you might compare what your financial health would look like a year down the road if you paid off your high-interest credit card debt or beefed up your 401(k) contributions. If you’re debating buying vs. renting a home, you can input hypothetical values to compare how each affects your net worth over time.
What Is Net Worth?
Your net worth is essentially a snapshot of your overall financial health at a specific point in time. It represents the difference between everything you own and everything you owe.
It’s important to note that your income doesn’t determine your net worth. You can earn a low salary and still have a high net worth if you fully own a number of assets. By the same token, you can have a high salary and a low net worth if you have a large amount of debt.
Keep in mind that many people have a negative net worth at some point in their adult life, and it doesn’t mean they’re being careless with their money. If you’re young and you’ve taken out a mortgage or student loans, for example, your net worth may not be high or it might even be negative. But as long as you carefully manage those liabilities, you can expect to benefit in the future as you use these investments to grow your wealth and improve your overall financial situation.
How to Increase Your Net Worth
Here are some steps to consider if you’re looking for ways to grow your net worth:
Paying Down Debt
Getting rid of high-interest debt reduces the amount you owe (your liabilities), pumping up your net worth. At the same time, it can free up more money to invest in assets that can grow your wealth over time. A debt-payoff strategy, like the avalanche approach or snowball method, can help you stay focused on this goal.
Increasing Retirement Contributions
Increasing the amount you automatically put into a 401(k) or other retirement savings plan each month can help you build your net worth, often with the help of an employer’s matching contributions. If you’re already maxing out your workplace plan — or you want to keep some liquidity in your portfolio — you may also choose to open and add to a taxable brokerage account.
Trimming Your Budget
Cutting down on your expenses can help free up funds you can then divert into savings, an important asset that increases net worth. A money tracking app can help you see where your money is going, find places where you may be overspending, then set — and stick to — a basic spending budget.
Increasing Your Income
While income isn’t a factor in calculating your net worth, the two are often linked. If you can increase the money coming in every month — by asking for a raise, taking on a side hustle, or freelancing — you can add to your net worth by paying down debts and/or boosting the amount you’re able to save and invest.
Examples of High Net Worth Individuals
A high net worth individual (HNWI) is usually defined as someone who has at least $1 million in liquid assets after subtracting any debts that are owed.
Liquid assets include actual cash and anything that can be easily converted into cash, such as stocks, mutual funds, certificates of deposit (CDs), and money in your checking or savings account. Assets like your home, cars, collectibles, and any other durable goods are typically excluded from the calculation.
You can use the net worth calculator to find your liquid net worth by excluding durable assets (which take time to be converted into cash.) But there’s no need to panic if you’re not in this category. If your overall net worth is positive and moving in the right direction — you’re growing your wealth and paying off your debt — it indicates that you’re balancing your needs vs. wants and you’re on the right path to achieving your goals. You might even be in a better position than someone who is technically considered a HNWI.
Understanding different net worth scenarios can help illustrate the importance of managing both assets and liabilities. Here are some examples:
The Traveling Trust Fund Baby
Imagine you have an old buddy from high school who has always had plenty of money to spend, thanks to a generous trust fund set up by his grandfather. His net worth is high, for the moment. But he loves to take exotic vacations, and he often doesn’t work for months at a time. He keeps racking up debt, seemingly unaware that his trust fund isn’t bottomless. It’s going to run out and he’ll have a negative net worth, despite his healthy inheritance.
The Frugal Saver vs. The Big Spender
Let’s say you have two colleagues — Jill and Bob — who both earn the same high income. While Jill maintains a fairly modest lifestyle and spends less than she earns, Bob has developed a taste for the finer things and spends everything he makes.
Jill is a frugal saver, putting her money into an emergency fund, paying down her student debt, and investing — and her net worth is increasing. Bob, on the other hand, isn’t using his high income to grow his net worth. Though he’s leasing an expensive car and home, wears designer clothes, and only eats out — mostly at high-end restaurants — he has little to show for his high salary. Instead, he has a ton of debt, and a negative net worth.
The Happy Homeowner
A high salary can be helpful when it comes to building your net worth. It can be much easier to invest and save when you aren’t scrounging to pay the bills. But it’s also possible to become a millionaire without climbing to the top of the corporate ladder. You may know someone who doesn’t earn a high income but chose the right time and place to buy a home, rather than pay rent, and watched their property value appreciate a lot over the years. By plugging away at those payments, and building their equity and resale value, they managed to significantly grow their net worth.
The Takeaway
SoFi’s net worth calculator can give you an idea of where you stand financially. Used consistently, it can also help you track your progress as you pay down debts, grow your savings, build equity in your home, and continually invest in your 401(k).
Your net worth is only one data point in your financial picture, however. To stay on top of your money and make real progress toward your goals, it’s also important to track your spending, budget wisely, and keep an eye on your credit.
How can SoFi help? With our financial insights and credit score monitoring tools, you can view all of your accounts in one convenient dashboard. From there, you can see your various balances, spending breakdowns, and credit score. Plus you can easily set up budgets and discover valuable financial insights — all at no cost.
See exactly how your money comes and goes at a glance.
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FAQ
What percentile is a $3 million net worth?
A net worth of $3 million generally puts someone in the 95th percentile or higher in the U.S. While exact rankings vary depending on data sources, $3 million is well above the national average. It reflects substantial financial success and positions you comfortably above most Americans in terms of wealth accumulation.
What is the net worth of the top 5%?
To make it into the top 5% in the U.S., you would need a net worth somewhere between $1.7 million and $2.7 million. Those who get to this level have significant financial assets, often including real estate, retirement accounts, and investment portfolios.
What net worth is the 95th percentile in the U.S.?
A net worth of at least $1.7 million lands you in the 95th percentile in the U.S. This means only 5% of households have a higher net worth. This reflects a high level of financial planning and long-term accumulation of wealth.
What net worth puts you in the top 10%?
A net worth between $970,900 and $1.9 million generally puts you in the top 10% in the U.S. Being in the top 10% often results from consistent saving, investing, and strategic financial decisions over time. It provides a comfortable financial cushion and access to more lifestyle options.
Is a $5 million net worth considered wealthy?
Yes, a $5 million net worth is generally considered wealthy. Financial institutions typically define a high-net-worth individual as someone with more than $1 million in liquid assets. And according to Schwab’s 2024 Modern Wealth Survey, Americans believe it takes an average of $2.5 million to be considered wealthy.
What net worth puts you in the top 1% in the world?
To be in the top 1% of global wealth, you need a net worth of around $1 million or slightly more. This threshold includes assets like real estate, savings, and investments, minus any debts. Because the cost of living and income levels vary greatly worldwide, this figure may seem modest by U.S. standards but is extremely high relative to most of the global population.
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