Purpose: Work out your net worth in about 20 minutes, understand what the number does and doesn't tell you, and know how to make it grow.
Your salary tells you how much money comes in. It doesn't tell you how much you keep. Two people on the same salary can be in completely different places: one has savings, a pension and a half-paid flat, the other has a new car on credit and a card balance that never reaches zero. Net worth is the number that shows the difference.
The formula
Net worth = everything you own − everything you owe
That's all. The work is in listing both sides honestly, at today's values.
You can do it on paper or in our free Net Worth Calculator. The calculator saves nothing and sends nothing anywhere.
Step 1: List what you own (assets)
| Asset | Where to find the value |
|---|---|
| Cash and savings accounts | Your banking app: today's balance |
| Investments (shares, funds, bonds) | Your broker: current value, not what you paid |
| Retirement and pension accounts | Your latest pension statement |
| Home and other property | What it would realistically sell for, not the asking price of the nicest flat on your street |
| Cars and other vehicles | What a buyer would pay today, which is usually much less than you paid |
| Other assets | Anything you could actually sell for real money |
Leave out: furniture, clothes, phones and household items. They have a resale value, but you won't sell them to pay a bill, and counting them flatters the number. Leave out future income too: next month's salary isn't an asset yet.
Step 2: List what you owe (debts)
| Debt | What to write down |
|---|---|
| Mortgage | The balance still owed, from your statement (not the original loan) |
| Car loans | The balance still owed |
| Student loans | The balance still owed |
| Credit cards and overdrafts | The full balance used, even if you pay it off every month |
| Other debts | Personal loans, buy-now-pay-later, money you owe family |
Use the balance, not the monthly payment and not the total of all future payments. Future interest isn't owed yet.
Step 3: Subtract, then look closer
An example household:
| Assets | Debts | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and savings | €8,000 | Mortgage | €150,000 |
| Investments | €12,000 | Car loan | €6,000 |
| Pension | €15,000 | Credit card | €1,500 |
| Home | €220,000 | ||
| Car | €9,000 | ||
| Total | €264,000 | Total | €157,500 |
Net worth: €264,000 − €157,500 = €106,500.
That looks comfortable. But most of it is the home, which you can't spend. Two more numbers give the full picture.
Liquid net worth
Cash and investments minus credit cards and other short-term debts: roughly what you could reach within weeks without selling your home or car.
Here: €8,000 + €12,000 − €1,500 = €18,500. That is the money that actually protects you if you lose your income. If it's small, an emergency fund does more for you right now than a higher net worth on paper.
Debt-to-asset ratio
Total debts divided by total assets: €157,500 ÷ €264,000 = about 60%.
Above 50% means most of what you own is still financed. That is normal in the first years of a mortgage. It is a signal to watch, not a failure: it should fall a little every year as you repay.
Negative net worth? Common, and fixable
If you owe more than you own, you're not alone. It's common after studying, right after buying a car on credit, or in the first months of a mortgage, when fees and a cautious valuation can make the debt larger than the home's value.
What matters is direction. Paying down the most expensive debt first, usually credit cards, raises your net worth fastest, because every euro repaid stops costing interest.
The trend matters more than the number
A single net worth figure says little. Two figures a year apart say a lot. The same household a year later:
- Saved €3,000 more in cash.
- Investments up €2,000, pension up €2,500.
- Mortgage down €4,500, car loan down €3,000.
- The car lost €2,000 of value.
Net worth: €119,500, up €13,000. Liquid net worth rose to €23,500 and the debt-to-asset ratio fell to about 56%.
Notice that more than half of the rise came from repaying debt and from the pension, not from anything that felt like "saving". That's why it's worth tracking: net worth counts progress that never shows up in your current account.
How often? Every three to six months is enough. Monthly, the noise from markets and property estimates hides the trend. Use the same method every time, especially for the home's value.
How to do it in Volora
If you'd rather not redo the spreadsheet every quarter, Volora keeps the number for you:
- Every account is a wallet. Cash, savings, brokerage, pension, crypto, your home and investment property are assets; credit cards, mortgages and loans count as debts automatically.
- Net worth on your home screen: assets minus debts, how much that changed over the period, and a small trend chart.
- Mortgage without the home? If you only add the mortgage, Volora counts the original loan amount as the home's value, so your net worth doesn't show a large negative number. Adding the home as its own wallet is still more accurate.
- Private: your data stays on your phone, there's no bank connection, and "Hide amounts" keeps the numbers off screen.
Volora doesn't look up share or property prices. Update those values when you check them. More on the net worth tracker.
Quick checklist ✅
- List assets at what they would sell for today, not what you paid.
- Leave out household items and future income.
- List debts at the balance owed, including credit cards you clear every month.
- Subtract, then check liquid net worth and the debt-to-asset ratio.
- Write the date next to the number and recalculate in 3–6 months, the same way.
- To grow it: build an emergency fund, repay the costliest debt first, keep saving automatically.
This post is general guidance, not financial advice.