One number that tells you whether the whole plan is working — plus what is actually spendable.
Net worth
$362,200
$692,000 of assets less $329,800 of debts.
What can actually fund retirement.
That is $692,000 of assets against $329,800 of debts. Net worth is the single best summary of whether a financial life is trending in the right direction, because it captures both sides at once — income tells you nothing on its own, and a high earner with negative net worth is a common enough pattern to have a name. Track it quarterly; the trend matters far more than any single reading.
Home equity of $132,000 and $28,000 of vehicles are 23% of your assets, and neither can fund retirement spending without selling. Investable net worth — cash, taxable investments and retirement accounts — is the number that determines when you can stop working. Many people appear substantially wealthier on paper than their spendable assets support.
See what this supportsThat guideline targets 2.6× salary in investable assets, and you have $244,000 — $3,000 below it. These benchmarks assume a continuous career from the early twenties with no meaningful interruptions, which describes a minority of actual careers. Someone starting late with a high savings rate closes the gap considerably faster than the multiples imply.
At a typical 24% rate that costs roughly $96 a month in interest alone — money that reduces net worth every month it exists. Clear this before adding to taxable investments; the guaranteed 24% return beats any realistic market expectation.
Plan the payoffA single net worth reading tells you very little; four readings a year tell you the direction and rough velocity, which is what actually matters. Market movements will dominate short-term changes once investable assets pass roughly $200,000, so judge progress on contributions and debt reduction rather than on the headline number.
Worked scenarios with the full analysis, so you can see how the numbers move before entering your own.
A typical mid-career household where home equity is a large share of total net worth.
Net worth
$362,200
That is $692,000 of assets against $329,800 of debts. Net worth is the single best summary of whether a financial life is trending in the right direction, because it captures both sides at once — income tells you nothing on its own, and a high earner with negative net worth is a common enough pattern to have a name. Track it quarterly; the trend matters far more than any single reading.
Home equity of $132,000 and $28,000 of vehicles are 23% of your assets, and neither can fund retirement spending without selling. Investable net worth — cash, taxable investments and retirement accounts — is the number that determines when you can stop working. Many people appear substantially wealthier on paper than their spendable assets support.
See what this supportsThat guideline targets 2.6× salary in investable assets, and you have $244,000 — $3,000 below it. These benchmarks assume a continuous career from the early twenties with no meaningful interruptions, which describes a minority of actual careers. Someone starting late with a high savings rate closes the gap considerably faster than the multiples imply.
No home equity, modest retirement balance, and student debt still outstanding.
Net worth
$22,400
That is $68,000 of assets against $45,600 of debts. Net worth is the single best summary of whether a financial life is trending in the right direction, because it captures both sides at once — income tells you nothing on its own, and a high earner with negative net worth is a common enough pattern to have a name. Track it quarterly; the trend matters far more than any single reading.
Home equity of $0 and $14,000 of vehicles are 21% of your assets, and neither can fund retirement spending without selling. Investable net worth — cash, taxable investments and retirement accounts — is the number that determines when you can stop working. Many people appear substantially wealthier on paper than their spendable assets support.
See what this supportsThat guideline targets 0.9× salary in investable assets, and you have $54,000 — $13,200 below it. These benchmarks assume a continuous career from the early twenties with no meaningful interruptions, which describes a minority of actual careers. Someone starting late with a high savings rate closes the gap considerably faster than the multiples imply.
Substantial investable assets and low remaining debt — the profile a plan is aiming for.
Net worth
$1,632,000
That is $1,727,000 of assets against $95,000 of debts. Net worth is the single best summary of whether a financial life is trending in the right direction, because it captures both sides at once — income tells you nothing on its own, and a high earner with negative net worth is a common enough pattern to have a name. Track it quarterly; the trend matters far more than any single reading.
Home equity of $515,000 and $42,000 of vehicles are 32% of your assets, and neither can fund retirement spending without selling. Investable net worth — cash, taxable investments and retirement accounts — is the number that determines when you can stop working. Many people appear substantially wealthier on paper than their spendable assets support.
See what this supportsA widely used guideline targets 7.0× salary in investable assets by 55 — about $1,015,000 on $145,000 of income. You have $1,075,000. Treat this as orientation rather than a verdict: career stage, student debt and geography move the realistic figure substantially in both directions.
Net worth is everything you own minus everything you owe. The arithmetic is simple; the judgment is in the valuations.
Use current market value, not what you paid. A car bought for $40,000 three years ago is worth what it would sell for today, which is usually far less. Use a realistic home value — a recent comparable sale, not the most optimistic automated estimate. Retirement accounts should be counted at their current balance, though it is worth remembering that a traditional 401(k) balance is pre-tax and its spendable value is 20–30% lower.
Total net worth is a useful summary, but it conflates assets that can fund your life with assets that cannot. Home equity does not pay for groceries unless you sell the home or borrow against it, and neither is a plan. Vehicles depreciate and are not investments at all.
Investable net worth — cash, taxable investments and retirement accounts — is what determines when you can stop working. For households where the home is a large share of assets, the two figures diverge dramatically, and it is entirely possible to have a seven-figure net worth and an investable balance that supports very little annual spending.
A single net worth reading is close to meaningless in isolation. What matters is direction and velocity: is it rising, and is it rising because you are contributing or because markets are?
Once investable assets pass roughly $200,000, market movements dominate quarterly changes — a 5% market swing moves the number more than a quarter of savings does. At that point the useful metric shifts from net worth itself to savings rate and debt reduction, which are the parts you control. Tracking quarterly rather than monthly reduces the noise and the temptation to react to it.
A car bought for $40,000 three years ago is worth far less today. Optimistic valuations produce a comforting and useless number.
It cannot fund retirement without selling or borrowing. Track investable net worth separately.
A $500,000 traditional 401(k) is worth roughly $350,000–400,000 after tax. A Roth of the same size is worth its face value.
Short-term changes are mostly market noise. Quarterly tracking shows the trend without inviting a reaction to it.
Average US net worth is distorted upward by extreme wealth. The median is a far more useful reference point.
Total everything you own at current market value — cash, investments, retirement accounts, home, vehicles, business interests — then subtract everything you owe, including mortgage, student loans, auto loans and credit card balances. The result is your net worth. It can be negative, which is normal early in a career with student debt.
A widely used benchmark targets one times salary in investable assets by 30, three times by 40, six times by 50 and eight times by 60. These assume a continuous career from the early twenties with no interruptions, which describes a minority of actual careers. Use them for orientation, not judgment.
Include it at current market value minus the outstanding mortgage. But track investable net worth separately, since home equity cannot fund retirement spending without selling or borrowing. For households where the home dominates assets, the two figures tell very different stories.
For simplicity, yes, and that is what this calculator does. Be aware that a traditional 401(k) balance is pre-tax — its spendable value is 20–30% lower once withdrawals are taxed. A Roth balance is already after-tax and worth its face value, which makes two accounts with identical balances genuinely unequal.
Quarterly is enough. Monthly tracking mostly captures market noise and encourages reacting to it. Once investable assets exceed roughly $200,000, market movements dominate short-term changes, so judge progress on savings rate and debt reduction — the parts you actually control.
The next calculations that usually follow this one.
Your savings rate sets the date far more than your income does. This shows the year.
Find your target, see the gap, and check whether you are leaving employer money behind.
Enter your balances, get a payoff date — and see exactly what the easier order costs you.
Sized on essential expenses and your actual risk profile — not a generic three-to-six months.
See the balance, the split between contributions and growth, and what it actually buys.
Guides that explain the decisions behind these numbers.
How to calculate what you need to retire, choose between Roth and traditional accounts, and understand withdrawal rates and Social Security timing.
Updated January 15, 2026
How to build a budget on take-home pay using the 50/30/20 framework, account for irregular annual costs, and fix the categories that actually matter.
Updated January 15, 2026
A beginner's guide to investing in the US: account order, index funds, fees, asset allocation and the behavioral mistakes that cost the most.
Updated January 15, 2026
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