Calculate Your Net Worth: Your Most Important Financial Figure
Key takeaways
- Net worth = assets − debts. A single number for your financial position.
- It is the basis of level 1 (clarity) — the starting point of every financial plan.
- Value cautiously: property and car at a realistic sale value, pensions at their current balance. Statutory pension entitlements do not count.
- For comparison: the median household in Germany had a net worth of €103,200 in 2023 (Bundesbank).
- What matters is not the snapshot but the trend over time.
Net worth is the most honest figure in your finances — and the first step on the path to financial freedom.
The formula
Net worth = sum of all assets − sum of all debts.
Four steps to your number
- List everything you own: current account, savings account, portfolio, building-society contract (Bausparvertrag), pensions, property, car, real valuables.
- Value each item — at today’s value, not the purchase price. How to handle the tricky ones is below.
- List everything you owe: remaining mortgage, instalment loans, car loan, student loan, overdraft, credit card balance.
- Subtract and note it with the date. Today’s number is the starting point, not a verdict.
What counts?
| Assets (+) | Debts (−) |
|---|---|
| Current and savings accounts | Consumer loans |
| Portfolios (shares, ETFs, funds) | Student or car loans |
| Property (valued realistically) | Mortgage / remaining debt |
| Valuables (car, items of value) | Outstanding credit card balance |
| Cash, other balances | Overdraft |
Example: €20,000 in accounts + €45,000 in a portfolio + €15,000 car − €12,000 loan = €68,000 net worth.
Assets you left in another country
If you moved to Germany, part of your wealth may still sit elsewhere: a current account, a pension scheme, a portfolio in another currency. All of it belongs in the calculation, converted to euros at today’s rate. A pension pot you cannot touch for twenty years is still an asset — just an illiquid one, like a property. Leave it out and the number is wrong in exactly the way it would be if you left out a debt.
Enter your own items — rough estimates are enough for a first reading:
Valuing the tricky items
For accounts and portfolios the value is clear. For everything else, your valuation decides whether the number is honest. The rule: rather slightly too cautious than too optimistic.
| Item | How to value it | Counts? |
|---|---|---|
| Owner-occupied home | What you would realistically get after selling costs; the remaining mortgage goes on the debt side | Yes |
| Car | Today’s resale value, not the purchase price — it falls every year | Yes |
| Occupational and private pensions (e.g. Riester, Rürup) | Current balance according to the provider’s annual statement | Yes — but show it separately, because you cannot reach it |
| Endowment life insurance | Surrender value, not the later maturity payment | Yes |
| Building-society contract | Current balance | Yes |
| Statutory pension or civil-service pension entitlements | — | No |
| Household goods, clothes, electronics | — | Usually not, only real valuables |
Why the state pension does not count: it is an entitlement to future income, not wealth you can sell or pass on. The Bundesbank also leaves statutory and civil-service pension entitlements out of its wealth study. For your planning it is still central — as income in old age, not as an item in this calculation.
Negative? No reason to panic
A net worth below zero is more common than people think. Among the 20% of households with the least wealth, it was even −€3,100 on average in 2021 (Bundesbank). Three typical reasons:
- A student loan at the start of your career. Life starts with debt and no reserves. That is normal and changes over the first working years.
- A freshly bought property. Real estate transfer tax, notary, land registry and often an agent are gone on the day of purchase. Your net worth therefore drops with the purchase, even though you now own a home — every repayment wins some of it back.
- Consumer debt. Then paying it off is the lever with the safest return. → Pay off consumer debt
What counts is not the sign but the direction.
Where do you stand? Comparison figures from Germany
The Bundesbank regularly asks thousands of households about their wealth (study “Private Haushalte und ihre Finanzen”). In 2023 the median net worth was €103,200, the mean €324,800. The median is the more honest comparison: half of households have more, half less. The mean is pulled up by a few very large fortunes.
How strongly wealth grows with age is shown by the breakdown of the 2021 survey:
| Age (household reference person) | Median net worth 2021 |
|---|---|
| 16–24 | €11,400 |
| 25–34 | €18,700 |
| 35–44 | €65,200 |
| 45–54 | €154,700 |
| 55–64 | €229,300 |
| 65–74 | €231,000 |
| 75 and over | €129,500 |
Source: Bundesbank, table annex of the 2021 survey. The overall median barely changed by 2023 (€106,600 → €103,200).
The difference by housing is even larger than by age: renter households had a median of €16,200 in 2021, owners without a mortgage €396,100. For most households, their own home is the largest item.
If you moved here recently, keep in mind that these figures describe households that have often built up wealth in Germany over decades. Comparison figures are a point of orientation, not a verdict. More telling than the gap to the median is whether your own number rises from quarter to quarter.
Why it is the most important figure
Individual account balances fluctuate and say little. Net worth pulls everything into one number and shows over time whether you are making progress. It is the figure of level 1 (clarity) — without it every goal is a guess.
The catch: for most people, wealth is scattered across many accounts, portfolios and contracts — and for anyone with a life in two countries, across two banking systems. That is exactly what makes the calculation tedious, and exactly why doing it once by hand is worth it before you look for a tool. Which tool then fits, and what it has to be able to do: net worth tracker — which app counts property, valuables and debt?
How often to recalculate
Once a quarter is enough. More often and you mostly measure market swings; less often and you lose the thread. Always use the same reference date, for example the first of the month. Revalue property and car at most once a year — otherwise the number moves with every estimate instead of with your progress.
sum adds up your net worth for you — bring your accounts and portfolios into one place (today via CSV import, automatic bank connection via PSD2 in the works), including property, valuables and debts, and see position and trend at a glance.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate my net worth?
Net worth = sum of all assets minus sum of all debts. Assets include accounts, portfolios, property and valuables; debts include loans, mortgages and outstanding credit card balances.
Does the home I live in count towards net worth?
Yes, but valued realistically and minus the remaining mortgage. Some people calculate the owner-occupied home separately because it is not liquid.
Does the state pension count towards net worth?
No. Entitlements to the statutory pension or a civil-service pension are future income, not wealth you can sell or pass on. The Bundesbank leaves them out of its wealth study as well. Private and occupational pensions with a current value do count.
What is the average net worth in Germany?
According to the Bundesbank, the median net worth of private households was €103,200 in 2023 and the mean €324,800. The median is the better comparison, because a few very large fortunes pull the mean up.
Is a negative net worth bad?
Not necessarily. With a student loan early in your career or right after buying a property it is normal. What matters is that the number rises. With expensive consumer debt, paying it down is the safest lever.
What about assets in another country or currency?
They belong in the picture — converted to euros at the current rate. A pension pot or account you left behind is still yours; leaving it out makes the number wrong in the same way as leaving out a debt.
Why is net worth so important?
It is the one number that shows your financial progress over time — independent of individual accounts. It is the starting point of every financial plan.
Read on
- Financial freedom: the complete guide in 7 levels
- Net worth tracker: which app counts property, valuables and debt?
- Emergency fund: how much and where?
- Pay off consumer debt
- Calculate your pension gap
- Calculate and raise your savings rate
Sources
- Deutsche Bundesbank: Vermögen und Finanzen privater Haushalte in Deutschland – Ergebnisse der Vermögensbefragung 2023, Monthly Report April 2025 (in German) — median €103,200, mean €324,800; statutory and civil-service pension entitlements are not part of the wealth concept. Checked on 10 September 2026.
- Deutsche Bundesbank: results of the 2021 wealth survey, Monthly Report April 2023, table annex (in German) — figures by age, housing and wealth quantile. Checked on 10 September 2026.
- Grant Sabatier: Financial Freedom (level “Clarity”).
This article is for information only and is not investment or tax advice.
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