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What Is Net Worth, and How Do You Calculate It?
Net worth is the one number that captures your entire financial position in a single figure, not just your debt, and not just your savings. Here's exactly what it means, how to work out your own, and what a reasonable number looks like for Kiwis right now.
What Is Net Worth?
Net worth is a simple formula:
Net worth = Everything you own (assets) − Everything you owe (liabilities)
That's it. If you own a house worth $800,000 with a $500,000 mortgage against it, $40,000 in KiwiSaver, and a $20,000 car loan, your net worth is $800,000 + $40,000 − $500,000 − $20,000 = $320,000.
Net worth can be positive, negative, or zero. A young professional with student debt and no assets yet might have a negative net worth, and that's completely normal, it's a starting point, not a verdict.
Your Bank Balance and Your Net Worth Are Both Worth Watching
These two numbers aren't in competition, they answer different questions, and a healthy financial habit checks both.
Your bank balance tells you whether you can cover this week's bills and whether you're building a buffer for the unexpected. It's the number that matters day to day.
Net worth tells you something your bank balance can't: whether you're actually building wealth over time. Paying down $10,000 of mortgage principal doesn't move your everyday account at all, but it directly increases your net worth. The same goes for KiwiSaver growth or a rising property value, none of it shows up in your bank balance, all of it shows up in your net worth.
Watch your bank balance to manage the week. Watch your net worth to know whether the bigger picture is actually moving in the right direction.
What Counts as an Asset
Property. Your home, even if you live in it and have no plans to sell, plus any investment property, valued at current market value, not what you paid for it.
KiwiSaver. Your current balance, check your provider's app or your annual statement.
Other investments. Shares, managed funds, term deposits, cryptocurrency, anything outside KiwiSaver.
Vehicles. Cars, boats, anything with resale value, at a realistic current value, not the purchase price.
Cash and savings. Everyday and savings accounts.
Anything else of real value. A business you own, valuable collectibles. For most people this bucket is small or empty, and that's fine.
What Counts as a Liability
Mortgage. The remaining balance, not the original amount you borrowed.
Car loans and personal loans. Whatever you currently owe on each.
Credit card and Buy Now, Pay Later balances. Your current outstanding balance on each.
Student loan. There's an important NZ-specific nuance here, covered below.
The NZ Context
Property dominates most Kiwis' net worth. Owner-occupied homes and other real estate made up 48% of household assets in the year to June 2024, up from 43% three years earlier, as property values rose. If you own a home, it's very likely your single biggest asset by a wide margin.
The median New Zealand household net worth was $529,000 for the year ended June 2024, up 33% from $399,000 three years earlier, driven mainly by rising property values. This is a median across all households, not a target, your own number will depend heavily on your age, whether you own property, and where you are in NZ.
KiwiSaver contribution rates are rising. The default minimum employee and employer contribution rate increases from 3% to 3.5% from 1 April 2026, then to 4% from 1 April 2028. If you're on the default rate, your KiwiSaver balance (and therefore your net worth) will compound slightly faster from these changes without you having to do anything.
Student loans are interest-free for New Zealand-based borrowers. This means an IRD student loan is a different kind of liability to a mortgage or credit card debt, it's not accruing interest against you the way other debt is, so it shouldn't carry the same urgency in your net worth thinking even though it still counts as a liability.
A Worked Example
Sam has a few things going at once: a mortgage, a car loan, and some money building up in KiwiSaver. Here's how it adds up.
| Assets | Value |
|---|---|
| Home (current estimated value) | $750,000 |
| KiwiSaver | $58,000 |
| Shares (outside KiwiSaver) | $12,000 |
| Car | $18,000 |
| Savings | $6,000 |
| Total assets | $844,000 |
| Liabilities | Balance |
|---|---|
| Mortgage balance | $480,000 |
| Car loan | $9,000 |
| Student loan | $14,000 |
| Total liabilities | $503,000 |
Sam's net worth: $844,000 − $503,000 = $341,000
Next month, if Sam pays down $2,500 of mortgage principal and KiwiSaver grows by $600, net worth rises to roughly $344,100, even if the bank balance looks exactly the same as it does today. That's the number that actually moved.
How to Calculate Your Own Net Worth
- 1List every asset you hold and its current value, not what you paid for it.
- 2List every liability and its current balance, not the original loan amount.
- 3Subtract total liabilities from total assets.
- 4Update it again next time you check in, and watch the direction, not just the number.
The slow part is usually gathering everything in one place, your mortgage is in one app, your KiwiSaver in another, and anything else you own lives in your memory or a spreadsheet nobody opens. Owly's net worth calculator pulls your tracked OWES debt and OWNS investments in automatically, and lets you add anything else, property, KiwiSaver, other loans, manually, so the whole picture sits in one place and updates itself as your tracked numbers change.
How Often Should You Update It?
A monthly habit is a good one, and not just for net worth. Updating your loan balances and investment values in Owly once a month keeps your whole financial picture front of mind, which is the real goal, net worth is just the number that shows you the result.
Don't expect dramatic swings between updates, property values and investment balances don't move much month to month, and that's completely normal, it doesn't mean nothing is happening. The number you're really watching is the trend over several months, not any single update. Keep checking your bank balance as often as you need to for day-to-day budgeting too, that's a separate habit alongside this one, not a replacement for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's a good net worth for my age in New Zealand?
There's no single right answer, it depends heavily on whether you own property and when you bought. Stats NZ's net worth statistics are broken down by age group and household type and are a more useful benchmark than any single national figure, the overall national median was $529,000 for the year ended June 2024, but that varies enormously by household composition and property ownership.
Does my house count if I'm never going to sell it?
Yes. Net worth measures what you own, not what you're planning to do with it. Your home's value is real even if you have no intention of selling, it's part of your overall financial position.
Should I count my KiwiSaver in my net worth?
Yes. It's money you own, even though you can't access most of it until retirement (or under specific hardship or first-home withdrawal rules). It's an asset, just a less liquid one than cash in a savings account.
Is a negative net worth bad?
Not necessarily, especially early on. Student loans and the early years of a mortgage can easily put someone's net worth below zero. What matters more than the number itself is the direction it's moving over time.
How is net worth different from being debt-free?
Being debt-free means your liabilities are zero. Net worth is a broader measure, assets minus liabilities, so you can have debt and still have a strong, growing net worth if your assets are growing faster than your debt. The two are related but not the same goal.
How often should I update my net worth?
Monthly is a good rhythm, the same habit that's useful for keeping your loan and investment balances current generally. Don't expect big month-to-month swings, the value is in watching the trend over time, not any single update.