Dollars and Sense: How do I calculate my net wealth?
Sunday, 15 February 2026
Senior business reporter Rob Stock answers your money questions. Got a question for Sunday magazine? Email it to sundaymagazine@stuff.co.nz
QUESTION: How do I calculate my net worth?
ANSWER: There are some excellent online calculators that mean even the mathematically fearful can come up with a number.
Your net worth is the value of your assets minus the value of your liabilities. It feels a lot like a score in one aspect of the game of life, something you can compare with other people, humblebrag about, or agonise over in the wee, small hours.
Of course a net wealth score does not necessarily correlate to other important aspects of life, like a happy family life, stability, or good mental and physical health.
Some money bloggers reveal their net worth every year to establish their credentials.
But net worth, or wealth, can paint a somewhat misleading picture.
Read More:
For a start, I tend to think that some “assets” are at least partially liabilities. If you have a modest car, for example, and need it, then counting it as an asset for your net wealth is silly because if you sold it, you would have to replace it. Same for your fridge. They are wealth. Of course they are. If you didn’t have them, you’d have to buy them, but they not the kind of wealth that I consider should be considered in your net worth.
For me, the aspect of your net wealth that matters is the portion of it that you can live off, should your income come to an end, for example, at retirement. Some call this investable wealth.
Even this is not a simple score.
The same income can be entirely adequate for one person, and completely inadequate for another.
Someone who lives modestly, and is happy with it, can get away with a lower net wealth at retirement than someone who has expensive tastes.
And two people can arrive at retirement with the same net worth, but one is in a house on which the mortgage has not been paid off, and so has higher costs.
A key question in every money life is how much do you need to have in spendable, invested wealth when you hit retirement.
There are some decent retirement calculators available to play with to help you get an idea (those from AMP and ANZ, for example). Once you have your number, you can then plan for how to get there (KiwiSaver contributions, mortgage repayment rate, etc).
I would say one more thing about net worth. It’s obviously a very personal score, and it does not include some very valuable things you benefit from.
We have a habit of dismissing our society as a selfish one, dominated by personal, anti-social interests. But the capital sum you would personally need to replace some of the services provided by our collective, national wealth (think health services, education and NZ Super) doesn’t bear thinking about.
Just being born in New Zealand means a person has a base level of wealth.
What sum would you and your partner need to save to generate the equivalent of NZ Super each year? The answer is the better part of $700,000.