The formula
Formula
The sum of all assets before debt is called gross wealth. For people with financed property, gross and net are often far apart. In the calculator example below: €1,030,000 gross, €380,000 of loans, so €650,000 net.
What counts
Wealth includes everything that has a value and belongs to you:
- portfolios with shares, ETFs, funds and bonds,
- current accounts, instant-access and fixed-term savings,
- property, owner-occupied and let,
- pension contracts such as company pensions, Rürup, Riester or life insurance,
- crypto, gold and collectibles such as watches or art,
- stakes, for example in your own company.
Entitlements you can neither sell nor leave to someone do not count, above all the state pension. It is still central for retirement, just as income. Household contents are usually left out.
At which value
The rule of thumb: the value you would realistically get today, on the cautious side. Counting yourself rich means planning with money that does not exist.
| Item | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Securities | current market value | before tax on gains |
| Accounts, savings | balance | |
| Property | market value, estimated conservatively | without purchase costs |
| Pension contracts | contract balance per annual statement | mark as bound |
| Crypto | current price | |
| Collectibles | realistic sale price | rather too low than too high |
Property is the hardest. Pointers are listings of comparable flats nearby, the official land values (Bodenrichtwerte) published by the local valuation boards, or an expert valuation. The purchase price still matters for returns and tax; for net worth, today’s value counts. More in the FAQ Purchase price or market value?
What comes off
Subtract everything you owe, each at the amount currently outstanding:
- property loans at the remaining balance per annual statement or repayment schedule, including KfW loans,
- car loans, instalment loans and consumer credit,
- a used overdraft and outstanding credit card balances,
- private loans, for example from family.
For property loans, look at the remaining debt at the end of the fixed rate; how to calculate it is shown in When the fixed rate ends.
Your net worth
Enter the totals per group. Prefilled with an example.
What you own
What you owe
Net worth
€650,000
Gross wealth €1,030,000 · Debt €380,000
What your net worth is made of
- Liquid€220,000
- Property equity€270,000
- Bound€120,000
- Other€40,000
Three ratios that say more than the total
- Loan-to-value: property loans divided by property value, 58.5 % in the example. Banks grade their rates by it; the lower the ratio, the cheaper the rate tends to be. They do, however, use a lending value that is usually below market value.
- Debt ratio: all debt divided by gross wealth, 36.9 % in the example. It shows how much the wealth works with borrowed money, and so how strongly changes in value hit net worth.
- Liquid share: portfolio and accounts minus other debt, divided by net worth, 33.8 % in the example. Important for anyone who wants to live on their wealth one day: you can only withdraw what is liquid.
How do I compare?
Germany’s central bank surveys household wealth in its study “Private households and their finances”. In the latest survey, from 2023, the median net worth was €103,200: half of households had less, half had more. The mean was more than three times as high at €324,800, because a few very wealthy households pull it up. For a comparison, the median is therefore more meaningful; the figures by age group are in Net worth by age.
Such numbers are only a reference. For your own planning, what counts is not how you compare, but whether your wealth is enough for your goals, for example for retirement.
Keeping it current
Portfolio and accounts change daily, property, pensions and collectibles slowly. One update a year is enough for the slow values, for example when the annual statements arrive. More important than frequency is not overwriting old values: only the history shows whether your wealth grows and where the growth comes from.
That is what Wertavo does: prices are live, valuations and remaining balances are added instead of overwritten, and every number shows how it is calculated.
Sources
Rules and figures as of