Are you on track for your age and income?
Your net worth is everything you own minus everything you owe. This check compares it with a well-known rule of thumb for your age and income, and with typical U.S. households your age — then tells you what to focus on next. It takes about a minute.
Your result
Under 30? This rule of thumb assumes years of earning behind you, so it runs harsh early in a career. Your savings rate and debt trend matter more than this ratio right now.
Owned vs owed
What to focus on next
How this check works
The “expected net worth” comes from The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko, who studied how ordinary earners become wealthy:
Expected net worth = age × yearly income ÷ 10
A 40-year-old household earning $90,000 has an expected net worth of $360,000. Being under half of that puts you in Building, between half and double is On track, and double or more is Ahead.
It’s a rough yardstick, not a grade. It doesn’t know about cost of living, inheritances, career breaks, or a big recent move, and it is tough on young and high-earning people. That’s why we also show the U.S. median for your age (Federal Reserve, 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, rounded).
Money is also only one dimension of a rich life. For the full picture, build your Wealth Score across all eight dimensions.
Words you’ll see
- Net worth
- Everything you own (assets) minus everything you owe (liabilities). It’s a snapshot, so track it every few months rather than obsessing over one number.
- Assets
- Things with money value you could sell or draw on: savings, retirement and investment accounts, home equity, a car.
- Liabilities
- Debts: mortgage, student loans, car loans, credit cards, and anything else you have to pay back.
- Savings rate
- The share of your income you keep instead of spend. It’s the single biggest lever for growing net worth.
- Median
- The middle value: half of households have more, half have less. Unlike an average, a few billionaires don’t distort it.