I firmly believe that one of the most important things you can do for your personal finances is to track your net worth. Nowadays, there are many simple ways to automatically track your assets and liabilities. Personally, I use Empower (formerly Personal Capital) to seamlessly track my net worth, asset allocations, and get an overview of my budget.
But for me, the most crucial part of tracking your net worth is entering the amounts yourself. And for that, you’ll need a spreadsheet.
My spreadsheet works with both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. It is a simple and easy-to-use template.
How to Use the Net Worth Tracking Spreadsheet to Track Your Net Worth
Every month, on the first of the month, I log into Empower and look at the final balances in each of my accounts to input them into my simple net worth tracking spreadsheet.
- For Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel users, click here to “make a copy” of the net worth tracking spreadsheet.
- For Excel users only, you’ll then need to click on “File,” then -> “Download” -> “Microsoft Excel (.xlsx).”
- And that’s it, you’re ready to get started!
Even if you don’t use Personal Capital or a similar tool, you can simply log into each of your accounts directly on the 1st of the month (or nearby) and retrieve the figures from all your different accounts.
In my case, I have taxable brokerage accounts, as well as tax-advantaged accounts like my IRA, 401(k), HSA, and 529:
After inputting my assets, I then move on to entering my liabilities:
Finally, once you have entered all your information, the spreadsheet will automatically calculate your total net worth, as well as year-over-year increases/decreases:
You can easily add/remove accounts according to your needs. I have pre-filled the spreadsheet with sample information to show you how everything comes together.
Why You Should Track Your Net Worth
I know that many people end up creating sophisticated net worth tracking tools, but in my opinion, this is all you need!
Keep it simple. The best thing you can do is to create a habit and go from there!
I like to track on a monthly basis, and once some time has passed each year, I will hide the months from January to November and only leave December visible.
If you have any questions or run into any issues, please feel free to contact me, and I’ll be happy to help.
More Information from Crawlan
- Personal Capital Review 2023: Retirement Planner, Savings Planner, Net Worth, and Investment Checkup
- Should I Pay off My Mortgage or Invest?
- The Best Sites for Early Retirement and Financial Independence
