● Money & small business
Where a year of net worth growth comes from: a $50,586 example, account by account
✓ TestedWorked example · figures from the tested net worth spreadsheet2026-09-26
Net worth is one number: everything you own minus everything you owe. Tracked once a month, it tells you whether you're getting ahead. But the headline change mixes very different things: money you saved, debt you paid off, market moves, and estimates you typed in yourself. Here's one household's year, taken apart account by account. You can do the same with your own numbers in the net worth calculator.
The year: September 2025 to September 2026
| Account | Sep 2025 | Sep 2026 | Effect on net worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checking | $3,346 | $3,579 | +$233 |
| High-yield savings | $10,250 | $15,650 | +$5,400 |
| 401(k) | $67,602 | $83,680 | +$16,078 |
| Roth IRA | $21,962 | $30,340 | +$8,378 |
| Brokerage | $9,432 | $13,414 | +$3,982 |
| Home (estimated value) | $385,000 | $392,000 | +$7,000 |
| Car (estimated value) | $20,200 | $17,080 | −$3,120 |
| Mortgage | $299,112 | $293,796 | +$5,316 (paid down) |
| Car loan | $12,825 | $8,085 | +$4,740 (paid down) |
| Student loan | $21,350 | $18,830 | +$2,520 (paid down) |
| Visa card | $1,103 | $1,044 | +$59 |
| Net worth | $183,402 | $233,988 | +$50,586 |
What the $50,586 is made of
- Retirement accounts: +$24,456 (401(k) and Roth IRA). Almost half the gain, a mix of contributions and market growth. Remember these balances are before tax on the 401(k) side.
- Debt paid down: +$12,635. Every dollar of principal repaid raises net worth by a dollar, and it's the most certain part of the number. A quarter of this year's gain came from here.
- Cash and investments: +$9,615 (checking, savings and brokerage).
- Home estimate: +$7,000. This one is a number the household typed in. It isn't money until the house is sold, and selling costs would take a large bite. Without it, the year's gain is $43,586.
- Car: −$3,120. Cars lose value every month, so a car counts for less each year even while you pay for it.
Reading your own number honestly
- Use sale values, not purchase prices, for a home or car, and update them rarely. Changing an estimate moves net worth without anything real happening.
- Enter every account every month. A forgotten account makes net worth look lower that month and higher the next. Our tracker warns you when an account has no balance for the latest month for exactly this reason.
- Compare over 12 months, not month to month. Single months are noisy. This household's monthly change stayed between $2,893 and $4,468 in every month but one, which jumped to $10,621 in the month the home estimate was raised by $7,000: an estimate, not money saved.
All figures come from the sample file of our net worth tracker, where every total was recomputed independently from the raw balances.