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Net worth trackers: 7 best apps and tracking services
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Updated: December 27, 2023
We adhere to strict standards of editorial integrity to help you make decisions with confidence. Please be aware that some (or all) products and services linked in this article are from our sponsors.
We adhere to strict standards of editorial integrity to help you make decisions with confidence. Please be aware that some (or all) products and services linked in this article are from our sponsors.
When I was younger and heard people discussing net worth, I thought it was only for the wealthy. After all, reports about celebrities' net worth like Oprah or Warren Buffett don't matter to a regular Joe. Or so I thought.
How naïve I was!
Every person should be concerned with their net worth as it is a firm indication of where you stand financially. Knowing how much you own shows you if you're falling behind on your financial goals. And it can tell you your true level of debt and how much you have ready for the future.
What is your net worth? If you don't know, here's how you can figure out your net worth and popular net worth tracker apps to use.
What is net worth?
Your net worth is your total wealth, taking into account all of your assets and liabilities.
Wondering how to figure out your net worth? It's a simple equation. Add up the value of all your assets, subtract the amounts of your debts and liabilities, and the result is your net worth.
Student loans, car loans, credit card debt, high mortgages, and medical bills all hurt your net worth. Owe too much, and your net worth can go negative. Let's look at some examples.
Example of net worth
John took out a loan to purchase his car and owes $15,000. His student loans total $40,000. His credit card debt balance is $12,000. John rents his apartment and has not invested in a 401(k), does not have savings, and doesn't own anything of value. With $0 in assets and $67,000 in debt, John's net worth is negative-$67,000.
James also took out a loan to purchase his car and owes $15,000. But he's paid his student loans down and owes only $20,000. And James pays his credit cards off each month, so they do not carry debt. Like John, James rents. But he's invested $35,000 in his company's 401(k), as well as shares of stock that are valued at $75,000. James' assets equal $110,000 and his debts total $35,000. So James' net worth is $75,000.
If John or James owned a home, the mortgage would be a liability, but the home's value would be an asset. Basically, whatever is left over if they sold their home and paid off the mortgage would be part of their net worth.
Why should you track your net worth?
There is a big difference between following a budget and keeping track of your net worth. While a budget helps you follow a path to reach your goals, your net worth shows where you are in terms of those goals. Your net worth tells you the real financial picture. The higher your net worth, the more money you have available for your retirement. If your net worth isn't in line with your goals, it's a sign that you'll have to keep working on getting your finances in order.
How do you track your net worth?
To track your net worth, you'll need to know all of your financials, just as if you were applying for a mortgage. Record all of your assets, from cash to investments, collectibles to jewelry to real estate, and any businesses you may own. Then record all of your liabilities, such as credit card debt, loans, and mortgages.
Understanding your net worth isn't a one-and-done practice. Watching your finances to see the results — whether positive or negative — will help you focus. As will a budget. If you don't have a budget, now is the time to begin.
More: How to build a budget
Top net worth tracker apps
If going through all of your assets and liabilities every month (let alone budgeting) makes you shudder, some tools can make it easier by automating the process. Try these apps to track your net worth.
1. Empower
Best for: Overall net worth tracking
Link your accounts to this powerful online platform, and Empower will give you a complete view of your net worth. Simply link your credit cards, mortgage, loans, and your investing, retirement, and bank accounts. Then Empower's net worth tracker does the rest.
This tool allows you to consolidate all of your accounts in one place so you can measure your progress over time. Seeing firsthand how your accounts look — whether on your desktop or mobile device — can help you pivot your budget to focus on your goals and improve your net worth. You can even track your cryptocurrency investments with their new crypto BETA tracker.
Of course, with all of your accounts linked, Empower can also organize budgets for you, provide a retirement plan, and monitor your cash flow.
The best thing about Empower is that it offers plenty of services and value with its free membership. (You can upgrade for even more features, but its free tools are pretty impressive.)
2. PocketSmith
Best for: Net worth tracking and cash-flow forecasting
Another budgeting platform with free tools is PocketSmith. While the free tools are okay, they do not automatically connect your accounts in one place. Instead, you'll need to opt for the Premium version to get the automated features. PocketSmith costs $9.95 monthly or $7.50 per month if you pay in full for the year.
The Premium version provides automatic feeds and creates a dashboard that highlights your net worth automatically. You can add assets and link them to specific liabilities as well, like your home to your mortgage loan.
As a budgeting platform, PocketSmith lets you create daily, weekly and monthly budgets. And you can create cash projections, watch your cash flow, and schedule bills. There's also a handy budget calendar so you can visualize your spending easily.
3. YNAB
Best for: Budgeting and paying off debt
Like PocketSmith, YNAB provides budgeting tools on its platform. But then it goes above and beyond by teaching you how to manage your money. Standing for “You Need a Budget,” YNAB offers tools for desktop and smartphones, as well as Apple Watch and Alexa. YNAB teaches you how to prioritize and plan so you can get to your goals faster.
YNAB's program focuses on four rules:
◦ Give every dollar a job
◦ Embrace your true expenses
◦ Roll with the punches
◦ Age your money
This is the platform for you if you're just starting out and eager to learn how to get yourself on the right track. It lets you create custom budgets and create a game plan to pay off debt. There's a free 34-day trial, and then you can opt to pay $14.99 monthly or save with an annual membership of $98.99, each of which can be canceled at any time.
4. Kubera
Best for: Net worth tracking for stock and crypto investors
Kubera calls itself the “world's most modern net worth tracker,” which is certainly a large claim. However, it's one of the best net worth tracking apps if you want to monitor your investment portfolio.
With Kubera, you can connect pretty much any major online broker to your account and track your stock, ETF, and mutual fund holdings. Plus, it works with almost every major crypto exchange and wallet, so you can track your crypto investments and even NFTs you own.
Other assets like real estate, vehicles, precious metal, and even domain names all work with Kubera as well. And since it connects with 20,000+ banks from around the world, it's globally-friendly as well. And the platform also calculates rates of return (IRR) for every asset you own automatically.
There's a 14-day trial for $1. Afterwards, Kubera costs $150 per year. A lack of a free plan is a downside, but Kubera is still one of the most comprehensive net worth tracking apps on the market.
5. Betterment
Best for: Passive investing
One of the easiest investing platforms is Betterment, which is available as a smartphone app or on desktop. This robo-advisor is an automated financial advisor that makes investment choices for you based on your personal financial goals. The program determines your risk tolerance from your answers to the program’s introductory questions. Then Betterment recommends a portfolio of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
And in terms of net worth tracking, Betterment lets you connect your other bank accounts to its platform. From there, you can track all of your assets and liabilities using its central dashboard. Betterment also highlights a risk score across your retirement accounts and can even find hidden fees or management fees that are too high. And the platform also lets you create goals so you can monitor your net worth while working towards various financial milestones.
Betterment charges a fee to manage your investments. For anything under $100,000, you will be charged annually 0.25% of your assets under management. And if you have over $100,000, you'll be charged 0.40% and get extra perks like getting unlimited access to their CFPs.
6. Monarch Money
With Monarch Money, you can sync all of your financial accounts to track your net worth in a single dashboard. This includes your various bank accounts as well as loans, credit cards, real estate, investments, and more. You can also manually add and track assets, which is useful for more niche investments like artwork or other valuable collectables.
Monarch also lets you create various financial goals so you can start working towards them. And its new Advice feature, which is currently in Beta, provides tailored recommendations to help you reach these goals faster. The tool was created by certified financial planners, so it mimics the advice you'd get from a human financial advisor.
Dashboards are customizable as well, so you can focus on aspects of your spending or net worth that matter most. There's also tools that help you understand your spending habits more so you can stay on track with saving.
Monarch Money has a free plan that allows for two bank connections and some asset tracking. The paid plan unlocks every feature and costs $7.50 per month and has a 7-day free trial.
Switching to Monarch from Mint? Use code MINT50 and get 50% off
7. Tiller
If you're an Excel or Google Sheets fan, Tiller is the best net worth tracker you can use. This spreadsheet-based tool lets you track all of your finances using robust spreadsheet templates. This makes it easy to track daily spending, income, and your overall net worth in an organized fashion.
And if you're not a spreadsheet wizard, Tiller is still easy to use. The platform has pre-built templates, and once you connect your bank accounts to your Tiller account, it can auto-fill spreadsheet data for you. The foundation template includes a net worth tracker, budgeting section, income tracker, and yearly budget breakdown. And you're always free to edit fields or create custom rules to categorize expenses and income differently.
Plus, there are plenty of other templates you can use, including ones for budgeting, paying off debt, retirement planning, and analyzing your spending.
There's a 30-day free trial to test out the spreadsheets. Afterwards, Tiller costs $79 annually, which is $6.58 per month.
Tips to increase your net worth
Now that we've covered some of the best net worth trackers, here are a few tips to keep in mind as you work on growing your net worth:
- 1.
Create a game plan: Your net worth matters as a guiding star, but you have to know what you're aiming for. Do you want to reach financial independence by a certain age? When do you plan on retiring? Create an overall game plan for your wealth and know what you're working towards.
- 2.
Stick to your budget: It's hard to increase your net worth if you spend as much, or more, than you make every month. Create a budget using various budgeting apps or a simple spreadsheet and stick to your plan.
- 3.
Invest diligently: Investing is one of the best ways to grow your wealth thanks to the power of compound interest. So, start investing regularly and stick with this habit. You can use robo-advisors like Betterment, an online broker, or even microsaving apps.
- 4.
Create new income streams: Like investing, creating new income streams helps accelerate your net worth. Consider starting a side hustle, like an online business, or picking up side gigs to make extra cash.
Tracking your net worth
It's important to know your net worth and have a firm grasp of your finances. Use a net worth tracking app to make it easier for you to visualize and stay on course to reach your goals. Understanding your net worth will help set you on the path to having greater net worth. While you may not reach Oprah-level net worth, you can get to a place where you can enjoy a comfortable retirement.
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