Start with a balance sheet
Net worth is total assets minus total debts. An asset is something you own that has value; a debt is an amount you owe. Your income is a flow over time, so do not add your annual salary to your asset total.
Make a list before opening an app: checking and savings, investment and retirement accounts, property you choose to include, and outstanding loans or credit cards. Use the same snapshot date wherever possible. An estimate is useful when it is clearly labeled as an estimate.
A worked example
Illustrative balances, not real account data:
- Cash: $8,000
- Investments: $24,000
- Retirement: $38,000
- Debts: $12,000
Assets total $70,000. Subtract $12,000 of debt and net worth is $58,000.
Record your first snapshot on iPhone
- Choose a tracker. Ascend is live on the App Store for iPhone. Free includes manual accounts, public-address crypto, net worth history, basic planning, and 15 Ask Ascend messages per month. Optional Pro adds automatic brokerage sync and deeper reporting; bank and unsupported retirement balances remain manual.
- Gather balances. Use your institution's own app or a recent statement. Record when each balance was checked.
- Enter assets and debts. Check how your chosen tracker represents liabilities so you do not accidentally add a debt to your assets.
- Reconcile the total. Add the figures independently once. If the tracker disagrees, inspect individual entries before trusting the result.
- Choose your next check-in date. A monthly routine is one possible starting point; choose a cadence you can maintain.
Avoid counting the same money twice
If a brokerage balance already includes its cash and investments, do not also add those holdings as separate assets. A transfer between two of your accounts does not create new wealth. Check both sides have updated before interpreting a change.
For a home, choose one consistent method: count the full estimated value as an asset and the mortgage as a debt, or count equity alone. Mixing equity with a separate mortgage subtraction counts the debt twice.
Keep the number useful
The first total is a baseline. Future comparisons are clearer when the account list, valuation method, and timing stay consistent. Record any change in scope, such as adding a previously omitted account, separately from a change in its balance.
Next, use the monthly check-in checklist. If you are deciding how to record balances, compare a spreadsheet with an iPhone app.