How to Calculate Your Net Worth in Canada (and Why XEQT Should Be the Core)

The first time I calculated my net worth, I was 27 years old and the number was negative. Not by a lot — about $4,200 in the red — but seeing a minus sign next to my name on a spreadsheet was a sobering experience. I had a decent job, I was paying my bills, I ate out regularly, and I genuinely believed I was doing fine financially. The net worth calculation told a different story.

That number — ugly as it was — changed everything. It gave me something concrete to track, something to improve, and something to build around. Within two years, I was net-worth positive. Within five, I had crossed $100,000. The single biggest driver of that growth was not a salary bump or an inheritance. It was consistently buying XEQT every payday and watching compound growth do its work.

This guide will show you exactly how to calculate your net worth, why it matters more than your salary, what Canadian benchmarks look like, and how to structure your finances so XEQT sits at the core of your wealth-building engine.

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1. What Is Net Worth (and Why It Matters More Than Your Salary)

Net worth is the simplest, most honest snapshot of your financial health. The formula is one line:

Net Worth = Total Assets - Total Liabilities

That is it. Add up everything you own that has value. Subtract everything you owe. The resulting number is your net worth.

Your salary tells you how much money flows through your hands. Your net worth tells you how much you have actually kept. I have met people earning $150,000 a year with a negative net worth, and people earning $55,000 with six figures in investments. The difference is almost always about spending habits and investing discipline — not income.

Here is why net worth matters:

• It captures the full picture. Income is one variable. Net worth accounts for debt, savings, investments, and spending habits all at once.
• It measures progress over time. Tracking net worth quarterly or annually shows you whether you are actually moving forward financially, not just treading water.
• It exposes hidden problems. High income with stagnant net worth means lifestyle inflation is eating your raises. Low income with growing net worth means your habits are solid.
• It is the foundation of financial independence. Retirement is not about income — it is about having enough assets to sustain your lifestyle without working. That is a net worth question.

2. The Net Worth Formula: What to Include

Let us walk through exactly what goes on each side of the equation.

Assets (What You Own)

A few notes on assets:

• XEQT holdings across all accounts are likely your most important asset for wealth building. Whether you hold XEQT in your TFSA, RRSP, or non-registered account, include the current market value.
• Your primary residence is a debatable inclusion. Some people include it because it has real market value. Others exclude it because you cannot easily convert it to income without selling. I include mine but track “net worth with home” and “net worth without home” separately. The second number is more useful for investment planning.
• Vehicles are depreciating assets, so including them can create a misleading sense of wealth. If you do include your car, use the current resale value (check AutoTrader or Canadian Black Book), not what you paid for it.
• CPP and OAS entitlements are not typically included in net worth calculations, even though they have real economic value. They are income streams, not assets you control.

Liabilities (What You Owe)

Include everything you owe. This is not the time to be optimistic. If you owe it, list it.

The Calculation

Here is a simplified example:

That is it. No complicated ratios or formulas. Just assets minus liabilities.

3. Average Net Worth in Canada by Age: Where Do You Stand?

Canadians love to know where they stand relative to their peers. Here are approximate net worth benchmarks by age, based on Statistics Canada data and adjusted for recent market conditions:

Important context:

• Median is more useful than average. A few ultra-wealthy individuals skew the average dramatically upward. The median (where half are above and half are below) gives you a more realistic picture.
• Home equity dominates. For most Canadians, the majority of their net worth is tied up in their home. This is not necessarily a good thing — you cannot eat your house. Liquid, investable net worth (your XEQT portfolio, savings, etc.) is what actually funds your retirement and financial independence.
• Do not panic if you are behind. These benchmarks include homeowners in markets that have appreciated dramatically. If you are a renter who has been diligently investing in XEQT, your investable net worth may actually be stronger than a homeowner who is house-rich but investment-poor.
• Your trajectory matters more than your snapshot. Whether your net worth is $5,000 or $500,000, the question that matters is: is it growing? If you are consistently adding to your XEQT position and avoiding unnecessary debt, you are on the right track regardless of where you stand today.

4. Why XEQT Should Be the Core of Your Net Worth

Your net worth is made up of many components, but not all assets are created equal. Cash loses value to inflation. Cars depreciate. Even real estate is illiquid, expensive to maintain, and concentrated in a single market. Your XEQT holdings are different. Here is why they deserve to be the largest, most important piece of your net worth:

Growth potential. XEQT gives you exposure to over 9,000 stocks across approximately 49 countries. Historically, global equities have returned roughly 7-10% annually over the long term. No savings account or GIC comes close.

Liquidity. Unlike real estate, you can sell XEQT on any business day and have cash in your account within two days. This gives your net worth flexibility that illiquid assets cannot match.

Low maintenance. XEQT automatically rebalances its underlying holdings. You do not need to manage it, monitor it, or make decisions about it. Buy more when you can. That is the entire management requirement.

Tax efficiency. In a TFSA, your XEQT growth is completely tax-free. In an RRSP, it grows tax-deferred. Even in a non-registered account, XEQT’s capital gains treatment is more favourable than interest income from savings or GICs.

Compounding. This is the big one. XEQT’s returns compound over time, meaning your gains generate their own gains. The longer you hold, the more powerful this effect becomes. At 8% annual returns, your money doubles roughly every 9 years. The earlier you make XEQT the core of your net worth, the more doubles you get.

Here is what that looks like in practice:

These numbers do not include additional contributions. If you are adding $500/month on top of your starting balance, the growth accelerates dramatically.

5. How to Track Your Net Worth (and How Often)

You do not need fancy software. A spreadsheet works perfectly. Here is a simple tracking approach:

Method 1: The Simple Spreadsheet

Create a Google Sheet or Excel file with these columns:

• Date
• TFSA balance
• RRSP balance
• FHSA balance
• Non-registered investments
• Savings accounts
• Other assets (home equity, vehicle)
• Total assets
• Mortgage balance
• Student loans
• Other debt
• Total liabilities
• Net worth (total assets - total liabilities)

Update it once per quarter (every 3 months). That is frequent enough to spot trends without obsessing over daily market fluctuations.

Method 2: Wealthsimple’s Built-In Tracking

If you hold your XEQT on Wealthsimple, the app shows your portfolio value across all account types in one view. You can see your TFSA, RRSP, non-registered, and FHSA balances all in one place. While this does not capture non-investment assets (like your home), it gives you a real-time view of your investable net worth — which is arguably the more important number.

How Often to Check

I track mine quarterly. On the first day of January, April, July, and October, I open my spreadsheet, update the numbers, and close it. The whole process takes about 15 minutes. That is enough to see trends, celebrate progress, and catch any issues — without the anxiety of watching daily fluctuations.

6. Five Strategies to Accelerate Your Net Worth With XEQT

Growing your net worth comes down to two levers: increasing assets and decreasing liabilities. Here are five concrete strategies that use XEQT as the engine:

Strategy 1: Automate Your XEQT Contributions

Set up automatic recurring purchases through your brokerage. Every payday, a fixed amount goes directly into XEQT. You never see the money in your chequing account, so you never miss it. This is the single most effective wealth-building habit you can develop.

Strategy 2: Direct Every Raise Toward XEQT

When you get a raise, increase your automatic XEQT contribution by the after-tax amount of the raise. Your lifestyle stays the same. Your net worth accelerates. This is how you avoid lifestyle creep — the silent killer of net worth growth.

Strategy 3: Use the Debt Avalanche, Then Redirect to XEQT

If you have high-interest debt (credit cards, personal loans), attack it aggressively using the avalanche method (highest interest rate first). Once the high-interest debt is gone, take every dollar you were putting toward debt and redirect it into XEQT. Your net worth will begin compounding in both directions — rising assets and falling liabilities.

Strategy 4: Maximize Your TFSA Before Anything Else

For most Canadians under 50, the TFSA should be your first priority. Growth inside a TFSA is permanently tax-free, which means every dollar of XEQT growth adds directly to your net worth without any future tax drag. If you have unused TFSA room, filling it with XEQT is the highest-impact financial move you can make.

Strategy 5: Track Investable Net Worth Separately

Start tracking two numbers: total net worth (including home) and investable net worth (liquid investments only). The second number is what actually determines your financial independence timeline and retirement readiness. A $1.5 million net worth that is 90% home equity is very different from one that is 60% XEQT.

7. Common Net Worth Mistakes Canadian Investors Make

Counting your home as “investable” wealth. Your home has real value, but you cannot spend it without selling, downsizing, or borrowing against it. Do not assume home equity will fund your retirement the same way an XEQT portfolio will.

Ignoring the after-tax value of your RRSP. Your RRSP balance is not fully yours — the CRA gets a portion when you withdraw. A $100,000 RRSP is worth roughly $60,000-$75,000 after tax, depending on your marginal rate at withdrawal. Your TFSA balance, on the other hand, is 100% yours. This distinction matters when comparing accounts.

Overvaluing depreciating assets. That $40,000 car you bought last year is probably worth $32,000 now. Including purchase prices instead of current resale values inflates your net worth on paper and creates a false sense of progress.

Not tracking at all. If you do not know your net worth, you cannot improve it intentionally. The act of calculating it — even if the number is uncomfortable — is the first step toward growth. Many people avoid the calculation precisely because they suspect the answer will be unpleasant. Do it anyway.

Comparing to social media. Everyone online is a millionaire. In reality, the median net worth for Canadians under 35 is around $50,000. If you have $20,000 in XEQT and no high-interest debt, you are doing better than you think.

8. What I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Net Worth at 25

I wish someone had shown me the math. Not the complicated financial planning math — just the simple arithmetic of what consistent XEQT purchases do to your net worth over time.

If I had started investing $400 per month in XEQT at 25 instead of 27, those two extra years would have added approximately $50,000 to my net worth by age 55, thanks to compound growth. Two years. Fifty thousand dollars. For doing absolutely nothing different except starting sooner.

I also wish someone had told me that a negative net worth at 25 is completely normal and not something to be ashamed of. Student debt is an investment in your future earning power. The key is not where you start — it is the direction you are moving and the habits you are building.

Today, my net worth is a number I am proud of, and the vast majority of its growth has come from one boringly simple habit: buying XEQT every payday, month after month, year after year. No fancy strategies. No stock picks. No market timing. Just the relentless, boring accumulation of shares in a single, globally diversified ETF.

Final Thoughts

Calculating your net worth takes 15 minutes. Tracking it quarterly takes another 15 minutes, four times a year. For a total of about one hour per year, you gain a crystal-clear picture of your financial trajectory — where you are, where you are headed, and whether your habits are working.

Make XEQT the engine of your net worth growth. Automate your contributions. Maximize your tax-sheltered accounts. Track your progress quarterly. And do not compare yourself to anyone except the version of you from last quarter.

Your net worth is not a measure of your value as a person. But it is a powerful tool for understanding your financial health, making informed decisions, and building the kind of security that lets you live life on your terms.