Net Worth Made Simple
Find what you have, what you owe and where you stand. This is your financial blue dot: not a judgement, not a life score, and definitely not your worth as a human being.
This week is about clarity. You will build a simple picture of your money, understand what each part is doing, and choose the next tiny step on your map to financial freedom.
Feeling like this is a massive mountain? Start tiny. Read The Insurmountable Mountain if you need a gentle kick-start before doing the numbers.
Week 2 in one calm, useful snapshot
This week is about finding your financial starting point. Not perfectly. Not painfully. Just clearly enough that you can stop guessing and choose your next step.
Net worth is your blue dot
Before a map can help you, it needs to know where you are. Your net worth is your financial “you are here” marker.
Net worth is not self-worth
This number is not a judgement of your life. It is information. No shame, no beating yourself up, no comparing pineapples.
The split reveals the truth
Total net worth tells you how much you have. The split tells you what your money is actually doing.
Every part has a job
Freedom Fund buys time. Cash keeps life working. Valuable liabilities can give security. Debt takes from future-you.
Your gap has a mission
Once you create a positive gap, the map helps you decide what to do next: emergency fund, debt, full buffer, then investing.
Direction beats starting point
You might be starting in debt, at zero, or with a big house and tiny Freedom Fund. What matters now is the direction you choose.
If you only do one thing this week, do this: find your financial blue dot. Then head to the Freedom Work and take the next tiny step.
If you can answer these, you are flying
This is not a test. No one is marking your homework. These questions are here to help you work out whether Week 2 will give you more clarity, confidence and direction.
Do you know your current net worth?
Not a perfect number. Just a clear enough snapshot of where you are today.
Do you know what you own and what you owe?
Homes, pensions, investments, cash, mortgages, loans, credit cards and anything else that matters.
Do you know your money picture?
How much is Freedom Fund, valuable liabilities, cash and planned spending, and debt?
Do you know how much cash is enough?
Enough for emergencies and planned spending, without leaving too much sitting around getting eaten by inflation.
Do you have a simple way to update it?
A tracker, spreadsheet, notebook or system you can come back to without needing a lie down.
If your answer is “not yet”, you are in exactly the right place.
Week 2 helps you find your financial blue dot, understand the split, and choose the next tiny step. No shame. No panic. Just data you can use.
If you only do one thing this week, find your financial blue dot
Freedom Work is not about being perfect. It is about taking the next useful step. This week, your job is to stop guessing, build a simple picture of where you stand, and choose what to do next.
Feature tool: Sketch your split
Before you disappear into pension logins and exact numbers, use the Split Tool to make a rough first sketch of your money picture.
How much is in your Freedom Fund? How much is in valuable liabilities? How much is in cash and planned spending? How much is debt? Best guesses and round numbers are perfect.
Sketch your split
Use the Split Tool to get a quick first look at your money picture: Freedom Fund, valuable liabilities, cash and planned spending, and debt.
Build your detailed net worth
Use the updated 2026 Net Worth Tracker to list what you own, what you owe, and what is left. Start with what you know and improve it as you go.
Find your place on the map
Are you building a starter emergency fund, attacking expensive debt, building a full emergency fund, or getting ready to invest?
Take the next tiny step
Put £1 or $1 into the emergency fund. Start your debt list. Work out your full buffer. Find an old pension. Tiny steps count.
Keen bean extra credit
- Find old pension pots, workplace pensions, SIPPs, 401(k)s, KiwiSaver, superannuation or your local equivalent.
- If you have debt, start a simple list with the balance, interest rate and minimum payment.
- If you are working with a partner, agree a calm time to look at the numbers together. No ambush finance meetings, please.
Use the tool that helps you take the next step
You do not need to use everything on this page today. Start with the tool that helps you move from guessing to knowing. Rough sketch first. Detailed tracker next. One step at a time.
1. Sketch your split
Use this quick tool to get a rough visual picture of your net worth. Add best guesses for your Freedom Fund, valuable liabilities, cash and planned spending, and debts.
2. Build your detailed net worth
Use the updated 2026 Net Worth Tracker guide to make your own copy, list what you own, list what you owe, and see whether your money is moving in the right direction.
Emergency Fund guide
Work out why the first buffer matters, where to keep it, and how to build towards a full emergency fund.
Watch the sessions
Watch Monday’s teaching and the practical session where we fill out the net worth tracker with you.
AI Prompt Library
Use AI as a kind helper to explain concepts, create checklists and choose one next tiny action.
Transcript Library
Download transcripts, search the teaching and use them with AI when you want to revisit the lesson.
Mission Control
Lost, behind or not sure what to do next? Head back to the main Rebel Finance School course hub.
Quick privacy reminder
We do not need your numbers. The Split Tool is for your rough sketch, and the tracker guide helps you make your own copy. If you use AI, remove anything sensitive first: names, account numbers, addresses, sort codes, card numbers and anything you would not want shown on a slide.
Learn it, then do it with us
Monday is the big teaching session: what net worth is, why the split matters, and how this connects to freedom. The practical session is where we slow it down, open the tracker, and work through the numbers together.
Net Worth Made Simple
Find what you have, what you owe and where you stand. Watch this first if you want the full Week 2 teaching before you start filling things in.
Fill out the Net Worth Tracker with us
This is the do-it-with-us session. Open the tracker, bring your questions, and work through your net worth alongside the Donegans.
Want to read, search or ask AI about the teaching?
Use the Transcript Library when you want to revisit the words, search for a specific explanation, or paste a section into AI for a plain-English summary.
The core ideas from Week 2
These notes are here to help the teaching settle. You do not need to memorise every phrase or become fluent in finance today. Read the section you need, take the next step, and come back when you want the next layer.
What do you want to understand?
1. Society’s scoreboard is incomplete
Most of us were handed a scoreboard before we were old enough to question it. Big house. Nice car. Good job. High income. Paid-off mortgage. Cash in the bank. None of those things are automatically bad, but they are not the whole picture.
Society tends to applaud visible wealth because visible wealth is easy to see. You can see the house, the car, the job title and the extension. You cannot see someone’s pension, investments, debt, gap, emergency fund or how close they are to buying back their time.
That is the danger. You can look successful on society’s scoreboard and still have very little money set up to pay for your life later. You can have a high net worth on paper and still not have a Freedom Fund that gives you options.
The Rebel shift
2. Net worth is your financial blue dot
When you open a map, the first thing it needs to know is where you are. Without that blue dot, directions are useless. You cannot navigate from “somewhere”.
Your net worth is the same. It shows your current financial location: what you own, what you owe, and what is left. It does not tell the whole story, but it gives you a starting point.
This is why Week 2 matters. We are not calculating net worth so you can feel good or bad about yourself. We are calculating it so you can stop guessing and start navigating.
Net worth is not self-worth
If your number is negative, you are not a failure. If your number is positive, you are not magically sorted. Either way, you now have information you can use.
3. What is net worth?
In plain English, your net worth is what would be left if you sold everything you own and paid off everything you owe.
That does not mean you are actually going to sell everything. Please do not panic-sell the sofa. It is just a way to create a snapshot of your financial position at one moment in time.
Think of this as your financial “before shot”. It might feel exciting, boring, surprising or uncomfortable. All of that is normal. The point is not to judge the number. The point is to finally see it clearly.
The simple formula
It is a snapshot
Spending is measured over time. Net worth is a picture at one point in time.
It is your before shot
Once you know where you started, you can look back later and see how far you have come.
It is not the whole story
The total number is useful, but the split tells you what your money is actually doing.
Ready to make this real? Use the 2026 Net Worth Tracker guide when you want to build your detailed version.
Open the Net Worth Tracker Guide4. Your money picture has four parts
Your total net worth is useful, but it does not tell you the whole story. Two people can have the same net worth and be in completely different financial positions.
The split shows what your money is actually doing. Is it buying future freedom? Giving you security and lifestyle? Keeping life working? Or paying for past spending?
The idea in four slides
From total number to money picture
Every part has a job
Freedom Fund buys future income. Valuable liabilities can give lifestyle and security. Cash and planned spending keep life working. Debt is paying for past spending. The aim is not to worship one part. The aim is to understand the balance.
| Element | Freedom Fund | Valuable Liabilities | Cash & Planned Spending | Debts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job | Future income. This is the money that can buy your time back. | Lifestyle and security. Useful, valuable, but often expensive to own. | Cash cushion. Keeps life working and covers short or medium-term spending. | Past spending. Money future-you still has to pay back. |
| Include if | It earns money, creates income, or is designed to grow your future freedom. | It has value, but owning it costs you money. | It is set aside for emergencies, tax, holidays, bills or planned spending. | You owe it and it reduces your net worth. |
| Examples |
|
|
|
|
| Watch out | Do not invest money you need soon. Future freedom matters, but today still needs to work. | You cannot eat the bricks. A big home can still leave you with nothing to live on. | Too much cash can quietly make you poorer over time because of inflation. | Expensive debt can steal your gap before you even get to use it. |
Job
Future income. This is the money that can buy your time back.
Include if
It earns money, creates income, or is designed to grow your future freedom.
Examples
- Workplace pensions
- SIPPs, 401(k), KiwiSaver, superannuation
- Stocks and Shares ISAs or investment accounts
- Profitable investment property equity
- Defined Benefit pensions, rough estimate: annual benefit × 25
Watch out
Do not invest money you need soon. Future freedom matters, but today still needs to work.
Job
Lifestyle and security. Useful, valuable, but often expensive to own.
Include if
It has value, but owning it costs you money.
Examples
- Equity in the home you live in
- Equity in a holiday home
- Loss-making investment property equity
- Other valuable things that cost money to own
Watch out
You cannot eat the bricks. A big home can still leave you with nothing to live on.
Job
Cash cushion. Keeps life working and covers short or medium-term spending.
Include if
It is set aside for emergencies, tax, holidays, bills or planned spending.
Examples
- Emergency fund
- Tax savings
- Holiday savings
- Christmas or annual bills pot
- Cash ISAs, savings accounts, Premium Bonds or cash-like accounts
Watch out
Too much cash can quietly make you poorer over time because of inflation.
Job
Past spending. Money future-you still has to pay back.
Include if
You owe it and it reduces your net worth.
Examples
- Credit card balances
- Store cards
- Personal loans
- Car finance
- Student loans, depending on your country and scheme
- Negative-equity shortfalls
Watch out
Expensive debt can steal your gap before you even get to use it.
The balance matters
Want to see your own money picture? Start with a rough sketch. Perfect numbers can come later.
Open the Split Tool5. Freedom Fund: the part that buys your time back
The Freedom Fund is the part of your net worth that can help pay for your life in the future. It is the money that can eventually give you more choice over your time, your work and your energy.
In Rebel Finance School language, an asset is something that earns you money. It might pay income, produce rent, pay dividends, or grow over time as part of a long-term investing plan.
This is why we separate Freedom Fund from everything else. A big house might have value, and cash might feel safe, but your Freedom Fund is the bit that can eventually help buy freedom.
Asset: buys an income
In our definition, an asset is something that can earn money by owning it. It might generate income now, or be designed to grow and support future income.
- Pensions and retirement accounts
- Stocks and Shares ISAs or investment accounts
- Global index funds
- Profitable rental property equity
Speculation: hopes the price goes up
Speculation is buying something and hoping someone else pays more for it later. That might happen. It might not. It is not the same as buying an income.
- Gold, jewellery or art
- Wine, whisky or collectibles
- Crypto or other speculative bets
- Anything that relies mainly on selling to someone else later
Freedom Fund in three slides
Assets, examples and speculation
You may already have some Freedom Fund
If you have a workplace pension, employer pension, 401(k), KiwiSaver, superannuation or similar retirement account, you may already have assets. You might not have optimised them yet, and that is completely fine. We will cover investing in much more detail later in the course.
Freedom Fund is powerful, but today still has to work
Want to see how much of your net worth is buying future freedom? Sketch your split, then build the detailed version in the tracker.
Open the Split Tool Open Net Worth Tracker Guide6. Valuable liabilities: useful, valuable, but not buying your freedom
This is the bit that can feel challenging at first. Most of us were taught that our home is our biggest asset. In the Rebel Finance School framework, we look at it differently.
Your home can be valuable. Your home can be important. Your home can give security. We are not anti-home. We are saying that the home you live in usually costs money to own, so it is not the same as a Freedom Fund asset.
That is why we call it a valuable liability. It has value, but it also has costs: mortgage, maintenance, insurance, repairs, utilities, and all the other bits that appear when a building decides to be dramatic.
It can have value
If you own a home, the equity can be a meaningful part of your net worth.
It can give security
A home can provide stability, comfort and a place to build life around.
It usually costs money
Even a paid-off home still needs maintenance, insurance, bills and repairs.
Valuable liabilities in four slides
Property, profit and bricks
Tiny rental property decision box
This box is for rental properties, not the home you live in. With rentals, the question is not “is it property?” The question is “does it make money after costs?”
Need help doing the property maths?
Use the Return on Equity Property Calculator to estimate whether an investment property is actually making money and what return you are getting on the equity tied up in it.
The balance matters
Valuable liabilities have a job. They can support lifestyle and security. The danger is when too much of your wealth is locked in things that cost money to own, leaving too little Freedom Fund or cash to actually live on.
Quick warning: do not panic-remortgage
If you realise most of your net worth is in your home, that does not mean you should immediately borrow against it to invest. Borrowing to invest can be dangerous. Hold your horses. Learn the full process first.
Want to see how much of your net worth is in valuable liabilities? Sketch your split and notice what your money picture looks like.
Open the Split Tool7. Cash & Planned Spending: keeps life working
Cash has a job. It is not there to impress anyone, and it is not there to buy your freedom. Cash is there to keep life working.
This includes your emergency fund, money for short or medium-term spending, tax bills, holidays, Christmas, car repairs, annual bills, and anything else you know is coming.
The trick is balance. Too little cash can make every wobble feel like a crisis. Too much cash can quietly make you poorer over time because inflation reduces what your money can buy.
Your cash target
The science part
Work out your no-frills monthly spending. This is not your normal dream-life spending. It is what life would cost if you tightened your belt for a while.
Then multiply that number by 3 and by 6. That gives you a sensible emergency fund range.
The art part
Choose where you want to sit in that range. A more stable job, fewer dependants and strong backup support might point you closer to 3 months.
Less predictable income, dependants, health worries or limited backup support might point you closer to 6 months.
What cash is for
Cash is useful. Cash is not king.
Cash feels safe, and some cash is essential. But if too much of your wealth sits in cash for too long, inflation can quietly reduce what that money can buy. Cash keeps life working. Your Freedom Fund buys future freedom.
Want to work out your own cash number? Start with your no-frills monthly spending, multiply by 3 and 6, then add planned spending pots.
Read the Emergency Fund GuideQuick guide: how to calculate no-frills spending
No-frills spending is not your dream life number. It is your “if life threw a wobbly, what would we need to keep going?” number. You are not trying to punish yourself. You are trying to work out the cash cushion that would help you feel steady.
How to estimate it
- 1Start with your normal monthly spending. Week 1 tracking gives you the best starting point.
- 2Keep the essentials. Housing, food, utilities, transport, insurance, basic health costs, minimum debt payments and anything you genuinely need.
- 3Remove or reduce the flexible stuff. Eating out, holidays, upgrades, subscriptions, treats and spending you would pause if income stopped.
- 4Choose a realistic monthly number. Not fantasy survival mode. Not normal full spending. A sensible stripped-back version of your life.
- 5Multiply by 3 and 6. That gives you your emergency fund range.
Simple example
Tiny reminder: this is a target range, not another stick to beat yourself with. If you do not have it yet, brilliant. Now you know what you are building towards.
8. Debt: paying for past spending
Debt can be one of the most emotionally loaded parts of net worth. If this is your situation, please hear this clearly: debt is not a judgement of your character. It is information.
In the money picture, debt is money you owe. It reduces your net worth because future-you still has to pay it back.
That is why expensive debt can be so damaging. It does not just sit there. It steals your future gap before you even get to use it.
Paying off debt is working towards freedom
If you are paying off debt, you are not behind the course. You are doing freedom work. Every pound, dollar or euro of expensive debt you remove gives future-you more room to breathe.
Debt is not shame
Shame makes people hide. Data helps people act. We want the data, not the drama.
Debt is future spending
Debt means money from future-you is already committed to something from the past.
Debt payoff is progress
Reducing debt improves your net worth and moves you closer to having a usable gap.
Want to get ready for the debt week?
We go deeper into the debt attack strategy in Week 4. If you want to prepare without overwhelming yourself, start a simple debt list with these four columns.
Debt Attack Strategy: the full plan comes in Week 4
Week 2 is about seeing the debt clearly. Week 4 is where we go deeper into debt, compounding, expensive interest rates and the full Debt Attack Strategy.
Use the Debt Attack Strategy page
This is the detailed how-to guide for getting out of expensive debt. It walks through clarity, prioritising by interest rate, reducing rates, kick-starting the payoff, widening your gap, attacking one debt at a time and keeping momentum.
Open Debt Attack StrategyGo deeper in Week 4
Week 4 covers debt, compounding and the practical strategy for demolishing expensive debt. If debt is part of your money picture, this is a key week.
Open Week 4 NotesSpecial note on student loans and mortgages
Not all debt behaves the same way. Student loans, mortgages and country-specific schemes can work very differently. Do not panic or make rushed decisions. For now, list the details. We will come back to debt properly in Week 4.
Student loans are especially nuanced. Depending on your country, loan plan, income, interest rate and whether you are likely to pay the loan off, a student loan may behave more like a tax or more like a debt to attack. If this applies to you, read our student loans guide and watch the video before making decisions.
Tiny action: if you have debt, make the list. You do not have to solve it all today. Start by seeing it clearly.
Open Net Worth Tracker Guide9. The split reveals the truth
Total net worth tells you how much you have. The split tells you what your money is doing.
That is why two people with the same net worth can be in completely different positions. One might have most of their wealth in a Freedom Fund. Another might have most of it in a home, too much cash, or debt.
This is not about judgement. It is about clarity. Once you can see the shape of your money, you can choose the next useful step.
House rich, cash poor
You might have a big net worth on paper, but if most of it is locked in your home, it may not help pay for life.
Cash heavy, inflation exposed
Cash can feel safe, but too much cash for too long can quietly lose buying power.
Debt stealing the gap
Debt means future income is already committed. The split helps you see how much future-you is carrying.
The split in four slides
No shame, just data
Do not compare your pineapples
The goal is not to copy anyone else’s split. The goal is to understand your own. Your age, country, family situation, job, health, housing, tax system and goals all matter. Start with your blue dot.
Ready to see your money picture? Use the Split Tool for a rough first look, then use the Net Worth Tracker Guide for the detailed version.
Open the Split Tool Open Net Worth Tracker Guide10. Wealth is a repeatable process
This is the bit that gives me so much hope. Wealth is not only for lottery winners, people with inheritances, business exits, or people who magically picked the right thing at the right time.
There is a repeatable process. It is not flashy. It is not instant. It is not a get-rich-quick circus. It is simple, boring, powerful and available to far more people than society teaches us.
Your current split is not your destiny. You can build a gap, use that gap wisely, and slowly change what your net worth is made of.
The Rebel wealth process
Your blue dot is not your final destination
Week 2 shows where you are. It does not decide where you will end up. The map, the gap and the process help you change direction. Small actions repeated over time can completely change your money picture.
Want the deeper mindset shift? Read the full article on whether wealth is luck or a repeatable process.
Read Wealth: Luck or Process?What do you do with your gap?
Week 1 helped you find your gap. Week 2 helped you find your financial blue dot. Now the map helps you decide where that gap should go next.
Your gap is the fuel. Your net worth is the blue dot. The map tells you what to do next.
How to use the map
Do not jump to the exciting investing bit if your foundations are wobbly. The map is here to help you build in the right order.
Start at the top. Work down until you find the first step that is not yet solid. That is the next job for your gap.
One job at a time. One step at a time. No leaping off cliffs. Build the bridge.
The next-step ladder
Work down the ladder until you find the first step that is not yet solid. That is where your next bit of gap probably needs to go.
Create a positive gap
Spend less than you earn. Without a gap, the rest of the map has no fuel.
Build starter cash
Get a small emergency fund in place so life’s wobbles do not immediately become debt.
Attack expensive debt
Debt can steal your gap before you get to use it. Week 4 goes deeper into the debt attack strategy.
Build full cash protection
Build towards 3 to 6 months of no-frills spending, plus planned spending pots.
Invest for freedom
Once the foundations are strong, your gap can start building your Freedom Fund.
Your cash target, explained properly
Cash has two jobs on the map. It protects you from emergencies, and it pays for planned spending that you know is coming. Your cash target is the total of both jobs.
The emergency fund part is for genuine wobbles: losing income, urgent repairs, health costs, car trouble, or life throwing a pineapple at your head. The planned spending part is for things you already know are coming: tax, insurance, Christmas, holidays, annual bills, car maintenance and other sinking funds.
Simple example
If your no-frills spending is £2,000 a month, your emergency fund range is £6,000 to £12,000. If you also need £3,000 for tax, insurance and known bills, your cash target could be £9,000 to £15,000. This is not exact science. It is a useful range to help you stop guessing.
The science is the maths: 3 to 6 months of no-frills spending, plus planned spending pots. The art is choosing where you sit in that range based on job stability, dependants, backup support, health, income predictability and life stage.
Enough cash protects you. Too much cash for too long can slow your long-term wealth building. The goal is not the biggest cash pile. The goal is the right cash pile for your life.
Useful guides for this part of the map
These guides sit here because they support the steps on the map. Use the emergency fund guide when you are building cash protection. Use the debt resources when expensive debt is the next job for your gap.
Your next action: find the first step on the ladder that is not yet solid, then give your next bit of gap that job.
Back to Mission ControlUse AI as a thinking partner, not your financial boss
AI can help you understand the course, ask better questions, turn confusion into a checklist, and choose one tiny next step. It is not here to run your financial life. You stay in charge.
Meet your spreadsheet sidekick
If you find yourself staring at a tracker, avoiding the numbers, or thinking “I have no idea what to do next”, AI can help you simplify the work.
Use AI to explain ideas, create checklists, prepare for a money conversation, classify tricky items, or choose one tiny next step. Then check the answer, use your judgement, and take action.
AI can help you think. It cannot care about your life more than you do.
Good ways to use AI in Week 2
Two helpful AI resources
Use the Prompt Library when you want ready-made questions. Use the Transcript Library when you want AI to work from the actual course teaching.
AI Prompt Library
Ready-made prompts to help you understand the course, ask better questions, and keep moving when money feels confusing.
Transcript Library
Use the RFS transcripts with AI to revisit the teaching, summarise key ideas, and turn the lesson into action.
A simple starter prompt for Week 2
Copy this into your AI tool when you want help applying Week 2. For better answers, paste the relevant Week 2 net worth transcript section underneath it.
Privacy first. Always.
Do not paste sensitive financial information into AI. Remove names, addresses, account numbers, sort codes, card numbers, reference numbers and anything you would not want shown on a slide. AI can help you think, but you are still responsible for checking the answer and making your own decisions.
Want the full prompt list? Open the Prompt Library. Want better context? Use the Transcript Library with the prompt above.
Open AI Prompt Library Open Transcript Library🎉 Net-Worth Knockout – Week 2 Quiz
1. What is the first step in the "Steps to Getting Wealthy" process?
2. What is considered "expensive debt" according to the course?
3. Why should you have a fully funded emergency fund before investing?
4. What is the recommended size of a fully funded emergency fund?
5. What is one of the key messages from Week 2?
6. What are your key tasks for Week 2? (Select all that apply)
🏆 Certificate of Achievement
You've mastered Week 2: Building Your Financial Fortress!
Financial Superhero
Keep building that emergency fund and tracking your net worth!
Does this work if I am not in the UK?
Yes. The names of the accounts, pensions, tax wrappers and banking products change by country, but the core Rebel Finance School process travels brilliantly.
A UK “current account” might be called a checking account, chequing account, everyday account, transaction account or something else where you live. Pensions and retirement accounts also have different names: workplace pensions, SIPPs, 401(k)s, IRAs, KiwiSaver, superannuation and more.
Do not get stuck because your country uses different words. The local details matter, especially tax rules and account types, but the Week 2 job is the same: work out what you own, what you owe, where your money sits, and what your next step might be.
The products change. The principles travel.
The principles that travel
Join the community that fits you best
The course is global, but it helps to have people nearby who understand your country’s language, accounts and quirks. Pick the group that is most relevant to you.
Week 2 questions people ask all the time
Net worth brings up brilliant questions. Some are maths questions. Some are “where does this thing go?” questions. Some are emotional “am I doing this wrong?” questions. Start here.
Reminder: your net worth is not your self-worth. This is data, not judgement.
What if my net worth is negative?
Then your net worth is negative. That is not a judgement of you as a human being. It is simply the current snapshot: what you own minus what you owe.
A negative number can still be incredibly useful because it gives you a starting point. If your debts go down, your cash protection improves, or your assets grow, your direction of travel is improving.
The goal is not to feel bad. The goal is to stop guessing and choose the next step.
Do I include the home I live in?
Yes, include the equity in the home you live in. Equity means the estimated value of the home minus the mortgage or loan secured against it.
In the Rebel Finance School split, we usually put the home you live in under Valuable Liabilities. It can be valuable. It can give security. It may be deeply important to your life. But it usually costs money to own and does not directly pay your bills.
That is why we separate it from the Freedom Fund.
How do I value a Defined Benefit pension?
For a rough net worth tracker estimate, use:
Annual pension income × 25
For example, if a Defined Benefit pension is expected to pay £10,000 per year, a rough tracker value would be £250,000.
This is not a formal actuarial valuation. It is a simple estimate to help you include the pension in your money picture. If you need a precise valuation for legal, tax, divorce, transfer or professional planning reasons, get proper specialist advice.
Do I include my mortgage?
Do not list the full house value and the full mortgage separately in the Split Tool. Instead, use the equity.
For example, if your home is worth £300,000 and the mortgage is £200,000, the equity is £100,000. That £100,000 would usually go under Valuable Liabilities for the home you live in.
In a detailed net worth tracker, you may choose to show the property value and mortgage separately so you can see the calculation clearly. But when looking at the split, the key number is the equity.
What if my home or rental property is in negative equity?
Negative equity means the mortgage or loan is bigger than the property value.
For the Split Tool, we would generally enter 0 for the property equity and put the shortfall in Debts.
For example, if a property is worth £180,000 and the mortgage is £200,000, there is a £20,000 shortfall. In the split, the property equity would be 0 and the £20,000 shortfall would be listed as debt.
Where do rental properties go?
It depends on the maths.
- If the rental property makes a profit after costs, it may belong in your Freedom Fund.
- If the rental property loses money each month or year, it is probably a Valuable Liability or speculation.
- If you do not know yet, work out the numbers before deciding.
The key question is not “is it property?” The key question is “does it put money in your pocket after costs?”
Should I include my car?
We don't now include cars in our net-worth. The reason is that they go down in value every year and when most people come to sell they have to buy a new one and will never realise any of the value sat in the car!
Cars usually cost money to own: insurance, repairs, fuel, depreciation, servicing and sometimes finance. If you include a car, be realistic about its resale value and do not count it as part of your Freedom Fund. It is a valuable liability at best.
If there is car finance, include the amount you owe as debt or show the car value and finance clearly in your detailed tracker so you can see the net position.
Should I include jewellery, art, gold, crypto, wine, whisky or collectibles?
Be careful. In Rebel Finance School language, we usually separate assets from speculation.
An asset earns money by owning it. Speculation is buying something and hoping someone else pays more for it later.
If something is speculative, hard to value, hard to sell, or mostly valuable because you hope the price will rise, we would not usually put it in the Freedom Fund. If you want to track it, keep it separate and be conservative.
Where do student loans go?
Student loans are nuanced and depend heavily on the country, loan type, repayment rules, interest rate and whether you are likely to repay the loan in full.
For now, list the details: balance, interest rate, repayment terms and whether repayments are income-based. Do not panic or rush into overpaying without understanding how your loan works.
How accurate does my net worth need to be?
Accurate enough to be useful. Not perfect enough to stop you starting.
Use best guesses where you need to. Round numbers are fine for the first version. You can improve the tracker over time as you find pension logins, account balances, loan details and better property estimates.
Version 1 is meant to create clarity, not spreadsheet perfection.
How often should I update my net worth?
Monthly is brilliant if you enjoy tracking and want to build the habit. Quarterly is fine if monthly feels too much. Annually is better than never.
The real power is seeing the direction of travel over time. One month can wiggle around. The trend is what matters.
What if I am doing this with a partner?
Pick a calm time. Do not ambush someone with a surprise spreadsheet and a terrifying look in your eyes.
Start with curiosity. You could say: “I am doing Week 2 of Rebel Finance School and I would love us to understand our money picture together. Could we set aside some time to look at it together?”
If emotions come up, slow down. The goal is not to win an argument. The goal is to build a shared picture and choose the next step together.
We have one net-worth tracker that we (Katie and Alan) fill out together.
What if I am outside the UK?
The account names, tax wrappers and retirement products change by country, but the principles still travel.
Your job is to understand your local equivalents: bank accounts, pensions, retirement accounts, tax-efficient wrappers, debt rules and investing options. The process remains the same: know your gap, know your net worth, understand your split, build cash protection, attack expensive debt, and invest simply when ready.
The products change. The principles travel.
What if looking at the number makes me feel overwhelmed?
Pause. Breathe. You do not have to solve your entire financial life today.
Your net worth is a starting point, not a sentence. If the whole task feels too big, do one tiny thing: find one pension login, list one debt, estimate one property value, or open the Split Tool and use rough numbers.
Confusing does not mean impossible. It just means we need to slow it down.
We teach. You decide.
Rebel Finance School is here to help you understand your money, ask better questions, and make more confident decisions. We are not here to take over your financial life.
This is financial education, not personalised financial advice.
We can teach the framework, explain the maths, share tools, tell stories, and help you see the next useful step. But your life, country, tax system, family situation, job, health, risk tolerance, goals and responsibilities are yours.
Use everything here as a starting point for clearer thinking. Check your own numbers. Make the tools fit your life. If you need personal advice about tax, pensions, investments, debt, legal issues or major financial decisions, speak to a properly qualified professional in your country.
No shame, just data
Your numbers are not a verdict on your worth. They are information you can use to choose the next step.
No comparison pineapples
Do not compare your net worth, split, debt, house, pension or progress with anyone else’s. Start from your blue dot.
No panic moves
Do not remortgage, sell investments, attack student loans, move pensions, or make big decisions because one page made you wobble.
Use the community for support, not comparison
The Rebel Finance School community is here to help you feel less alone, ask better questions, celebrate progress, and keep going. It is not a place to compete over who has the biggest net worth, the smallest spending, or the most impressive spreadsheet.
Ask questions. Share wins. Cheer each other on. Be kind. Remember that people arrive here with different countries, currencies, incomes, life stages, family responsibilities and starting points.
Protect your privacy
Whether you are using Facebook, AI tools, spreadsheets, screenshots or comments, please protect your personal information.
- Do not post account numbers, sort codes, card numbers or reference numbers.
- Do not share addresses, full names, screenshots with sensitive details, or anything you would not want public.
- If you use AI, remove anything personally sensitive before pasting data into the tool.
- If you share a screenshot, check the whole image first. Spreadsheet tabs, browser bars and file names can reveal more than you expect.
- If in doubt, anonymise more than you think you need to.
The aim is clarity, not perfection. Take what helps, check what matters, ignore what does not fit, and keep moving one tiny step at a time.
Great session last night and the summary notes are brilliant. Now to read the full article!
Gemma thank you so much. We worked all day improving these so thank you. That comments means so much! THANK YOU.
Excellent work — This week’s version goes more deeply than last year’s, but perhaps this is just a recasting of the content for all of us. All-in-all super-valuable and better than ever. Thank you so very much!
Hey Jessica, it went WAY deeper and we pulled out the main themes. We spent a week re-writing and improving it and making it better and then article about your net-worth split was completely new! We worked hard on that one! Thank you for commenting and I am so glad you enjoyed it
I LOVED this summary, thank-you. Some of the sessions I am already pretty familiar with the concepts (like this one), so I appreciate just have a fairly fast read to make sure there isn’t anything revelatory I’m missing, more than listening to the whole youtube session at 7am NZ time -also I had to go to work when it was on yesterday! So I can still catch up pretty quickly. Great development.
Hey Jacqui glad you like the notes. We poured our energy and life force into those to make them happen so I am so glad they are useful! YAY. The new bits this week was mainly this article as a concept in the course: https://rebeldonegans.com/if-you-do-what-everyone-else-does/ Did you catch this one?
I did, thank-you. I am looking forward to week 3!
Awesome
Thank you for such a clear, insightful and well structured summary. Made it so much easier to grasp the key points. Truly grateful for your help.
YAY! Rafath that is awesome to hear. We spend so long writing the notes and improving them! Alan
Thank you so much for these notes. It’s so helpful to have somewhere to refer back to. We have been tracking our network for about a year but the tracker we were using included house, car and contents so we were feeling quite smug about the number… feeling a little be worried about what it will look like minus these 😬 but what is measured get improved 🤞
We are loving the course! Thank you so much for all the time you put into creating the resources and the content!
Alice you are awesome. The key is to look without these (well the house stays in as a valuable liability) so you know what you actually have as a freedom fund! Let us know how you get on!
Love this. Very clear and easy to understand. Thanks
Thanks Karen! That is AWESOME
Love the summary and the notes. Summary and notes are great reinforcement of the learning material. Love the quiz too. Thank you so much Rebel Donegans and your team for sharing your time and producing such an excellent course.
YAY! thank you. Steve the ninja did the quiz and we wrote the notes. We had so much fun doing it. THANK YOU for commenting. Alan
Love the summarized points at the beginning; they give us the overview what to expect and focus on.
Marta, thank you so much for commenting! it means a HUGE amount! Alan
Kia ora everyone! Belen here from kiwi islands and originally from Argentina! Just done with wk2. Really useful content to start managing my finances in a more tidy way and to maximize them as well. Enjoying how the corse is displayed, notes are brilliant, the Donegans are out of space with the way you teach: fun, visual, positive attitude and puts you on motivation mode. Thank you guys, much appreaciated! Got into this by a kiwi friend and I’m already sharing with others. Keep it Up! Cheers! :)
Belen, thank you so much for writing. We have had so much fun putting the course together. You are AWESOME. We love creating this stuff for you. Thank you for coming along! ALan
Like the summarised points at the beginning of week 2, really helps me to focus. Loving the course and learning alot. Thank you for all your hard work.
Thank you so much
The summarised points at the beginning of week 2 are great and really helps me to focus. Loving the course and learning alot. Thank you for all your hard work.
Thanks Debbie. That is awesome to know. Will write them again for week 3 onwards! YAY
Another great video! Thank you so much. It’s probably too late to mention, but I have notice twice now you have the wrong flag for New Zealand you’re showing the Australian flag…😉 NZ = 🇳🇿(Four stars)
Keri, we got it wrong in this video. The next video has an official apology to everyone in NZ! Sorry about that. We were mortified to find out our mistake. THANK YOU for pointing it out. We can’t change this one but we can apologise and do better next time. So glad you enjoyed week 2! Sending you happiness.
I’m really enjoying the course! I always thought I was good with money because I save regularly (I don’t invest … yet!). This week’s session was a real eye opener and the coloured graphs helped me understand how I can improve moving forward.
I love an Excel sheet and had one for the last 3 years. I’ll be using yours moving forward! I love how geeky and detailed it is 🙂
Thanks Donegans for explaining everything in lay-men’s terms! Grateful for all the time and effort you’ve put into this course!
Geraldine, thanks for replying and commenting. This made my day! YAY. I am so glad it helped. We worked hard to explain the split section you are referring to and the difference between the home one lives in and the Freedom fund! Sending you happiness and thank you for writing. Alan
Just finished my (our) net worth tracker, we have Mac laptops so not all the cells populated automatically. However I managed to sort it out. My question is currently we are not taking our (DB) pensions so they are sitting in the freedom fund, as of March 2026 we will be taking some of them. You said in Q&A that once you’re receiving them they are no longer in your FF. My OH will still be employed has only dropped 10%. If they are no longer in our freedom fund that will drop significantly (6 figures). I’m confused by that. Can you explain further?
Hey Hayls, awesome work getting it to work! you wouldn’t have a blank Numbers version we could upload to our website for other people who are asking for it?
the answer to your question. They can still sit in your freedom fund. the amount you put in there 25x is a rough valuation of them. What I think I might have been talking about is that when you are taking them you are getting the income and that is cashflow, or money in and isn’t on your net-worth tracker.
They can absolutely stay on your net worth tracker as you will be getting that amount monthly / annually for the rest of your life.
So if you get 10,000 annually the amount on your net-worth tracker would show 250,000 and then the actual money that comes in is income.
It is sometimes useful to see the elements split out between DB and DC pensions so you don’t over draw on the DC pension.
Does that help?
Alan
Thank you so much, Alan and Katie, for putting this fabulous course together! I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of time and energy you guys have invested in creating all the resources, and us financial freedom hunters appreciate it very much.
For net worth, so the house is a valuable liability – if you have bought it with someone but contributed unequal amounts to the purchase, does only the % that you contributed go towards your individual net worth (rather than the full price of the house)? Also, as an aside, my DB pension fund’s calculator doesn’t seem to give the option of calculating what I would give if I was to stop working now – the earliest year I can choose is at least 20 years from now! :/
Oz, it is our pleasure. Thank you. On the house my question would be not what has gone in but what is going to happen on the way out. if you sell it would you each get 50% or another slit? Have you decided that? Is this a partner? If it was a friend I would mark the % that I would get on sale on my net-worth tracker. Did that help?
DB pensions do indeed tell you what you will get on year X if you stop working now. So I would use that number x 25 on your networth sheet! you rock. Alan
Absolutely love having this written summary, it’s perfect for the way I learn. Thank you so much!
Hilary, I am so glad you comment! THANK YOU. has taken a long time and I am so grateful you said it is valuable! Thank you
Thank you, Alan, Katie and the Rebel Ninjas for all the time and effort you have put into updating the Rebel Finance course for 2026. The course notes are incredible and provide so many options, whether to go for a deep dive into the notes or a summary. I started tracking my family’s net worth back in 2010 using an Excel spreadsheet. However, I love the net worth tracker v1 and now the updated Google Sheets version and the clarity it brings when looking at our assets and which ones are contributing towards our financial freedom. Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou
Alan and Katie – I just want to say a huge thank you! I used a few days sick leave to watch last years course in March and now I’m doing it again live. Until this February I thought I didn’t have a net worth – long years of low pay and terrible financial decisions contributed to this feeling. But since finding you I sprang into action! I now invest my monthly gap into an ISA and SIPP, and this week I found the last of my DC pensions which I’ve never even looked at in 20 years! I now have a net worth, I know what to invest in and I know exactly why I’m doing this all. So, thank you from a 50 year old little lady who no longer lives in fear of poverty in retirement!
PS Katie, I LOVE the net worth tracker! Thank you both and the ninjas for putting all this work in to spread the knowledge and positivity!
Dear Alan and Katie,
I have just finished week 2 (I watch on catch-up on youtube) and I am absolutely gripped!
Just wanted to a big thank-you. Can’t wait to get stuck into it all!
You guys rock
Thanks Louise! that made my day! YAY