What counts as net worth?

Net worth is the total of everything you own minus everything you owe. Assets include property equity (the difference between the current value of your home and the outstanding mortgage balance), pension valuations on each workplace and personal pension you hold, the balance of each savings and instant-access account, the current value of each Stocks and Shares ISA or General Investment Account, and any valuables you would actually sell. Debts include the outstanding mortgage balance (already counted in the property equity step), any other loans, credit card balances, and any other liabilities. The maths is: total assets minus total debts. The result is the net worth figure.

Is net worth the same as wealth?

No, but it is one measure of wealth. Net worth captures the snapshot of what you own and owe. It does not capture income potential, earning ability, or quality of life. Someone with £100,000 net worth and a high income is in a different position to someone with £100,000 net worth and no income. Net worth is the snapshot. Income is the flow. The two together give the full picture, but for the year-end review the snapshot is the easier check, and the three-numbers framework is built around the easy check that actually gets done.

Where do I find my State Pension forecast?

The forecast is at gov.uk/check-state-pension. The page takes two minutes the second time you use it and around ten minutes the first time (you need a Government Gateway user ID; the ID is free and the registration takes about ten minutes). The forecast shows the amount per week you would currently receive based on your National Insurance record to date. The forecast updates each year once the new NI record is processed. The full new State Pension for 2026/27 is £221.20 a week. Most people in their forties have a forecast below this figure. The forecast page also shows whether you have gaps in your NI record, and what the cost would be to fill them.

I am below the median net worth for my age. Should I panic?

No. The median is a benchmark, not a target. Below the median at 40 does not mean below the median at 65. The decisions you make in the next 10 years matter more than where you are today. The most useful action if you are below the median is to redirect the next three months of surplus into the highest-leverage account, which is usually the pension if you have unused carry-forward (three tax years of unused annual allowance can be carried forward), the ISA if you have not used the full £20,000 annual allowance, or the mortgage if the rate is high and you have no other high-interest debt. The trajectory is the lever. The snapshot is not.

What if my pension is up 12% this year?

Most of the 12% move is the market, not the contribution. If your employer contributes around £6,000 a year into your workplace pension on a £60,000 salary, the new money going into the pot is around £7,500 including your own contribution. The 12% return on the existing balance is roughly an order of magnitude larger than the new contribution. So if the statement arrived in October and you felt relieved, the right response is not to lower your contribution. The right response is to recognise that the market gave you a gift this year and to keep the contribution rate the same so the next gift compounds on a bigger base. The annual allowance is £60,000 for most people. The market will not be up 12% every year. The contribution rate is the lever you actually control.

What is the carry-forward rule for the pension annual allowance?

The carry-forward rule lets you use unused annual allowance from the previous three tax years. If you have not used the full £60,000 annual allowance in tax years 2023/24, 2024/25, or 2025/26, you can carry forward the unused amount and add it to your £60,000 annual allowance for tax year 2026/27. The rule means a household could make a £180,000 pension contribution in tax year 2026/27 if they had zero pension contributions in the previous three tax years and they have at least £180,000 of UK relevant earnings in 2026/27. The carry-forward is the most underused lever in UK pension planning. The year-end check is the right time to see whether you have carry-forward to use before the 5 April 2027 tax year end.

Is the year-end review a substitute for a financial adviser?

No. The year-end money review is the household's annual benchmark check. It is built around three numbers that most households can find on their own with the right information. Ongoing financial guidance, where a qualified person reviews the household's situation and recommends specific actions, is a separate service that some households benefit from, particularly around complex situations (defined benefit pensions, inheritance tax planning, business ownership, second properties, foreign income). The year-end review closes the benchmarking question so the asset allocation conversation and any complex planning can happen on a clean base. The two are not the same. The companion guide on financial guidance vs financial advice walks through when each is worth the cost.

Educational use only. Not financial, investment, tax or legal advice.

3 November 2026 Syd Lawrence6 min read

Year-End Money Review: The Three Numbers to Find

It is Bonfire Night weekend. The fireworks are on the table. The questions about money are on the table too, even if no one is asking them out loud. The year-end money review is three numbers, one page of A4, and one specific action this month. Here is what each number is, what it means, and where to find it.

Syd Lawrence

CEO & Co-founder at Delphina

Syd got fed up with being kept confused by the UK personal finance industry. So he built the tool he wished existed. Qualified to provide financial advice, prefers to provide financial clarity. No agenda. Just someone who finally got clear and wanted everyone else to be able to too.

You are 41 or 42 or 43. Two children. A mortgage. A workplace pension you have not opened in eighteen months. An ISA you opened because someone said it was a good idea. A current account with a balance you have not quite decided what to do with. You have read the average UK savings figures, the pension-by-age content, the ISA allowance pages, the budget reaction posts from last week. The picture is closer than it was at the start of the year. The actions are not finished.

The year-end money review is not a thirty-page statement. It is three numbers, written on one page of A4. Pen, not app. The three numbers are net worth, pension contribution year-to-date, and the State Pension forecast. Each one takes between two and twenty minutes to find. The whole exercise fits inside an hour. The result is the year-end benchmark check, the only check that compares what you have done this year against what you actually have, and what you have already locked in for retirement.

The three numbers at a glance

Number one: net worth. All assets minus all debts. Property equity, pension valuations, savings, investments, valuables. Subtract mortgage, loans, credit card balances. Find: Rightmove + each provider statement + mortgage statement.
Number two: pension year-to-date contribution. The figure from your workplace pension statement since 6 April 2026. Most people are nowhere near £60,000. Find: workplace pension portal.
Number three: State Pension forecast. The figure from gov.uk/check-state-pension. Most people in their forties have a forecast below £221.20 a week. Find: gov.uk, two minutes, Government Gateway login.

Number one: your net worth

Net worth is the total of everything you own minus everything you owe. The figure on the page is the snapshot. It is not the trajectory. It is not the income. It is not the standard of living. It is the position on the board at the end of the year.

To find the figure, walk through each asset and each debt once. Property equity: the difference between the Rightmove estimate for your home and the outstanding mortgage balance from your latest statement. Workplace pension: the current valuation on your provider statement. Personal pensions: the current valuation on each provider statement. Cash savings: the balance on each instant-access and notice account. Investments: the current value of each Stocks and Shares ISA, General Investment Account, or shareholding. Valuables: the resale value of any items over £500 you would actually sell.

Debts: the outstanding mortgage balance (already used in the property equity step). Other loans. Credit card balances. Any other liabilities.

The maths is: total assets minus total debts. The result is the net worth figure. Write it on the page.

The UK median net worth at your age

The ONS Wealth and Assets Survey, most recent reference period 2020 to 2022 with methodological back-series updates in mid-2026, gives the median UK net worth by age as: age 30-39, £58,000. Age 40-49, £146,000. Age 50-59, £260,000. Age 60 and over, £410,000. The median is the middle figure, not the average. Half of households in each age group have more, half have less. If your net worth is within £20,000 of the median for your age group, you are at the typical position. If it is £100,000 or more above the median, you are in the top quartile. If it is £100,000 or more below the median, you are in the bottom quartile.

Number two: your pension contribution year-to-date

The pension contribution year-to-date is the figure on your workplace pension statement showing everything that has gone into the pot since 6 April 2026. The figure is the year, not the career. The figure tells you whether you are on track for this tax year, not for retirement. The two are different.

Most people in their forties are not anywhere near £60,000 of pension contributions a year. Most people are contributing around £5,000 to £10,000 a year through their workplace pension, which is the 8% employee contribution plus the 3% to 6% employer contribution that comes out of payroll before they see the money. The total contribution is usually well below the £60,000 annual allowance, which is the ceiling, not the target.

To find the figure, log in to your workplace pension portal. Look for "contributions year-to-date" or "total contributions this tax year". The figure includes employee contributions, employer contributions, and any salary sacrifice. The figure is the year-to-date, not the annualised rate.

Write the year-to-date figure on the page.

The standard annual allowance and the tapered threshold

The standard pension annual allowance for tax year 2026/27 is £60,000 for most people. The tapered annual allowance kicks in from £260,000 of adjusted income and reduces the standard allowance by £1 for every £2 of adjusted income above the threshold, down to a minimum of £10,000 (the money purchase annual allowance, which applies once you have started drawing income). The lifetime allowance was abolished from 6 April 2024. The pension IHT treatment changes from 6 April 2027 bring unused DC pension pots within the estate for inheritance tax purposes. None of these changed in the Budget on Wednesday 28 October 2026. The Budget did not touch pensions substantively.

Number three: your State Pension forecast

The State Pension forecast is the figure on the gov.uk State Pension forecast page showing what you would get at State Pension age based on your current National Insurance record. The figure is the floor of the retirement picture. The figure is something you cannot get from any other source. The figure is the only one of the three that takes two minutes and changes the most over the year.

To find the figure, go to gov.uk/check-state-pension. Log in with your Government Gateway user ID (or create one if you have not used it before; the process takes about ten minutes the first time and two minutes every time after). The forecast is the amount per week you would currently receive based on your NI record to date. The forecast updates each year once the new NI record is processed.

The full new State Pension for 2026/27 is £221.20 a week. Most people in their forties have a forecast below this. If you have gaps in your NI record (years of low earnings, years abroad, periods of self-employment without voluntary contributions), the forecast will be lower than the full amount. The forecast page also shows whether you can fill gaps, and what the cost would be.

Write the forecast figure on the page.

Why the State Pension forecast is the floor, not the target

The State Pension is a defined benefit from the government. It is paid for life. It rises each year under the triple lock (the highest of CPI inflation, average earnings growth, or 2.5%). It is not subject to market movements. It is not subject to provider charges. It is not subject to the same inheritance tax treatment as DC pensions from April 2027. It is the foundation that the workplace and personal pensions sit on top of. A household with a £40,000-a-year target retirement income and a £12,000-a-year State Pension forecast has to find £28,000 a year from the workplace and personal pensions. A household with a £10,000-a-year State Pension forecast has to find £30,000 a year. The State Pension is the lever that does not move. The workplace pensions are the lever that does.

What the three numbers tell you together

Net worth is the snapshot. It tells you where you are on the board today. The pension year-to-date contribution is the year. It tells you what you are doing this year. The State Pension forecast is the locked-in floor. It tells you what you have already secured for retirement. The three together are the year-end benchmark check.

If your net worth is at or above the median for your age, the snapshot is fine. The question is whether the trajectory is right. The trajectory is the year-to-date pension contribution compared to the £60,000 annual allowance. Most people at the median are contributing well below half of the allowance, and the most useful action they can take this year is to increase the contribution rate. The contribution rate is the lever you actually control.

If your net worth is well above the median for your age (top quartile), the snapshot is strong. The question is whether the trajectory is sustainable. The trajectory is the year-to-date pension contribution plus the ISA contribution. Most people in the top quartile are maxing one of these but not both. The most useful action is to check whether the gap between the contribution rate and the ceiling is intentional.

If your net worth is well below the median for your age, the snapshot is below average. The question is whether the year is closing the gap. The year-to-date pension contribution plus the ISA contribution plus any debt repayments is the year's contribution to the trajectory. The most useful action is to redirect the next three months of surplus into the highest-leverage account (usually the pension if you have unused carry-forward, the ISA if you have not used the full £20,000 allowance, or the mortgage if the rate is high).

The one specific monthly action

Before the end of November 2026, find the three numbers. Write them on one page of A4. Pen, not app. Compare against the ONS medians. Decide whether the trajectory is right. If the trajectory is right, hold the gain. If the trajectory is wrong, the most useful action is to increase the pension contribution rate before the end of the tax year on 5 April 2027. The £60,000 annual allowance carries forward for three tax years if unused. The carry-forward is the most underused lever in UK pension planning.

Sources. Office for National Statistics, Wealth and Assets Survey, Round 8 reference period 2020 to 2022 with methodological back-series updates in mid-2026; next ONS round publication date to be announced. HM Revenue and Customs, pension tax manual, tax year 2026/27. Department for Work and Pensions, State Pension uprating for 2026/27. Office for Budget Responsibility, Autumn 2026 forecast (28 October 2026). UK government, gov.uk/check-state-pension. Figures cited at 3 November 2026 prices.

For the wider four-indicator check (net worth, pension, savings, mortgage), see the am I on track financially UK benchmark. For the net worth by age breakdown, see average UK net worth by age. For the pension benchmark, see average UK pension by age. For the 90-day closing action framework, see get your finances clear in 90 days.

Three Numbers. One Page. November.

The year-end money review is the smallest check that still gives you the full picture. Find the three numbers, write them on one page of A4, and compare against the medians. The trajectory is the lever you control.

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