27/04/2026
I had a job...a real one. Salary. I have always been called “one of the best.”
Life looked stable on the outside.
I paid my bills. Ate well. Sent money home. Bought things when I felt like it.
By every standard I knew, I was doing fine.
But there was one problem:
I had never heard the phrase net worth in my life.
The question came on a random Tuesday.
I remember because I was eating rice from a blue container at my desk when a colleague rolled over and asked:
“Hey… what’s your net worth?”
I froze.
I thought I understood money. So I answered with confidence:
“My salary is…”
He stopped me.
“That’s your income. Not your net worth.”
Then he broke it down simply:
“Net worth is everything you own… minus everything you owe.”
Then he asked:
“So — what do you own?”
I thought about it.
A phone. Some clothes. A little money in my MoMo account.
“And what do you owe?”
Next month’s rent.
Two friends I borrowed from.
A small debt I kept postponing.
He paused.
Then said quietly:
“So… you’re probably in the negative.”
I laughed.
Not because it was funny.
But because my brain refused to accept it.
How could I be below zero?
I had a job. I was educated. I was responsible.
Or so I thought.
He didn’t argue.
He grabbed a paper and drew three columns:
Assets. Liabilities. Net Worth.
Then he handed me the pen.
“Fill it in.”
In "Nobody taught me what net worth was. Not my parents. Not my school. Not my employer. I found out at 35, eating rice at my desk." less than five minutes, my reality changed.
I had been working for 9 years…
And had nothing to show for it.
Not “small savings.”
Nothing.
If I lost my job, I had maybe 30 days before things fell apart.
Everything I earned… I spent.
I had built a lifestyle that consumed my entire income.
I wasn’t progressing.
I was just surviving comfortably.
The hardest part wasn’t the number.
It was the realization.
I had been confident.
Talking about money.
Judging others.
Thinking I was ahead.
Meanwhile…
I was broke with a salary.
That night, I didn’t scroll.
I didn’t distract myself.
I sat with that number.
Negative.
And for the first time, I faced it.
Then I started learning.
Not motivation. Not hype.
Basics.
Saving.
Assets vs liabilities.
Tracking net worth.
Simple things nobody ever taught me.
I’m telling you this because you might be where I was.
You have a job.
You’re educated.
You look “okay” from the outside.
But deep down…
You’ve never calculated your net worth.
Here’s the truth:
You can’t fix what you refuse to measure.
And you can’t grow a number you’ve never written down.
So here’s your moment.
Your net worth = What you own − What you owe.
No excuses.
No stories.
Just numbers.
Today, pick up the pen.
Write it down.
Face it.
Because that one uncomfortable number…might be the beginning of your entire financial transformation.
