Originally posted on Medium.com.

Today, I’m going to share a list of 9 numbers that millionaires know like the back of their hand.

And for each one, I’ll explain what it is, why it’s important to know, and how to figure it out for yourself if you haven’t already.

1. How Much Cash Do You Have Saved

I’m not talking about investments or physical assets here. We’re talking about actual liquid cash that’s easily accessible, with no fees, penalties, or taxes.

So, to find out how much cash you have saved, check all of your liquid accounts: your checking, savings, and a high-yield savings account. Add up all the numbers, and bada bing, bada boom, there you have it.

Now, Why Does This Number Matter?

Because life doesn’t give you a heads up before hitting you with a job loss, a car repair, or a case of pink eye. That’s what happens when you don’t wash your hands, Gary.

What were you thinking?

I know it was Bies. I know they keep the bathrooms clean, but you can’t trust anybody.

Boy, that escalated quickly. When you don’t have money saved, you’re more likely to turn to debt to get through that emergency.

And that slows down your progress toward money goals and adds stress you don’t need.

Which is why I always recommend saving up 3 to 6 months of your household expenses for emergencies once you’re out of consumer debt.

2. Your Average Monthly Expenses

This is the amount you’re spending, on average, across all the categories of your life.

It includes necessities like housing, food, utilities, transportation, and luxuries like self-care, shopping, and your crust of the month subscription.

Is it bread, pizza, or pie?

They’re going to cut that out because now we have to make a whole website, make a whole crust of the month subscription, just to appease the audience.

Wouldn’t be the worst thing I put out. What have I put? I haven’t put out much, I’m going to be honest.

If you want to build wealth, you’ve got to live on less than you make.

And if you’re overspending every month while you’re thinking everything’s fine, you’re never going to get ahead.

And as we talked about earlier, this number also plays a key role in your emergency fund.

So, to find your average monthly expenses, look at your last 3 months of bank or credit card statements, even though I don’t like you using a credit card.

3. Your Mortgage Balance

This is simply the amount you still owe on your house. It’s the distance between you and full home ownership.

Because, currently, fun fact, you don’t own your house. The bank sort of does.

Now, your name is on the deed, but there’s a lien against your house from the lender.

That’s all fancy words to say; until you pay off your house, you don’t fully own your house.

So, this number represents a major piece of your financial future. You see, most people treat their mortgage as something they’ll have for three decades.

But that’s not how millionaires think. They treat their mortgage like a rash or an ingrown hair, or anything else you wouldn’t want to keep around for 30 years.

You see, the average millionaire pays off their mortgage in 10.2 years. And that’s because they see their home as a wealth-building tool, not just a place to live.

So, paying off your mortgage is like a forced savings plan to help you build wealth because you’ll have 100% equity when that thing’s paid for.

Plus, you know a stat is legit when it includes an oddly specific decimal point. I trust those stats.

Paying off your home early also reduces your monthly expenses, increases your net worth, and gives you peace of mind that no one can take your home from you.

And it’s one of the most powerful financial milestones you can hit. And the sooner you get there, the more flexibility you’ll have in life.

To find your current balance, just log into your mortgage lender’s online account or pull your most recent mortgage statement if you’re old school and you get that piece of paper.

And then look for the balance. That’s the number you’re aiming to eliminate.

And once you know it, you can build an early payoff plan and start making intentional progress toward it.

4. Your Monthly Take-Home Pay

This is the amount you actually receive each month after deductions like federal and state taxes, health insurance, retirement contributions, and any other withholdings.

This is the foundation of your entire monthly budget. And if you don’t know that number, you’re flying blind.

Allah Jimmy Dittle after one too many Appleinis. Google it. Real thing, minus the Apple teenies. We threw that in for fun.

And look, if you’re thinking, George, this is so obvious, you’d be surprised at how many people have no clue how much they actually make, especially if their income varies from month to month.

So, to calculate your take-home pay, check your most recent pay stub. And if you’re paid bi-weekly, multiply that by two, and that’s basically your monthly take-home pay.

And if it’s monthly, just take what got deposited into your bank account.

Now, if your income is variable, like commission or freelance work, you can guesstimate based on the lowest and highest months from the last year.

You don’t get a pass just because it’s not the same number every single month. You have to know this number.

5. Your Margin

Now, this is the money you have left over in your budget after you’ve covered all of your monthly expenses.

And this is one of the most telling numbers in your financial picture. Why?

Because your margin is what allows you to save money, build wealth, and breathe.

Think of it like an inhaler, just without a sweaty 9-year-old asthmatic on the other end.

And to their credit, I think the inhaler is the original vape, minus the toxins. Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on.

What is in the inhaler? Air. More air.

Someone don’t tell me to Google it. I don’t care because whatever the answer is, I’m going to be disappointed.

Albuterol. We’re doing Spanish now. Albuterol. El guapo. So, it is a chemical.

Did you know they’re putting albuterol in the vapes these days? Who knew?

We all knew. Without margin, every month is just survival mode, even if your income looks good on paper.

And having a margin also gives you options. It gives you the flexibility to respond to needs, take opportunities, and stay on track when life throws a curveball.

So, to calculate your margin, take your monthly take-home pay and subtract your average monthly expenses. The difference is your margin.

Now, How Much Margin Should You Have?

Well, that depends on your situation. As much as possible is ideal. If you’re paying off debt or building up your emergency fund, you want to squeeze out as much margin as you can to speed up that process.

You’ll also want to find extra margin if you’re working toward a big savings goal like a down payment on a house or paying cash for a car.

And if you have a negative margin, meaning you are spending more than you make, that means you’re likely going into debt to fund the difference, and you need to make some drastic changes and sacrifices.

Oh, and that budget app I mentioned earlier, Every Dollar, will give you tons of personalized ideas for creating more margin.

6. Your Retirement Goal

Zig Ziggler once said, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.”

And that’s why you need to get clear on the amount you want to retire with, a steady target to give your investing a long-term purpose.

Specifically, you’ll want to figure out the amount of money you’ll need to live on once you stop earning an income from work.

Ideally, your investments and assets create enough income to cover all of your expenses in retirement.

And that amount should reflect the lifestyle you want in retirement.

• Do you want to travel?
• Do you want to be outrageously generous?
• Do you want never to miss another Benson Boone concert?

It all affects how much you’ll need, except for that last one. I assume you can prove to me that he won’t be relevant anymore by the time you retire.

And much like Elton, he’ll be on his ninth farewell tour by the year 2055, if we’re all still here and Jesus hasn’t come back yet. Jesus, please come back.

7. Your Investment Rate

Now, that’s just a fancy way of saying the percentage of your gross income that you’re consistently putting toward retirement accounts.

And it’s one of the key indicators of how prepared you’ll be when retirement comes. And for most people, this number is way too low.

Either they’re only investing up to the employer match, not investing at all, or relying on some micro-investing app like Acorns to get the job done.

Well, guys, you know what? Micro investing gets you a micro retirement.

So, what should your investment rate be?

I recommend investing 15% of your gross household income into tax-advantaged retirement accounts every single month.

Now, that’s only once you’re out of consumer debt and you have that fully funded emergency fund.

And that number is not just my opinion. That is based on long-term data and real-world results from everyday millionaires.

It’s big enough to build serious wealth while still leaving enough room to pursue other financial goals along the way, like funding your kids’ college and paying off the mortgage early.

Now, the biggest thing to remember is that the earlier you get started and the more consistently you stick to the plan, the more your money will wind up working for you.

So, get to investing ASAP.

8. Your Total Debt

Now, this one should be straightforward. It’s the total amount of money you still owe to others for any reason.

And debt is the number one enemy of financial progress because every dollar you send toward debt payments is a dollar you can’t use to build wealth.

You see, wealthy people are busy earning interest, and broke people are busy paying interest.

And getting clear on your total debt is the first step to becoming debt-free. You’ve got to know your numbers here.

It allows you to face reality, make a plan, and start attacking your debt with some purpose and intentionality.

And the goal here is not to just manage debt. It’s to eliminate it. Vote it off the island, if you will.

So, to find your total debt amount, look up every account where you owe money and write down the balance for each one, along with the interest rates and minimum payments.

Then add up the balances. That is your total debt. You can also make this easy on yourself by pulling your credit report, which will show you all of your debt amounts by going to annualcreditreport.com, the only source for your free credit reports authorized by federal law.

Why is that their tagline? I don’t know. Take it up with them.

But you don’t just want to stop there at just knowing your numbers because once you calculate your debt, you need to knock it out as soon as possible, starting with the smallest balance and working your way up. That’s called the debt snowball method.

And something else you need to knock out of your life, online scammers having access to your personal data.

You see, right now, your personal info is probably on a whole bunch of these data broker websites, and they sell it to spammers and scammers, which adds chaos to your life.

And while we’re talking about numbers you need to track, here’s one you should keep track of: how much you’re paying for your phone plan.

9. Your Net Worth

This is your total assets minus your total liabilities. In other words, it’s what you own minus what you owe.

And it’s the most complete snapshot of your financial progress.

And this number matters because it shows you whether you’re actually moving forward, staying still, or worse, moving backwards.

And you can have a high income and still be losing ground if your debt is growing faster than your assets.

So net worth gives you the full picture and helps you track your wealth building over time.

So, as you pay off your debt, build up your savings, and grow your investments, your net worth increases.

And when you see that progress on paper, it reinforces your habits and keeps you motivated.

Now, let me just say this clearly. Your net worth is not your self-worth, okay?

This is not how good a person you are. It’s just a great scoreboard to see if you’re moving forward financially.

And that’s why you want to calculate your net worth and check up on it regularly. That’ll keep you motivated.

And to get started, make a list of everything you own that has value: the current value of your home, your cars, those retirement accounts, cash savings, and any other assets.

Then subtract everything you owe, the mortgage, the car loans, the student loans, the credit card debt, and any money you owe anybody else.