Is Joe Biden’s net worth really only $150K? It’s gotta be a typo!
newsobserver.com | Biden quickly adopts role as attack dog
[Biden's] net worth of $150,000 is decidedly middle class among the millionaire members of the U.S. Senate
I find this really scary. Either it’s a lie, a typo, or Joe Biden doesn’t know how to save money. Seriously, how does one spend 35 years in the senate, where the annual salary these days is at least $165K and he has only saved $150K in that time? Just $10K a year in savings would do it in half that time, and that is just in cash, net worth actually counts the value of your home, etc. Someone needs to do some real digging here. There’s gotta be offshore accounts or something like that or it is a typo. If not, Joe Biden has no business whatsoever being involved in any discussion of money at the Federal level, because his money management skills are grossly incompetent. Seriously, in my early days out of college, I was making ~$40K and I managed to save at least $5K/year in my 401(K) and other accounts. He’s making 4 times that and he can’t put away a few bucks for a rainy day?
As for the bigger dust up on “who’s poorer”, I find it laughable that any of these guys, McCain or Obama, are wasting our time discussing who’s “more in touch” based on how much money the other guy makes. Let’s face facts, the day any of these guys retire from public service is the day they take a job as a high six figure lobbyist for their favorite special interest. Not too mention the amount of money each of them already makes. So please, just stop the stupid bickering and the playground taunts. Talk about something real. Frankly, I don’t care that either one of you are wealthy, in this day and age of Presidential politics, that is a foregone conclusion. What I care about is whether you have the skills to lead a country of 300 million plus people in tough times, and at this point, neither one of you is showing me they have what it takes.
August 25th, 2008 at 6:08 am
I suppose there is another alternative. Perhaps he has given away a good deal of his money.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Senators have a really good pension plan. He will get most or all of his salary inflation-adjusted for life.
That’s worth between 2.5 and 3 million by comparison with private inflation-adjusted annuities.
Lesson is that when the Washington Post reports a Senator’s net worth, the forget about the pension plan.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Even with the deferred pension plan, how is it possible to not have more in the bank? Even a miserable return on putting $5K a year would yield more than $150K in savings over 35 years. There’s just gotta be more to this story. Besides, net worth usually calculates in house, investments, etc. You telling me his house is worth less than $150K?
August 26th, 2008 at 9:19 am
remember, he did run for president more than once. that can’t be an inexpensive endeavor.
August 26th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Those people don’t pay for their own campaigns…
August 27th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Here’s what the Washington Post reports on the various candidates: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/24/AR2007032400305_pf.html
August 27th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Furthermore, CNN at http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/17/candidates.wealth/index.html reports:
“While Huckabee and Gravel reported assets into the six figures, Biden, who has been serving in the Senate since he was 30, told the FEC that his assets were only between $62,000 and $405,000, with liabilities of between $140,000 and $365,000.”
August 27th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Here’s an interesting activity:
1. Browse to http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm
2. Enter the following values:
Current Principal: 0
Annual Addition: $5000
Years to Grow: 30
Interest Rate: 8 (the S&P usually returns around 10% over that time)
Compound: 1 per year
Make additions at start of year.
3. Read the future value:
$611,729.34
Increase the # of years to 35 and the future value is: $930,510.74
Sure, it’s not on the order of Obama or McCain (i.e. millions) but nothing to sneeze at.
Seriously, Joe, go get yourself a Vanguard S&P index fund. Of course, the first thing you need now is a time machine.
Compounding interest is an amazing thing!
August 28th, 2008 at 7:28 am
More compounding fun thanks to moneychimp:
Current Principal: 0
Annual Addition: $5000
Years to grow: 35
Interest Rate: 2% (i.e. a simple money market account, about as safe as one can get)
Compound: 1 per year
Make additions at start of year
And the payoff: $254,971.84
Like I said, there’s more to this story. I just hope some journalist out there does the math and starts digging, because it just can’t be true. It’s like the kid who gets an F in school, you have to try to fail. And in Mr. Biden’s case, I think you have to try to not have accumulated some money at the salary he’s paid.
September 6th, 2008 at 5:09 am
I arrived at this website because I was checking out a story I heard about Biden’s net worth being less than $150,000. That figure is impossible for me to believe. With all the expense accounts and perks given to our public royalty (don’t use the word servant), I can’t imagine our public royalty even spending 25% of their after-tax income.
I am neither an accountant, nor an attorney, but I suspect that he has created trust funds for his wife and children and moved the vast majority of his assests into those financial entities. If this is so, these would not show up on his balance sheet. Annual contributions to his chilren could also keep his net worth to a minimum. I want to know what his immediate family member’s net worth is. I’ll bet his wife and children are fabulously wealthy.
September 7th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
He grew up working class, took out loans for college, then went to law school, and took out loans for college. Ran for public office almost right out of school. Wife dies, sons in the hospital piling up medical bills. Becomes a single parent. Helps take care of his aging working class parents. Takes out loans for his kids to attend college. With all this, he has a secure multi-million dollar pension, a residence, not including the house his mom lives in worth over a million. The man has spent a career in public service, and a personal life of giving and self-sacrifice, and still seems to be doing quite well for him-self. I find it refreshing to know, that not everone in power gets there on the back of their wealth, but on their caracter.
September 7th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Nice story, Nicholas, and very compelling, but still doesn’t answer the question. Especially when you add in the fact that he got a royalty advance in 2006 for somewhere around $100K.
I suspect you hit the nail on the head, as Joe G says, too, that he has setup trusts for those around him to distribute/hide his money. Even that’s fine by me. It’s perfectly legal (at least I hope he did it legally.) I’m not begrudging anyone what they’ve earned. What I don’t like is the notion that his supposedly small net worth makes him more in touch than the others because, like I said, it just doesn’t add up. It wreaks of political falseness. Either that, or incompetence. Pick your poison.
Fact is, most of us simply don’t have access to either the income or the financial advice to make those kinds of moves. We’re stuck funding our own 401(k)s and our own IRAs. We don’t have nice pensions with sweet health care benefits guaranteed for life. We have to save it ourselves.
September 7th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Oh, and by the way, Nicholas. I grew up working class, too. And took out loans for college (finally paid them off this year!) My starting salary, and my current salary is less than his was/is (and I guarantee you my book deal is worth a lot less too), and I’d say my net worth is on par with what he has reported and I’ve only been at it for 10 years. Not trying to brag, my point is all I did is regular, periodic investments in my 401(K) and in basic S&P index funds ever since I got out of college. I’m hardly some financial genius.
September 8th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Yet another scary negative point for this scary team. I’ve managed to save more than that and I’m a public school teacher – IN FLORIDA – one of the lowest paying states for public school teachers. And this is the person who Obama wants to call VP? The man can’t hold onto a dollar and he’s running on a political ticket with the possibility of having input involving the financial matters of the entire nation, or is he lying? Oh, no not that – a democrat lying (I did not have sexual relations with that woman) about money or business practices – or anything?
Sorry But I don’t think I want this man who is either lying about the amount of money he has or he’s lying about
September 8th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Lying isn’t strictly a Democrat trait, Sues. It’s an individual trait, although it does seem to be strongly correlated with politicians, regardless of party, state, country or continent.
September 12th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
More fun: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080912/ap_on_el_pr/biden_finances
$319K in income last year. Small potatoes compared to all the others, but still, how does he have such a small net worth?
Trust funds for the kids? Swiss Bank accounts? Stuffed in a mattress?
September 17th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
My folks are school teachers with 3 kids who inherited nothing but bills and have 5x Biden’s NetWorth at Biden’s age.
Biden should not be allowed to manage anybody’s money – he can’t manage his own (unless he is a genius at tax avoidance).
September 29th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Now if I could just find where I read it…. Joe Biden only contributed $300.00 to charity last year. I tend to agree that he is not giving it away, but that he is hiding his assets.
September 30th, 2008 at 6:31 am
Thanks, Debra!
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-12-biden-financial_N.htm
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:29 am
Doesn’t matter what they say their net worth is. The fact is the combo of lawyer/politicians combined with client CEO’s willing to pack their pockets from a hidden back doors, run totally out of control. The foundation of our land has been dug up a bulldozer scoop at a time, then shipped overseas or used as a money launderer for profit. Writing laws and then being subject to them, has always been the separation of the “haves and have nots”. In the beginning the cornerstone was much closer to the foundation, today it’s a light-year apart, and separating even further as I type this note.
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:33 am
Just sent this to the Obama/Biden campaign figuring it can’t hurt to ask (not that I expect a real response):
Dear Mr. Biden,
I am seriously thinking of voting for the Obama/Biden ticket. One of the major hurdles currently holding me back is the news reports on your net worth (for instance, http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/17/candidates.wealth/index.html) of $150K (give or take).
I simply don’t get this. How can one be in the Senate as long as you have at the salary (~$168K last year) you make and not have saved some money in that time? Simply putting $5K/year in a bank saving account at 2% interest for 35 years would yield more money than you claim.
Thus, it strikes me that there are a few possibilities:
1. It’s true.
2. It’s hidden away in Swiss bank accounts or something like that.
3. It’s hidden behind legal trusts set up for your kids
4. Something else.
Please explain. I know it seems like prying into your private life, which I hate, but I have to know whether you know how to manage a dollar or not. So far, if the answer is #1, you clearly don’t. If it’s any of the others, then you probably do.
Sincerely,
Grant
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Not only has Joe Biden received a Senate salary for the past 36 years, but his wife has been a school teacher for 30 years. According to a Sept 15, 2008, National Review article by Byron York , in the 10 years between 1998 and 2007 the Bidens reported a total AGI of $2,450,042.00, or an average of $245,000.00 per year. During those 10 years, the Bidens contributed a TOTAL of $3,690.00 to charity, a paltry $369 per year average. If the Bidens have a net worth of $150,000, then I’m the Pope.
October 21st, 2008 at 4:54 pm
[...] As for the Obama camp, I asked them a question via email and all I ever get from them is constant, uh, “spam” telling me why Barack is so [...]
October 23rd, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Glad I found this post. It’s exactly what I’ve been thinking/saying since I heard his net worth was $150k. This guy better not say a word about the economy with that poor money management.
October 29th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Wow, Grant is a genius! You’ve really cracked everything wide open. What’s next for you, curing AIDS? Grant for special person of the year! Grant has cognitive powers others can only dream of!
Grant, seriously. Get a damn life.
October 29th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Wow, Craig, a bit bitter are we? Who needs a life again? Which is worse, me posting this or you responding with such drivel?
Don’t you want to know, in this day and age of economic bailouts how come the President in Waiting doesn’t have any money in his bank accounts despite having a 6 figure income for at least the past 10-15 years? And, don’t you want to know why someone who wants to tell you how to be nicer and more charitable with your time and money hasn’t done the same? Or are you just so far to one side that you can’t think logically about our leaders?
October 31st, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I did finally get a form letter:
——–
Dear Friend,
Thank you for taking the time to write to me in the final days of this election. We’re getting hundreds, sometimes thousands of messages and calls each hour from people like you all across the country, and the level and intensity of interest in our movement for change is significant for the country and inspirational for me.
Your participation in the electoral process has already done much to redirect the future course of the country we love. And on November 4th, voter turnout is expected to shatter all records as the American people send a clear message to Washington that they are fed up with business as usual and want real change.
The question is what kind of change?
I’m running for President to put government’s focus back on building the middle class by creating good jobs; making sure each American has affordable, accessible health care, and educating our kids from early childhood through college and beyond. I’m running to make America stronger and safer by renewing our leadership in the world so that we can face down terrorism and meet other global challenges such as the international financial crisis and climate change.
I’m running to build a new energy future through the development and use of renewable sources of energy, coupled with increased efficiency and conservation, to restore the importance of fundamental civil liberties to our society, to preserve the integrity of Social Security and Medicare, to reform our social contract so that Americans enjoy health and pension security in the global economy, and to insist that the government live within its means and reduce the national debt. Now is our time to unleash the creative energy of American ingenuity to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
The volume of mail I receive reflects how seriously voters are taking this election. I’ve appreciated the candid observations about my campaign and policy positions as well as the questions about differences between me and my opponent. Although I am unable to address each of the concerns raised individually, please know that collectively, they are helping shape my vision of where our country should go.
Again, thank you for writing, and for voting on Tuesday. I hope to have your support.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
———————-
Paid for by Obama for America
————–
April 20th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Is Biden’s money hidden in his son’s fortune?
Hunter Biden and his lobbying firm, Oldaker, Biden & Belair, have represented colleges and hospitals, mainly in an effort to secure money for them in appropriation bills. In June, however, Biden also signed on as a lobbyist for a law firm that represents a billionaire couple who run an Internet gambling business. The lobbying documents on file with the Senate Public Records Office show that Biden intended to lobby on the “legality of internet gaming” and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which Congress passed in 2006.
The law firm, Sharp & Barnes, represents Russell DeLeon and his wife Ruth Parasol, according to lobbying records. The couple was listed as having a net worth of $1.8 billion in 2006 and made the Forbes top billionaire’s list